APIS MELLIFICA. 



Certain it is that bees enter the hive, some with yellow pel- 

 lets, others with orange, pink, white, or even green colored 

 ones, but they are never observed to be party-colored. Through 

 this instinct another important end is gained, in relation to the 

 impregnation of flowers ; the production of hybrid plants by 

 the application of the pollen of one species to the stigma of 

 another is avoided, while those flowers are more effectually 

 fertilized which require the aid of insects for that purpose. 



When a pollen-laden bee arrives at the hive, she generally 

 walks or stands upon the comb beating her wings, and three 

 or four of her fellow-citizens assist in lightening her of her 

 load ; or the laden bee puts her two hind legs into a cell, and 

 with the intermediate pair, or the extremity of the abdomen, 

 brushes off the pellets. These are then kneaded into a paste 

 at the bottom of the cell, and several cells are thus filled with 

 the packed and softened pollen, which is called bee-bread. 



Besides the honey and farina, bees collect a peculiar sub- 

 stance like gum-resin, which was called "propolis" by Pliny; 

 and this they obtain principally from the balsamic buds of the 

 horse-chestnut, birch, and poplar, especially the Populus bal- 

 samifera. The propolis is soft, red, will pull out in a thread, 

 and is aromatic. It is employed in the hive, not only in finish- 

 ing the combs, but also in stopping up every chink or orifice 

 by which cold, wet, or any enemy can enter. Like the pellets 

 of pollen, it is carried on the posterior tibiae, but the masses are 

 lenticular. Having thus traced the operations of the working 

 bees relating to the collection of the substances required in 

 the economy of the hive, it will now be requisite to return to 

 the larvae, which are the immediate objects of all this industry. 



The bees may be readily detected feeding the young maggot, 

 which opens its lateral jaws to receive the bee-bread, and swal- 

 lows it. The well-fed maggot soon grows too large for its 

 tough outer skin, and accordingly casts it, when its bulk has 

 increased so that it fills its cell ; it then requires no more food, 

 and is ready to be inclosed for the chrysalis state. The last 

 care of the foster parents is to cover over the mouth of the 

 cell with a substance of a light brown color, apparently a mix- 

 ture of wax and farina. This takes place generally four days 

 after the larva was excluded from the egg. The inclosed larva 

 now begins to line the cell and covering of the aperture before 

 mentioned with a silk, which it spins from glandular tubes 

 similar to those of the silk-worm. When the first three seg- 



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