ON THE ECONOMY OF BEES. 353 



and I am confident that, under such circumstances, a swarm never issues 

 from the parent hive without having previously selected some such place 

 to retire to. 



It has been remarked by Mr. John Hunter, that the matter which 

 bees carry on their thighs is the farina of plants with which they feed 

 their young, and not the substance with which they make their combs ; 

 and his statement is, I believe, perfectly correct : but I have observed 

 that they will also carry other things on their thighs. I frequently 

 covered the decorticated parts of trees, on which I was making experi- 

 ments, with a cement composed of bees- wax and turpentine ; and in the 

 autumn I have frequently observed a great number of bees employed in 

 carrying off this substance. They detached it from the tree with their 

 forceps, and the little portion thus obtained was then transferred by the 

 first to the second leg, by which it was deposited on the thigh of the 

 third : the farina of plants is collected and transferred in the same 

 manner. This mixture of wax and turpentine did not, however, appear 

 to have been employed in the formation of combs, but only to attach the 

 hive to the board on which it was placed, and probably to exclude other 

 insects, and air during w r inter. Whilst the bees were employed in the 

 collection of this substance, I had many opportunities of observing the 

 peaceful and patient disposition of them as individuals, which Mr, 

 Hunter has also, in some measure, noticed. When one bee had collected 

 its load, and was just prepared to take flight, another often came behind 

 it, and despoiled it of all it had collected. A second, and even a third, 

 load was collected and lost in the same manner ; and still the patient insect 

 pursued its labour, without betraying any symptoms of impatience or 

 resentment. When, however, the hive is approached, the bee appears 

 often to be the most irritable of all animals ; but a circumstance I have 

 observed amongst many other species of insects, whose habits are in many 

 respects similar to those of bees, induces me to believe that the readiness 

 of the bees to attack those who approach their hives does not in any 

 degree spring either from the sense of injury or apprehensions of the 

 individual who makes the attack. If a nest of wasps be approached 

 without alarming its inhabitants, and all communication be suddenly cut 

 off between those out of the nest and those within it, no provocation wil* 

 induce the former to defend their nest or themselves. But if one escape 

 from within, it comes with a very different temper, and appears commis- 

 sioned to avenge public wrongs, and prepared to sacrifice its life in the 

 execution of its orders. I discovered the circumstance, that wasps thus 



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