ANALYTICAL EVIDENCE. 303 



a queen. But if bees be shut up in a hive without a 

 queen, and fed with honey, we can perceive in forty-eight 

 hours that they have laminae of wax on their scales, and 

 that some have even separated. The building of cells is 

 therefore voluntary, and dependant on certain conditions, 

 but the oozing out of wax is involuntary. 



One might suppose that a large proportion of these 

 laminae must be lost, since the bees may allow them to 

 fall off, out of the hive as well as in it ; but the Creator 

 has wisely provided against such a loss. If we give 

 to bees engaged in building cells honey in a flat dish, and 

 cover the dish with perforated paper, that the bees may 

 not be entangled in the honey, we shall find, after a day, 

 that the honey has disappeared, and that a large number 

 of laminae are lying on the paper. It would appear as if 

 the bees, which have carried off the honey, had let fall 

 the scales ; but it is not so. For, if above the paper we 

 lay two small rods, and on these a board, overhanging 

 the dish on every side, so that the bees can creep under 

 the board and obtain the honey, we shall find next day 

 the honey gone, but no laminae on the paper; while 

 laminae will be found in abundance on the board above. 

 The bees, therefore, which go for and bring the honey, do 

 not let fall the laminae of wax, but only those bees which 

 remain hanging to the top of the hive. Repeated experi- 

 ments of this kind have convinced me that the bees, as 

 soon as their laminae of wax are mature, return to the 

 hive and remain at rest, just as caterpillars do, when 

 about to change. In a swarm that is actively employed 

 in building we may see thousands of bees hanging idly at 

 the top of the hive. These are all bees whose laminae of 

 wax are about to separate. When they have fallen off, 

 the activity of the bee revives, and its place is occupied 

 for the same purpose by another. 



