304 APPENDIX. 



(From page 28 of the same work.) In order to 

 ascertain how much honey bees require to form wax, and 

 how often, in a swarm engaged in building, the laminae 

 attain maturity and fall off, I made the following experi- 

 ment, which appears to me not uninteresting. 



On the 29th of August, of this year (1841), at a time 

 when the bees could obtain in this district no farther 

 supply of honey from the fields, I emptied a small hive, 

 placed the bees in a small wooden hive, having first 

 selected the queen bee, and shut her up in a box, furnished 

 with wires, which I placed in the only door of the hive, 

 so that no embryos could enter the cells. I then placed 

 the hive in a window, that I might be able to watch it. 



At 6 P.M. I gave the bees 6oz. of honey run from the 

 closed cells, which had thus the exact consistence of 

 freshly made honey. This had disappeared next morning. 

 In the evening of the 30th I gave the bees 6oz. more, 

 which, in like manner, was removed by the next morning ; 

 but already some laminae of wax were seen lying on the 

 paper with which the honey was covered. On the 31st 

 August and the 1st September the bees had in the 

 evening lOoz., and on the 3rd of September in the evening 

 7oz. ; in all, therefore, lib. 13oz. of honey, which had 

 run cold out of cells which the bees had already closed. 

 On the 5th of September I stupifted the bees, by means 

 of puff-ball, and counted them. Their number was 2,765, 

 and they weighed lOoz. I next weighed the hive, the 

 combs of which were well filled with honey, but the cells not 

 yet closed ; noted the weight, and then allowed the honey 

 to be carried off by a strong swarm of bees. This was 

 completely effected in a few hours. I now weighed it a 

 second time, and found it 12 oz. lighter; consequently the 

 bees still had in the hive 12 oz. of the 29oz. of honey 

 given to them. I next extracted the combs, and found 



