THE HIYE BEE. 525 



immediately begin to lay the foundations of their combs. This is an 

 operation, which they execute with surprising quickness and alacrity 

 Soon after they have begun to construct one comb, they divide into 

 two or three companies, each of which, in different parts of the hive, 

 is occupied in similar operations. By this division of labor, a great 

 number of Bees have an opportunity of being employed at the same 

 time, and consequently, the common work is sooner finished. The 

 combs are generally arranged in a direction parallel to each other 

 An interval or street between them is always left, that the Bees may 

 have a free passage, and an easy communication with the different 

 combs in the hive. These streets are just wide enough to allow two 

 Bees to pass one another. Besides these parallel streets, the Bees to 

 shorten their journey when working, leave several cross passages, 

 which are always covered. 



They are extremely solicitous to prevent insects of any kind from 

 getting admittance into their hives. To accomplish this purpose, and 

 to shut out the cold, they carefully examine every part of their hive; 

 and if they discover any holes or chinks, they immediately paste them 

 firmly up with a resinous substance, which differs considerably from 

 wax. This substance was known to the ancients by the name of 

 propolis, or bee-glue. Bees use the propolis for rendering their hives 

 more close and perfect, in preference to wax, because it is more dur- 

 able, and because it more powerfully resists the vicissitudes of weather 

 than that. This glue is not, like the wax, formed by an animal 

 process. The Bees collect it from different trees, such as the poplar, 

 birch, and willow. It is a complete production of nature, and requires 

 no additional manufacture from the animals by which it is employed. 

 After a Bee has procured a quantity sufficient to fill the cavities of its 

 two hind legs, it repairs to the hive. Two of its companions instantly 

 draw out the propolis, and apply it to fill up such chinks, holes, or 

 other deficiencies, as they .^md in their habitation. But this is not 

 the only use to which Bees apply the propolis. They are extremely 

 solicitous to remove such insects or foreign bodies, as happen to get 

 admission into the hive. When tlese are so light as not to exceed 

 their powers, they first kill the insect with their stings, and then drag 

 it out with their teeth. But it sometimes happens, that an ill-fated 

 snail creeps into the hive. This is no sooner perceived, than it is 

 attacked on all sides, and stung to death. But how are the Bees to 

 carry out so heavy a burden '( Such a labor would be in vain. To 

 prevent the noxious odors consequent on its putrefaction, they imme- 

 diately embalm it, by covering every part of its body with propolis, 

 through which nc effluvia can escape. 



But propolis, and the materials for making wax, are not :he only 

 substances, which these industrious animals have to collect. As, 

 d jring the whole winter, and even during many days in summer, the 

 Bees are prevented by the weather from going abroad in quest of * 

 provisions, they are under the necessity of collecting and amassing, iu 

 cells destined for the purpose, large quantities of honey. This, by 

 means of their trunk, they extract from the nectariferous glands of 

 flowers The trunk of the Bee is a kind of rough, cartilaginous tongue. 



