93 



worked in wax in his own hives, and in those of the 

 other cultivators of the district. 



There is still another sort of bees, first observed by 

 Huber in 1809, 'which appear to be only casual in- 

 mates of the hi\e, and which are driven forth to 

 starve, or are killed in conflict. They closely resem- 

 ble the ordinary workers, but are less hairy, and of 

 a much darker colour. These have been called 

 black bees, and are supposed by Huber to be defec- 

 tive bees;* but Kirby and Spence conjecture that 

 they are toil-worn superannuated workers, of no 

 farther use, and are therefore sacrificed, because bur- 

 densome to a community which tolerates no un- 

 necessary inmates. The very great numbers of 

 black bees, however, which sometimes appear, does 

 not well accord with such an opinion. The subject 

 remains, therefore, still in uncertainty. 



Preparation of Wax. 



In order to build the beautiful combs, which every 

 one must have repeatedly seen and admired, it is 

 indispensable that the architect-bees should be pro- 

 vided with the materials — \vith the wax, in short, of 

 which they are principally formed. Before we follow 

 them, therefore, to the operation of building, it may 

 be necessary to inquire how the wax itself is pro- 

 cured. Here the discoveries of recent inquirers have 

 been little less singular and unexpected than in other 

 departments of the history of these extraordinary in- 

 sects. Now that it has been proved that wax is 

 secreted by bees, it is not a little amusing to read 

 the accounts given by our elder naturalists, of 

 its being collected from flowers. Our countryman, 



* Huber on Bees, p. 338. 



