HONEY, POLLEN, AND PROPOLIS. 109 



fir, and poplar; and also from the gum which oozes 

 out through the bark of these and other trees. 



' With merry hum the willow's copse they scale, 

 The fir's dark pyramid, or poplar pale, 

 Scoop from the alder's leaf its oozy flood, 

 Or strip the chestnut's resin-coated bud.' 



Evans. 



The bees use it, as you have been told before, for 

 several purposes, but chiefly for filling up all cracks 

 and chinks, which otherwise would let in cold air. 

 But, at the same time, they are quite ready to put it 

 to other uses as occasion offers. 



Here are two curious instances, showing how 

 cunningly and ingeniously they contrive to meet 

 difficulties. A snail once crept into a hive. What 

 could the bees do with it ? They could not sting it 

 through its shell. They could not drag or drive it 

 out. What they did was to surround the edge of the 

 shell with propolis, and so to fasten it down tight to 

 the floor of the hive. A little was sufficient, and all 

 air was excluded, and the snail was, as it were, buried 

 in its own shell. 



On another occasion a slug entered a hive. This 

 the bees soon stung to death. But then, how were 

 they to remove it ? And, if left, the smell of its 

 decay would be unbearable. This apparent puzzle 

 the bees soon solved, for they at once covered the 

 whole body with a coating of propolis, which made it 

 quite as harmless as if it had been buried. 



' For soon in fearless ire, their wonder lost, 

 Spring fiercely from the comb th' indignant host, 



