BEES, BEE-HIVES, AND BEE CULTURE. 93 



have this glue before they can begin to build their combs, they 

 will resort to most unlikely places to obtain it. Sometimes they 

 will enter a paint sliop and attack the varnish, and it is said they 

 have been seen to obtain propolis from the pitch and rigging of a 

 ship. These circumstances afford . intelligible hints to the apiarian, 

 who, if his bees have not easy access to firs, poplars, or willows, 

 will provide some glutinous or resinous matter which may serve for 

 a substitute. The extracting of the propolis costs the bees very 

 considerable labour, which they should be relieved of as much as 

 possible, in order to facilitate their great work of honey gathering. 

 Bees choose the warmer part of the day during which to gather 

 propoHs, as then it. does not so rapidly stiffen. Frequently when 

 they arrive at the hive it has become so hard that the other bees 

 are scarcely able to gnaw it from their thighs. 



"With propolis bees fasten down their liives, stop up crevices to 

 exclude moths and ants, and sometimes use it to narrow the 

 entrance of their hive against the invasion of wasps. Extraordinary 

 anecdotes are told of the prompt and ingenious use they make of 

 this substance. Eeaumur relates that a snail having been observed 

 by the bees on the window of the hive, they proceeded to glue the 

 shell to the glass, and there sealed down the intruder in hopeless 

 durance. In another case, that of a slug, or snail without a shell, 

 the bees having slain it with their stings, were quite unable to 

 remove it from the hive. With wonderful foresight, they then 

 proceeded to secure their community from the noxious effects likely 

 to arise from the decay of the carcase ; and this they did by 

 completely enveloping it with a coating of impervious varnish. 

 Huish relates a similar occurrence in the case of a mouse caught 

 in a hive by bees. Propolis yields benzoic acid, and contains 

 some aromatic properties. 



PASTUEAGE POR BEES. 



" Bees work for man ; aud yet they never bruise 

 Their master's flower, but leave it, having done. 

 As fair as ever, and as fit for use " 



Apiarians generally agree in the opinion that very little can be 

 done in the way of providing any special forage for bees. Yet bee- 

 fanciers are always interested in observing which the flowers are 



