SUMMER MANAGEMENT. 175 
times when the bees are at full work) be opened to 
its whole extent.* 
Wax and Combs.—The material of which the 
combs are so curiously formed is wax, secreted by the 
bees themselves, and not any substance directly 
conveyed into the hive, as is sometimes erroneously 
supposed. Its component parts are carbon, oxygen, 
and hydrogen. To enable them to form this 
secretion, the workers must have access to honey or 
some other saccharine matter; and this is the first 
thing sought by a new colony. The quantity 
* To the spectator the view of a recent swarm is animated in the 
extreme, and probably suggested the 
SONG OF THE BEES, 
We watch for the light. of the morn to break, 
And colour the eastern sky 
With its blended hues of saffron and lake ; 
Then say to each other, ‘‘ Awake, awake ! 
For our winter’s honey is all to make, 
And cur bread for a lung supply.” 
Then off we hie to the hill and the dell, 
To the field, the wildwood, and bower ; 
In the columbine’s horn we love to dwell, 
To dip in the lily, with snow-white bell, 
To search the bal n in its odorous cell, 
The thyme and the rosemary flower. 
We seek for the bloom of the eglantine, 
The lime, pointed thistle, and brier ; 
And follow the course of the wandering vine, 
Whether it trail on the earth supine, 
Or round the aspiring tree-top twine, 
And reach for a stage still higher. 
As each for the good of the whole is bent, 
And stores up its treasure for all, 
We hope for an evening with hearts content, 
For the winter of life without lament 
That summer is gone, with its hours misspent, 
And that harvest is past recall ! 
