VO BEE PASTUBAGE. 



ered upon this region ; . or I may have failed to bring 

 my imagination to assist me to convert common dew 

 into the real article. 



SINGULAR SECRETION. 



I once discovered bees collecting a secretion uncon- 

 nected with flowers ; but was not honey-dew, as it has 

 been described. I was passing a bush of Witch-hazel, 

 (Uamamelis Virgtniana,) and was arrested by an un- 

 usual humming of bees. At first I supposed that a 

 swarm was about me, yet it was late in the season,- (it 

 being about the 25th July.) On close inspection, I 

 found the bush contained numerous warty excrescen- 

 ces, the size and shape of a hickory-nut. These prov- 

 ed to be only a shell — the inside lined with thousands 

 of minute insects, a species of aphis. These appeared 

 to be engaged sucking the juices, and discharging a 

 clear, transparent fluid. Near the stem was an orifice 

 about an eighth of an inch in diameter, out of which 

 this liquid would gradually exude. So eager were 

 the bees for this secretion, that several would crowd 

 around one orifice at a time, each endeavoring to 

 thrust the other away. This occurred several years 

 ago, and I never have been able to find anything like 

 it since ; neither have I learned whether it is common 

 in other sections. 



SECRETIONS OF THE APHIS. 



The liquid ejected by the aphis, (plant louse,) when 

 feeding or sucking the juices of tender leaves, and re- 

 ceived by the ants that are always in attendance, is 



