300 MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. [Ch. vi. 



may regard it as a sure sign that no young bees are there 

 hatching, and consequently that the hive is without a 

 queen. Mr. Mahan, of Philadelphia, once met with a 

 hive which no pollen had been seen to enter for twenty- 

 eight days ; he put a queen into it, took out his watch, 

 and observed in three and a half minutes a bee come in 

 with pollen on its legs — many more speedily following ! 



Some remarks on the services which bees render to 

 flowers will be found in the section upon " Faculties and 

 Functions " (page 55). 



§. VI. PROPOLIS, OR BEES' CEMENT. 



" Propolis " is a Greek word which originally signified 

 " the outskirts of a city," but was adopted by Latin 

 writers on bees to denote the sticky substance with 

 which these city-rearing insects protect their outskirts. 

 It is "a resinous substance, very tenacious and semi- 

 transparent," which is indispensable for the bees as a 

 cement wherewith to fix their combs and fortify their 

 hives against intruders.* The bees, in working the pro- 

 polis, often soften it by blending it with a portion of 

 wax; but they have to extract it in its natural state 

 directly from the bark and buds of certain trees. The 

 bark of the willow, the leaf-buds of the poplar and alder, 

 and the unopened blossoms of the hollyhock are very 

 usual sources of propolis. In the case of a new swarm, 



* Egyptian bees, however, substitute wax, as stated on page 50. 



