WAX. 245 



expeditious mode is to make them drunk. Mix with wa- 

 ter just enough molasses and vinegar to make it palatable ; 

 put it in saucers or other dishes, and set among the hives at 

 night. Like nobler, if not wiser beings, when once they 

 have tasted the fatal beverage, they seem to lose all power 

 to leave the fascinating cup ; and give way to appetite and 

 excitement tUl a fatal step plunges them into destruction. 

 The next morning finds them yet wallowing in filth, weak 

 and feeble. Whether they would recover from the efiects 

 of their carousal, if lifted out of the mire, and carefully 

 nursed like other specimens of creation, I never ascertain- 

 ed. With but little trouble, a chicken or two can be 

 taught to be on hand, and will greedily devour every one. 

 Hundreds may be caught in this way, mixed with many 

 other kinds. I have thought that this liquid answered a 

 better purpose after it had fermented. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



WAX. 

 The unreflecting observer, seeing the bees enter the hive 

 with a pellet of poUen on each posterior leg, is very apt to 

 conclude that it must be material for comb, as it does not 

 resemble honey. There is so little thought on the subject 

 that they do not imagine any other use for it. Others 

 suppose that it will change to honey after being stored in 

 the hive a while, and wonder at the curious phenomenon, 

 but when asked how long a time must elapse before it 

 takes place, they cannot tell exactly, but they " have found 

 cells where it began to change, as a portion near the outer 

 end of the cell had become honey, and, no doubt, the re- 

 mainder would, in time." This conclusion has doubtless 



