THE S\VARA\ 



in dew. makes the appointed hour seem 

 lag-gard. Over the whole surface of the 

 §:o!den corridors that divide the parallel 

 walls the workers are busily making pre- 

 paration for the journey. And each one 

 will first of all burden herself with pro- 

 vision of hone\' sunlcient for tlve or six 

 days. From this honey that they bear 

 within them they will distil, by a chem- 

 ical process still unexplained, the wax 

 required for the immediate construction 

 of buildings. They will provide them- 

 selves also with a certain amount of 

 propolis, a kind of resin with \\'hich 

 thev will seal all the crevices in the new 

 dsvelling. strengthen weak places, varnish 

 the walls, and exclude the light: for the 

 bees love to work in almost total obscu- 



[27] 



