wax. 77 



excrescence, exudation or ■production of the body of 

 the bee; and that as the queen bee can lay eggs 

 when she pleases, if need requires, so the working 

 bees can produce wax from the substance of their 

 own bodies." 



The truth of this can be easily demonstrated by 

 any one who is curious to examine for himself, by 

 putting a small swarm of bees into an observatory 

 hive, destitute of combs ; confine them in this, and 

 give them them a liberal supply of strained honey, 

 if you please, or a nice syrup made from refined 

 sugar; in the course of twenty-four hours combs will 

 be commenced. If the weather is warm, and the 

 swarm contains a quart or more of bees, liberally 

 fed, in two or three days time they will construct 

 several square inches of beautiful white comb ; the 

 color, however, is varied a little by the kind of honey 

 or syrup on which the bees are feed ; if very daj'k, 

 the comb will be rather of a brownish cast ; if white, 

 or light colored honey or syrup, the wax produced 

 will be very white. This experiment may be tried 

 again and again, by removing the swarm from this 

 hive into an empty one ; feed them only with syrup 

 or honey, without a particle of bee-bread, and confine 

 them so that none are permitted to go abroad to pro- 

 cure it. The result will be the same ; wax will be 

 produced and comb built. Huber tried this experi- 

 ment with the same swarm, by removing it thus 

 seven times, with the same results. 



I have frequently seen the wax in very thin flakes 

 or scales exuding from the rings or folds of the ab- 

 1* 



