PROPOLIS. 19 



being unable to dislodge it, they covered it all over with 

 an impervious coat of propolis. 



' For soon in fearless ire, their wonder lost, 

 Spring fiercely from the comb the indignant host, 

 Lay the pierced monster breathless on the ground. 

 And clap in joy their victor pinions round ; 

 While all in vain concurrent numbers strive 

 To heave the slime-girt giant from the hive — 

 Sure not alone by force instinctive swayed. 

 But blest with reason's soul-directing aiS, 

 Alike in man or bee, they haste to pour, 

 Thick, hard'ning as it falls, the flaky shower ; 

 Embalmed in shroud of glue the mummy lies, 

 No worms invade, no foul miasmas rise.' 



Evans. 



" In these instances, who can withhold his. admiration 

 of the ingenuity and judgment of the bees ? In the first 

 case, a troublesome creature gained admission to the hive, 

 which, from its unwieldiness, they could not remove, and 

 which, from the impenetrability of its shell, they could not 

 destroy ; here, then, their only resource was to deprive it 

 of locomotion, and to obviate putrefaction ; both which 

 objects they accomplished most skillfully and securely, 

 and, as is usual with these sagacious creatures, at the least 

 possible expense of labor and materials. They applied 

 their cement where alone it was required — round the 

 verge of the shell. In the latter case, to obviate the evil 

 of decay, by the total exclusion of air, they were obliged 

 to be more lavish in the use of their embalming material, 

 and to case over the ' slime-girt giant,' so as to guard 

 themselves from his noisome smeU. What means more 

 effectual could human wisdom have devised, under similar 

 circumstances ?" 



When any member of a family dies, the bees are be- 

 lieved by many to know what has happened ; and some 



