THE BEE. n 



the combs to the ceiling and sticks^ and to some extent 

 it enters into the composition of the comb itself^ being 

 applied as a kind of varnish to give strength and con- 

 sistency to certain portions of the cells. 



We are told by Messrs. Kirby and Spence* that, 

 " in examining the orifice of the yellow cells, their con- 

 tour appeared to the younger Huber to be besmeared 

 with a reddish varnish, unctuous, strong-scented, and 

 similar to, if not the same as propolis. Sometimes 

 there were red threads in the interior, which were also 

 applied round the sides, rhombs, or trapeziums. This 

 solder, as it may be called, placed at the point of con- 

 tact of the different parts, and at the summit of the 

 angles formed by their meeting, seemed to give so- 

 lidity to the cells, round the axis of the longest of 

 which there were sometimes one or two red zones. 

 From subsequent experiments, M. Huber ascer- 

 tairied that this substance was actually propolis, col- 

 lected from the buds of the poplar. He saw them 

 vrith the mandibles draw a thread from the mass of 

 propolis that was most conveniently situated, and, 

 breaking it by a sudden jerk of the head, take it with 

 the claws of their fore legs, and then, entering the 

 cell, place it at the angles, sides, &c., which they 

 had previously planished. The yellow colour, how- 

 ever, is not given by the propolis, and it is not cer- 

 tain to what it is owing. The Bees sometimes mix 

 wax and propoUs and make an amalgam, known to 

 the ancients, and called by them mitys and pisso- 

 * ' Entomology,' new edition, p. 280. 



