92 HUMBLE CREATURES. 



tion of fortifications, to keep out enemies from the 

 hive ; and we cannot better illustrate this remarkable 

 property than by quoting from the pages of Kirby 

 and Spence the following account, by Huber, of their 

 operations in this respect : — 



"^To defend themselves from the death's-head 

 hawk-moth, they have recourse to a different pro- 

 ceeding. In seasons in which they are annoyed by 

 this animal, they often barricade the entrance of their 

 hive by a thick wall made of wax and propolis. 

 This wall is built immediately behind, and sometimes 

 in the gateway, which it entirely stops up ; but it is 

 itself pierced with an opening or two, sufficient for the 

 passage of one or two workers. These fortifications are 

 occasionally varied ; sometimes there is only one wall, 

 as just described, the apertures of which are in arcades, 

 and placed in the upper part of the masonry. At 

 others, many Httle bastions, one behind the other, are 

 erected. Gateways, masked by the anterior walls, 

 and not corresponding with those in them, are made 

 in the second hne of building. These casern ented 

 gates are not constructed by the Bees without the 

 most urgent necessity. When their danger is present 

 and pressing, and they are, as it were, compelled to 

 seek some preservative, they have recourse to this 

 mode of defence, which places the instinct of these 

 animals in a wonderful light, and shows how well 

 they know how to adapt their proceedings to circum- 

 stances. Can this be merely sensitive ? When at- 

 tacked by strange bees, they have recourse to a si mil ar 



