108 THE BUILDING OF BEES. 



means of its own slime, to one of tlie glass panes. The bees hav- 

 ing discovered the snail, surrounded it, and formed a border of 

 propolis round. the verge of its shell, and fastened it so securely 

 to the glass that it became immovable." — (Bevan.) 



" Forever closed the impenetrable door ; 

 It naught avails that in its torpid veins 

 Year after year, life's loitering spark remains." 



Evans. 



" Maraldi, another eminent Apiarist, states that a snail without 

 a shell having entered one of his hives, the bees, as soon as they 

 observed it, stung it to death ; after which, being unable to dis- 

 lodge 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 aid, 

 Alike in man or bee, they haste to pour. 

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

 Embalmed in shroud of glue the mummy lies, 

 No worms invade, no foul miasmas rise." 



Evans 



242. 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 source 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 appUed 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 



