100 miner's AMERICAN 



I have some singular and interesting remarks to make, 

 on tiie use ^f this substance in particular cases, that 

 came under my own observation, which will come in 

 under the head of the " instinct" or " sagacity"' of bees. 



hubkr's opinion on propolis. 



Huber considered propolis to be a positive genuine 

 production of nature, and not manufactured, but col- 

 lected by the bees from the leaves and branches of cer- 

 tain shrubs and trees, the principal one of which, some 

 apiarians consider to be the tacamabac. 



Ruber's opinion on this subject does not, by any 

 means, set the question at rest. Neither he nor any 

 other person, it is probable, ever saw the bees in the act 

 of gathering this substance ; nor even when gathered by 

 them, on their return to the hives to deposit their bur- 

 dens. The first appearance of this substance is at the 

 places where it is used,^nd since we never see the sub- 

 stance gathered, and know of no shrub, plant or tree, 

 that exudes any precisely such adhesive material, we 

 have no positive proof that it is a natural substance ; 

 still, it seems that it ought to be gathered from shrubs 

 or trees, since so many trees do send out an exudation 

 of analogous features ; but if obtained from trees, why 

 do we not witness the bees returning loaded with it, as 

 they do with pollen ? The fact that we do not see the 

 bees thus returning loaded with it, almost sets the ques- 

 tion at rest, on the score of its being a natural sub- 

 stance. 



According to Huber, the bees have been observed to 



