104 miner's ameeic'an 



honey and pollen. No other substance was ever seen 

 to be brought in by them ; and the consequence is, that 

 wax is either made of one or the other of these two sub- 

 stances. There is no mistake on this point. Now, let 

 us consider what ground we have for supposing that 

 wax is formed from pollen or bee-bread. Firstly : pol- 

 len is only known to be placed in the cavities of bees' 

 legs — not taken into the stomach of the bee, in its ori- 

 ginal state at all. Secondly : pollen is known to be the 

 food of the larvae, and the manner of gathering this arti- 

 cle shows conclusively to most apiarians, that this is 

 its sole use. 



APIARIANS CONTEND THAT WAX IS MADE OF POLLEN. 



There are a few apiarians who contend that wax is 

 elaborated from pollen, but I consider, from iSie perusal 

 of their arguments, that a desire to contend with higher 

 authorities, has influenced them in the promulgation of 

 their theories. 



Pollen is gathered in the months of April, May and 

 June, in the largest quantities. At this season breeding 

 is at its height, and consequently more of this substance 

 is required. In some hives, during these months, comb- 

 making is carried on extensively; for instance, when 

 ihe bees commence labors in the supers or chambers of 

 their hives, or in cases in which the whole interior of 

 their permanent domicil is not yet filled with combs ; but 

 in no instance did I ever know of a family of bees gath- 

 ering a particle more pollen on account of such comb- 



