bee-keeper's manual. 109 



a fish, and is taken therefrom by the bee, in threads or 

 strings, and at once made into combs, or it is cast away. 

 That such exudation is ever cast away by the bees, we 

 have no evidence ; yet they can cast it away if they 

 please, consequently, I cannot say that the bees cannot 

 avoid making combs when their hcney-vesicles have 

 been filled. There are instances in which bees are 

 known to remain twenty-four hours in a new hive, with- 

 out working at all in wax ; but in such cases, it is pro- 

 bable that they were not provided with any more honey 

 than just enough to sustain life. 



EXPERIMENT SHOWING FURTHER PROOF THAT WAX IS 

 PRODUCED FROM HONEY. 



In order to show more conclusively that wax-working 

 is carried on, without the use of pollen, or of any sub- 

 stance except honey. I wi)! narrate an experiment that 

 took place last October. 



I had a couple of weak swarms that had gathered no 

 honey beyond their daily supply, and had built but a 

 few short combs. Their numbers were so small that I 

 had no hopes of their being able to survive through the 

 winter. On going to the apiary on a pleasant day, 

 about the 20th of October, I was surprised to see a 

 swarm of bees in the air. They soon clustered and 

 formed a bunch about the size of a quart measure. I 

 found this to be one of the weak swarms before men- 

 tioned, that had left its original tenement for some un- 

 certain destiny. 



I took a new clean hive, and having, with the aid of 



