w6 .THE HISTORY OF.BEES. 
vidence. Wax, both as it is gathered, and wrought into 
combs, is always white, as any perfon, may jeafily fatisfy 
himfelf, and nothing but the age of the,combs, and. breath 
of the Bees, changes it’s colour, 
- Moreover, itis eafy to obferve, that new {warms for 
the firft, fecond or third day, carry in little or nothing 
of this faid matter ; when in that {pace of time, they 
have (inviftbly) conveyed into the hive fufficient quanti- 
ties of wax, formed into feveral large combs, On the 
contrary it is certain, that when they carry.in mofk a- 
bundantly of the fad matter, they collect the lefs wax, 
and the reafon is plain: the new fwarms want the wax, 
and the.old ftocks want food and nourifhment.for their 
young, 
This. might fatisfy. any perfon that this is not wax, | 
yet I will add a farther proof. For feveral feafons after 
I became a Bee-mafter, I was very defirous and dili- 
gent to find out how, or where, they brought home their 
wax, well knowing that grofs matter to be of a very 
contrary nature, and applied to fome other ufe, but was 
not able, for a confiderable time, to enter into the fe- 
cret. - aay 
At laft, viewing a hive of Bees very bufy at labour, 
I obferved one Bee among the reft as fhe fixed upon the 
alighting place, of an unufual appearance ; upon which 
I feized her dire@ly, before fhe had time to enter the 
hive ; where, with a very fenfible pleafure, I found what 
[had (till then) been-in vain fearching for. Upon the 
belly of this Bee, within the plaits, were fixed no lefs 
than fix pieces of folid wax, perfectly white and tranfpa- 
rent, 
