CONTENTS. XXV 



PA HE 



paid to the second honey— Method adopted by the French 

 to impart a peculiar flavour to honey — Different colours 

 of honey — The quality of honey differs according to the 

 country in which it is collected — False prejudices respect- 

 ing honey gathered from heath— Richness of that shrub 

 in honey — The criteria of good honey — Method of restor- 

 ing honey deteriorated by fermentation — Adulteration of 

 honey — Erroneous system of the cottagers — Different 

 methods of adulterating honey — Method of detecting it.. . 368 



CHAPTER XIX. 



ON THE NATURE AND ORIGIN OF WAX. 



Origin of wax according to Huber — Honey the component 

 principle of wax — The fanciful conceits of Huber — Opinion 

 relative to the nature of wax, inserted in the " Spectacle 

 de la Nature"- — Hypothesis of John Hunter — Its falsity — 

 Analogy between silk and wax as elaborated substances — 

 The elements of pollen different from those of wax — The 

 experiments of Huber inconclusive — Wax, according to 

 Huber, formed by exudation— Hypothesis of Latreille — 

 The wax pockets of Huber — Analysis of wax by Martin — 

 Opinion advanced in the " Dictionnaire des Sciences Na- 

 turelles" — Experiment to determine the farina of plants 

 being taken into the second stomach of the bee — Com- 

 parison of the discovery of Huber with the hypothesis of 

 Latreille, Martin, Dr. Howison, &c. — Scales of wax, ac- 

 cording to Huber, found between the rings of the abdomen 

 — Contradictions of Huber — Wax a crude production of 

 nature, confirmed by Mr. Knight — Objections to that hy- 

 pothesis — Huber's description of the bees secreting wax 

 — Festoons of bees — Errors disseminated by the " Society 

 for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge" — The bee a solitary 

 worker — Different labours of the bees — The wax secreted 

 exteriorly to the hive — Construction of a cell by a bee, 

 according to the vision of Huber — Progress of the forma- 

 tion of a comb — The structure of a cell never yet observed 

 — System adopted by the bees in the formation of a comb 

 — Enormous comb made by the bees, according to Huber 

 — General si <:e of the combs— The comb of Huber a direct 

 impossibility — An unlimited space not favourable to the 

 works of the bees — Restriction of their limits, exemplified 

 in the forests of Poland and the Ukraine— Swarms, ac- 

 cording to Huber, do not bring home pollen — Disproved 

 by experience — Arguments in favour of the formation of 

 wax from pollen — A cell never entirely filled with pollen — 

 The edges of the combs, according to Huber, made with 

 propolis— The colour of the combs not caused by heat — 



