COLOUR OP THE ORIFICE OF THE CELLS. 397 



further, we find that he declares the cells at their formation 

 to be a dull white colour, and that in a few days they become 

 yellow, which colour he affirms arises, particularly round 

 the orifices of the cells, from the bees having employed a 

 different substance in their formation, viz. propolis, and not 

 wax. He, however, directly afterwards contradicts himself, 

 and says, that this yellow colour is not imparted by propolis, 

 and, in fact, he hesitates not to confess that he does not know 

 what it is. In default of arriving at a certainty, the next best 

 step is undoubtedly an appeal to conjecture ; and accordingly, 

 Huber conjectures, that it is not produced by the heat of the 

 hive, but that it may be ascribed to " the bees rubbing their 

 feet, teeth, and other parts of their body on the surface when 

 they seem to rest." 



Now we will put the question to Messrs. Kirby and 

 Rennie, whether, on examining the combs of a swarm 

 about a week after it has been settled, they be not found of a 

 yellowish tinge? and this proceeds, in the first place, from 

 the interior heat of the hive, and that colour becomes deeper 

 and deeper, until at last it appears as a deep black ; and yet 

 Huber, the highly vaunted experienced Huber, says, that he 

 does not know why the edge of the orifice of the cells is of 

 a deeper colour than the cell itself. The cause, however, 

 of this, to Huber, unaccountable phenomenon, is obvious 

 to the meanest capacity. The cell itself being a simple 

 scale of wax, is purely white ; whereas the edge of the cell, 

 which may be called a layer of scales, and consequently more 

 opaque, assumes a deeper and yellowish tinge, and such is 

 the case with all colours where the substance increases in 

 thickness. Independently of which, the orifices of the cells by 

 the continual travel of the bees over them, and their more 

 immediate exposure to the heat of the hive, assumes a deeper 

 colour than the interior of the cell, which is not subject to 

 any exterior action or exposure. 



Treating of the formation of wax, L'Abbe della Rocca says, 

 s 3 



