12 
stomachs. In the first stomach, the nourishing substance 
are converted into honey. If this honey passes from th 
first into the second stomach, it is converted into waz, and 
even into propolis when needed. ‘The labouring bees, in 
the working season, deposit the honey from their first sto 
mach, into the cells of the combs, as a general stock. Th 
queens and drones never return any thing but waz, whi 
they discharge from their mouth like working bees. . 
In winter, bees generally live on the honey which th 
working bees provide in summer; but they may be fed o 
other materials, as sugar, molasses, sirups of fruits, &c. 
If a greater quantity of these articles be supplied than 
sufficient for immediate sustenance, the working bees will 
convert the redundance into honey, and lay it up for future — 
use. ; i 
Bees know their keepers, and seldom attack them; 
otherwise, they are courageous and irritable little insects. 
They know the variations of the atmosphere: they group 
together, and rarely quit the hive when the weather is — 
variable. When one is surprised abroad by a storm, it 
takes shelter under the branches or leaves of the neares 
tree or shrub. tod % 
The ancients were acquainted with the great attachment. 
which bees have for their queen, which they knew only by 
the name of king. Varro informs us, that they are con-— 
stantly attentive to every thing which can contribute to her 
preservation. ‘That they assist her flight, even so far as to” 
peppers and carry her, when she appears too much fa-— 
tigued. a 
It is impossible to. know how long a bee can live. Fewer 
die of old age, than by storms, birds, wasps, moles, and 
other enemies. ‘There is no disease known among them, 
except the dysentery, with which some swarms are acca-. 
sionally, though rarely, affected. But if they have a wing, 
claw,, proboscis, or any part whatever injured, so as to be 
useless, they are, without mercy, expelled the hive, where 
no invalid is suffered to remain, and they perish, victims of _ 
the voracity of other insects. : 
Their cleanliness in the interior of the hive, is sincular. 4 
Xf a bee or embryo dies, it is immediately drageed out ofl 
the hive. They perfectly cleanse the cells (which are al- 
ways first used as a deposit for the eggs of the queen) by 
removing the robes of the nymphs, and the envelopes oO 
the worms, before they use them as stores for their honey. 
