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__ Pollen is, therefore, a portion of what is properly called 
_ the nourishment of bees, and one of the principles of honey, 
wax, and propolis. But that substance is never applied to. 
that kind of use, given to it by M. Lombard, sect. 5. of the 
first part of his manual. . 
The grains of the pollen, says M. Lombard, are filled with — 
an oily substance, ‘They serve as nourishment for the bees — 
_ in the cradle, (au berceau.) Thus bees are continually seen 
bringing it home, on their hind legs, during the flowering 
season, which is the grand lay of their queen. 
Lhe nourishment of bees in the cradle—This is an inac- 
curate expression. Bees have no need of any nourishment 
in the cradle. The eggs, to which they owe their existence, 
are, after fecundation, enclosed in their cells by pellicles of 
wax. From these eggs are produced, at first, worms, which 
' without the waxen pellicles being broken, live in the cells, 
and there envelop themselves in silken robes, which they 
begin to spin the moment they come out of the eggs, as do 
all other insects of the family of bees, and chrysalids. The — 
silken robes completed, the worms are already metamor- 
phosed into nymphs. ‘They remain still enveloped until 
_ they change again, in form and nature. They finally be- 
come bees. ‘They then burst their cerements, strip off their 
nymphal robes, abandon their cradles, join the other bees, 
and, if the weather permit, fly to the fields, but if the wea- 
ther be unfavourable, they live on honey, like the others. 
But, in its cradle, the bee has eaten nothing: 7 could eat 
nothing, because it was in a sort of prison—like a chicken 
in the egg-shel]. Thus we see the interior workers relieved 
from great embarrassments, gratuitously imposed on them, 
pap-feeders to the worms, and afterwards to the nymphs, 
sometimes exceeding in number fifty thousand. 
Finally, this pollen, which our manual and complete trea- 
tise makers would have to be wild wax, is nothing but a sac- 
charine substance, brought in its native state to the hive, by 
a certain number of the most avaricious neuters, who, not 
satisfied with filling their stomachs, but also load the trian- 
gular pellets of their thighs with pollen. . This pretended 
wild wax does not exist in nature, and the pollen, truly, is 
nothing but a balsamic substance, convertible into honey. 
I even believe, that this substance, before changing its na- 
_ ture, may be a feast for the interior bees, who generally live 
on honey, or even a balsamic remedy, necessary to preserve 
health in the interior of the hive, and finally, that it is only 
on these two accounts that pollen ought to be considered. 
