6 
PLllS^Y'S IfATUEAL HISTOEY. [Book XL 
which conceal themselves in the walls of our houses, are much 
sooner sensible of the returning warmth. With reference to 
bees, either seasons and climates have considerably changed, or 
else former writers have been greatly mistaken. They retire 
for the winter at the setting of the Yergiliss, and remain shut 
up till after the rising of that constellation, and not till only 
the beginning of spring, as some authors have stated ; nor, in- 
deed, does any one in Italy ever think of then opening the hives. 
They do not come forth to ply their labours until the bean 
blossoms ; and then not a day do they lose in inactivity, while 
the weather is favourable for their pursuits. 
First of all, they set about constructing their combs, and 
forming the wax, or^ in other words, making their dwellings 
and cells ; after this they produce their young, and then make 
honey and wax from flowers, and extract bee-glue from the 
tears of those trees which distil glutinous substances, the 
juices, gums, and resins, namely, of the willow, the elm, and 
the reed. With these substances, as well as others of a more 
bitter nature, they first line the whole inside of the hive, as a 
sort of protection against the greedy propensities of other small 
insects, as they are well aware that they are about to form 
that which will prove an object of attraction to them. Having 
done this, they employ similar substances in narrowing the 
entrance to the hive, if otherwise too wide. 
CHAP. 6. (5.) THE MEAI^II^G OF THE TEEMS COMMOSIS, PISSO- 
CEEOS, AND PEOPOLIS. 
The persons who understand this subject, call the substance 
which forms the first foundation of their combs, commosis,^^ the 
next, pissoceroSy^"^ and the third propolis which last is placed 
between the other layers and the wax, and is remarkable for 
its utility in medicine.^® The commosis forms the first crust 
or layer, and has a bitter taste ; and upon it is laid the pisso- 
ceros, a kind of thin wax, which acts as a sort of varnish. 
The propolis is produced from the sweet gum of the vine or 
12 " Melligo.'* For further information on this subject consult Bevan 
on the Honey Bee. 
13 Or "conusis," " gummy matter." 
1^ Pitch-wax. 
15 A kind of bee-^lue ; the origin of the name does not seem to be 
known. Reaumur says that they are all diiferent varieties of bee-glue. 
16 See B. xxii. c. 50. 
