138 Mr. Hunter's Observations on Bees. 
I have seen a swarm hanging out at the door of a hive, ready 
to take flight, and then return ; a chill has come on, of which 
I was not sensible, and in a few minutes the whole has gone 
back into the hive ; and by the cold increasing, I have at length 
perceived the cause of their return. If rain is coming on, 
we observe them returning home in great quantities, and 
hardly any abroad. The eggs of bees require this heat as 
much as themselves, nor will the maggot live in a cold of 6 o° 
or 70°, nor even their chrysalis. This warmth keeps the wax 
so soft, as to allow them to model it with ease. In glass hives, 
or those that have windows of glass in them, we often find a 
dew on the inside of the glass, especially when the glass is colder 
than the air within: whether this is perspiration from the 
bees, both from their external surface and lungs, or evapora- 
tion from the honey, I cannot say. 
Bees are very cleanly animals respecting themselves, although 
not so respecting the remains of their young. They, I believe, 
seldom or never evacuate their excrement in the hive. I have 
known them confined many days without discharging the con- 
tents of the rectum ; and the moment they got abroad, they 
evacuated in the air, when flying : and they appear to be 
very nice in their bodies, for I have often detected them 
cleaning one another, more especially if by accident they are 
besmeared with honey. 
This animal maybe considered alone, or so far as concerns its 
own oeconomy as an individual, which is common to the most 
solitary animals ; but it can also be considered as a member of 
society, in which it is taking an active part, and in which it 
becomes an object of great curiosity. 
