THE HONEY-BEE. 
49 
in tins decline of the flowering season, recourse to 
the foul marsh and slimy pool, which they are 
charged with frequenting ? Simply because the pur- 
poses for which they did frequent these unwholesome 
liquids have already been answered. The truth is, 
the Bees have recourse in spring, hut generally 
speaking, in spring only, to dunghills and stagnant 
marshes, for the sake of the salts with which they 
ore impregnated, and which their instinct teaches 
them are advantageous to their health after their 
long winter confinement. If we place before the 
Bees a portion of honey, and a portion of liquid 
drawn from a corrupt source, their choice will com- 
pletely vindicate the purity of their taste, and their 
power of discrimination in the selection of their food. 
It is not meant to be denied, however, that the 
sense of taste in Bees is ever at fault. This would 
be going in the face of some well authenticated in- 
stances of honey being injured, and even rendered 
dangerous, in consequence of the Bees feeding on 
noxious plants. Towards the close of the year, 
when flowers become scarce, and in those parts 
of the country where alders abound, and where 
onions and leeks are cultivated on a large scale, and 
allowed to run to seed, the Bees, from taste, or from 
necessity, or from anxiety to complete their winter 
stores, are seen to feed on these plants, which com- 
municate to the honey a very disagreeable flavour. 
But this is not all. The fact stated by Xenophon 
in the retreat of the Ten Thousand, and confirmed 
by Diodorus Siculus, proves that there are plants in 
JD 
