lie 
SUBSTANCES IN A HIVE. 
gorge it into the cells prepared for its reception. The 
quantity which each bee deposits at one time is very 
small, the honey-bag when full not exceeding the 
size of a pea ; hut the aggregate quantity collected 
by the whole population is prodigious. We have, in 
a fine summer day, repeatedly counted the bees of a 
hive as they return from the fields laden with sweets, 
and found the number to be between sixty and seventy 
in a minute. When the cell is full, it is carefully 
sealed with a waxen cover, and reserved for use in 
winter and spring, particularly in the latter season ; 
for more honey is consumed in the months of March 
and April, when breeding goes on actively, than dur- 
ing the four preceding months. At the same time, 
many cells are left open and half-filled only, for daily 
consumption. It has been a subject of discussion 
among Naturalists, whether the honey, after being 
extracted from the flowers, undergoes any change in 
the stomach of the insect before being deposited in 
the cell. Peburier is of opinion that it is subjected 
to the digestive process. The celebrated John Hun- 
ter thought it remained pure, and in no respect what- 
ever altered, however long it had been retained in 
the stomach of the bee ; and he is followed in this 
conclusion by his countryman, Bonner. Kirby and 
Spence, entomologists of no mean fame, have adopted 
the opposite opinion ; but it does not appear that 
they had been led to this conclusion by the result of 
any experiment instituted for the purpose of deciding 
the matter. Reaumur, however, tells us, that from 
his experiments, he was satisfied that a process of 
