THE CHEMISTRY OF THE HIVE. 
597 
water, and then, whilst screening from the action of 
direct sunlight, lest melting occur, exposing the films, 
upon canvas, to the action of the air — ozone being, 
as I have just stated, the bleaching agent. Wax 
may also be chemically bleached by the action of 
chlorine, or, indirectly, by nitric acid, as follows : To 
I lb. of melted beeswax, add 2 oz. of pulverised nitrate 
of soda ; then stir in, by degrees, i oz. of sulphuric 
acid, diluted in 8oz. of water. After partial cooling, 
boiling water is poured in, to remove the newly-formed 
sulphate of soda and the remaining acids. The wax 
is now white and translucent, less unctuous than 
before, and without taste or smell. Bleached wax is 
harder than the unbleached, its melting-point being 
raised, by the processes through which it passes, from 
6° to 8°. On this account it is little fit for apiary 
work, and so has here no particular interest. 
Pollen has received, in Vol. I., detailed attention, 
both in its relation to plant-fertilisation — to effect 
which the bee is so frequently the agent — and in 
relation to the food of the larvae. It is gathered by 
bees, most generally, simultaneously with honey, and, 
although usually carried back to the pollen-basket of 
the third pair of legs, when on the wing, it may be 
duly stored without flying, as I have often noticed 
when bees gather from some composite flowers, such 
as single dahlias. That bees have this power, may 
be interestingly proved by making a paper case, or 
packet, about ^in. or Jin. deep, and open at one end. 
If pea or lentil flour be placed in this, the bees will, 
when taking artificial pollen, enter in numbers, and, 
while within, will pack up the farina into large 
