602 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
buds, extracted the varnish in threads, and loaded 
with it, first one thigh, and then the other; for they 
convey it like pollen (page 13 1, Vol. I.), transferring 
it by the first pair of legs to the second, by which 
it is lodged in the hollow of the third. Bees 
are not only exceedingly clever in finding natural 
sources of supply, but they freely adopt artificial ones, 
pressing into their service resinous gums, varnishes, 
and even pitch. They also value propolis as a second- 
hand article, and will scrape it from old, disused hives 
and coated quilts, making such, in case of disease, a 
fruitful source of trouble. Bees in some localities — 
those devoid of trees — carry scarcely any propolis. 
In one such case in my knowledge, sunflowers were 
made to yield a substitute, in the transparent, adhe- 
sive exudation they furnish. 
If a piece of propolis be placed on the finger, and 
a seat be taken near a hive, ere long a bee will be 
at work appropriating the treasure ; and in this way 
I have studied, with a hand magnifier, their methods 
of packing it. The mandibles, by a gnawing process, 
cut off a ribbon, which passes down under the thorax. 
This, by a process of mastication, is softened, and 
carried by the legs, backwards, without soiling any 
part of the body, and finds its way to the pollen (?) 
basket, wTere it glistens like a tiny, brown, glass bead. 
The bee, loaded, returns to the hive, and here the 
expectant painters lay hold of the material with their 
mandibles, pull it off in strings, and apply it as 
desired ; for it is never packed in cells, but put into 
position at once, the propolis-carrier thus not un- 
loading herself, as in the case of pollen. Propolis, in 
