40 
On Rational Bee-Keeping, 
CHAPTER VI. 
ON THE CONTENTS OF THE HIVE. 
HONEY. 
Honey is the liquid matter which the bee 
gathers by means of its proboscis or tongue, by 
plunging it into the calyx of the flower. As we 
shall show later on, honey is made use of in 
forming the wax destined for the construction 
of the comb ; but it is also used for feeding the 
bees, and for satisfying many different wants. 
WAX. 
Wax is the produce of a secretion from honey. 
Duchet, chaplain at the castle of Remauffens, in 
the canton of Fribourg, was the first to prove 
this fact, and to demonstrate it clearly, more 
than a hundred years ago, in opposition to the 
theory of Reaumur. 
