98 
BEE FASTUKAGE. 
ered upon this region ; or I may have failed to bring 
my imagination to assist me to convert common dew 
into the real article. 
SINGULAR SECRETION. 
I once discovered bees collecting a secretion uncon- 
nected with flowers; but was not honey-dew, as it has 
been described. I was passing a bush of Witch-hazel, 
( Ilamamelis Virginiana ,) and was arrested by an un- 
usual humming of bees. At first I supposed that a 
swarm was about me, yet it was late in the season, (it 
being about the 25th July.) On close inspection, I 
found the bush contained numerous warty excrescen- 
ces, the size and shape of a hickory-nut. These prov- 
ed to be only a shell — the inside lined with thousands 
of minute insects, a species of aphis. These appeared 
to be engaged sucking the juices, and discharging a 
clear, transparent fluid. Near the stem was an orifice 
about an eighth of an inch in diameter, out of which 
this liquid would gradually exude. So eager were 
the bees for this secretion, that several would crowd 
around one orifice at a time, each endeavoring to 
thrust th'e other away. This occurred several years 
ago, and I never have been able to find anything like 
it since ; neither have I learned whether it is common 
in other sections. 
SECRETIONS OF TIIE APHIS. 
The liquid ejected by the aphis, (plant louse,) when 
feeding or sucking the juices of tender leaves, and re- 
ceived by the ants that are always in attendance, is 
