22 
noneyin a favorable season. What astonishing 
industry ! Bees collect some part of their honey 
from what is called honey-dew. This is an exu- 
dation found on the leaves of trees in very hot, 
sultry weather. The oak and the chestnut are 
the principal trees which produce this substance 
in any quantity. Repeated observations prove 
that the secretion of honey is powerfully influ- 
enced by the electricity of the atmosphere, and bees 
never labor more actively than during sultry 
weather, and when a storm is approaching. The 
odor exhaled from the hives, and the size of the 
bees, are sure indications whether the flowers con- 
tain honey. Bees are able to store up quantities 
of pollen when the flowers are destitute of honey, 
which is necessary for feeding their young ; part 
of it is immediately given to them, and the re- 
mainder stored up in the cells. The harvest of 
honey is early or later, more abundant or scarce, 
in different years, according to season, variety 
of climate, and situation. Sometimes bees will 
continue in active labor during September, and 
collect pollen till late in October, if frost does not 
prevent. On taking up a hive a few years ago, 
says a writer, the body of a mouse was found en- 
tirely encased in propolis, and so effectually em- 
balmed by their own material as to exclude at- 
mospheric air, and to obviate the possibility of 
annoyance from putrefaction. 
“ Embalmed in shroud of glue, the mummy lies — 
No worms invade, no foul miasmas rise.” — E vaks. 
