166 The BOOK of 
and may be all melted. . On the contrary, the 
wax that is whitened by bleaching, and which 
is fold in the fhops by the title of virgin wax, 
has nothing but the name, fince it lofes a great 
part of its ftrength by being adulterated with 
powdered talc, and bleached in the fun. 
The honey likewife which is collected pure. 
in thefe virgin cells, and flows again out of 
them fpontaneoufly and without preffure, is 
pure virgin honey, better and more perfect 
than any other honey whatfoever. 
It is feldom obferved, as the Bee-keepers 
fay, that the cell of a female is joined to the 
cells of the males: but experience’ has taught 
me the contrary of this, having in my poffef- 
fion at this time a fpecimen, in which the cell 
of a female is built adjoining to thofe of the 
males, As many others, fo this error had its 
origin from that imagined regal dignity, which 
they have wrongly afcribed to the female ; for 
from this the notion was eftablithed, that the 
favour of coming fo near to the king was too 
great to be granted to the drone. But the ac- 
cefs of the drone to the queen is fo neceffary, 
that fhe cannot be impregnated unlefs fhe be 
firft familiar with, and affifted by the fperma- 
tic virtue of the drone, who is the true and 
only male. 
All the families of the tripple kind of Bees 
would therefore perifh, unlefs there were this 
intercourfe: fince what is erroneoufly called 
the drone is the real male Bee, and therefore 
does not claim to himfelf a lower place in the 
hive than the queen herfelf the female parent. 
‘To this may be added, that the drone is more 
tractable and mild. in its conduct and difpofi- 
tion than the two other kinds of Bees, for it 
employs its whole time in the labour of love 
and procefs of generation; nor is it armed with 
a fting as the others, nor to be dreaded for its 
rmifchievous qualities. 
To conclude, how do the Bees make thefe 
cells? and by what art do they build them in 
fo ftupendousa manner, fo regularly, that they 
cannot be fimply or plainly delineated but with 
great labour, and by the intervention of fome 
new fpecies of lines, and not even then with- 
out committing great errors? He furely who 
fees all things, and promotes the generation of 
the wild herds; He, and He only knows this. 
I fhould think this matter may be probably in- 
veftigated and brought to light, if any one 
would labour at it with the needful diligence 
and attention: nay, Iam confident, that I my- 
felf could fucceed in the inquiry, if I had an 
opportunity of feeding the Bees for fix months, 
and enjoying the peaceful blefling of a country 
life. However this matter may be, I confefs 
myfelf now as ignorant thereof as all others. 
However, I firmly believe, that the Bees make 
ufe chiefly of their teeth for this bufinefs : 
hence the common Bees which alone build all 
the cells of the hive, have much larger teeth than 
either the females or the males; nay, the males 
have {till fmaller teeth than the females, and 
probably the males have them for no other pur- 
NATURE; or, 
poles, but to bite open their little cells when they 
are come to full maturity therein, or to open 
thofe filled with honey when they want to eat. 
Whether the legs of the Bees, between the 
claws of which a fingular kind of foft matter 
is produced in knobs, contribute in any mea- 
fare to perfect and elaborate the wax, I am 
likewife hitherto at a lofs to difcover. Yet I 
{carce doubt, but that humour which paffes 
through the fting of the Bees alfo conduces 
fomewhat to prepare the wax, and fit it for 
building the cells. It would be worth while 
to examineall thefe points more accurately. It 
is very wonderful to fee how inftantancoufly 
the Bees, when they are offended, emit all their 
poifon through their fting. This poifon may 
be feen at the end of the fting, and is likea 
little drop of cryftal. But if this little drop, 
while ftill adhering to the extremity of the 
fting, be fuffered to grow dry, it then remains 
pellucid and concretes, and is like the boiled 
cryftaline lens of a fith’s eye; it is therefore 
very eafily condenfed by the circumambient 
air. 
Since I am treating of the wonderful induftry 
of this little creature, which, however, is not 
more remarkable than that which all other in- 
fets thew, according to their refpective difpo- 
fitions, I cannot help here mentioning, to the 
glory of the great Architect and Artift, he won- 
derful works of a certain infect, the external 
form of which has been very clearly defcribed 
by Goedaert in the firft part of his Nat. Meta- 
mor. Exper. x. This infect is the nocturnal 
Butterfly or Moth, which glues its eggs fo 
ftrongly and firmly in the form of a circle to 
the branches of trees, that they make an im- 
preffion upon the bark, and often prevent the 
increafe of the branches. What occurs here 
very extraordinary is, that the eggs of this in- 
fect are formed in the fame manner as thofe 
hewn ftones, which are adapted to build the 
arches and roofs of houfes, and have one fide 
narrow and the other broad, that they may 
be the more exactly joined together, and con- 
ftitute one firm arched form. They may like- 
wife be compared to the lines of a circle drawn 
from the center to the circumference, which 
are the nearer to each other the more they 
approach to the center, and diverge towards the 
circumference. In this manner has the fupreme 
Archite&t, the Almighty, formed thefe eggs, 
which are artificially and in a fpiral curvature 
fo ftrongly glued together, and affixed to the 
tender branches of trees, by this infe&t, who 
for that purpofe walks many times about the 
branches, that they cannot be loofened by rain, 
or any other liquid that I have yet applied. 
Out of thefe eggs, which, according to the ac- 
cuftomed order of nature, by which the egg 
of the Butterfly is only a Worm inclofed in 
its fhell or cafe, fhould have produced Worms 
or Catterpillars, I have feen Flies wonder- 
fully fmall, immediately iffuing in their perfect 
ftate. ‘This obfervation feems to me to be the 
moft extraordinary of all in this part of a 
ral 
