spired copiously and seemed strongly affected, because they licked the humid sides of their vessel. In another quarter of an hour a cluster, which had formed around a bit of straw, suddenly separated, and each of the bees fell to the bottom of the vessel, incapable of rising. All became asphyxiated in three quarters of an hour; nevertheless, when removed and exposed to the air, they recovered. The males were affected more fatally, for none survived; but the bees in the vessel admitting the air did not suffer. We found the air of the others greatly altered; the oxy gen gas was almost totally consumed, and bees now introduced into it perished.

3-4. Experiment demonstrated, that a new supply of oxygen gas restored the asphyxiated bees. When this gas was pure, some of them put among it lived eight times as long as in common air, but all were suffocated by its conversion into carbonic acid gas.

ARTICLE III. RESEARCHES ON THE MODE OF RENEWING THE AIR IN HIVES.

While investigating all the faculties of bees themselves, which might affect renewal of the internal air, we were struck with the vibration of the wings. We suspected that, having sufficient action to produce the continual buzzing heard within, it might be for the purpose of displacing the air vitiated by respiration. During fine weather, a certain number of bees always appear before the entrance of the hive occupied

in this manner, but still more are found to be engaged in the interior. The ordinary place of ventilation is on the board-those outside of the entrance have their heads turned in towards it; those within have them turned in an opposite direction. We may affirm, that they arrange themselves regularly, to ventilate more at ease. Thus they form files, terminating at the entrance of the hive, and sometimes disposed like so many diverging rays. But this order is not uniform. probably it is owing to the necessity for the ventilating bees giving way to those going and coming, whose rapid course compels them to range themselves in a file, to avoid being hurt or thrown over every instant. Sometimes about twenty bees ventilate at the bottom of a hive; at other times their number is more circumscribed, and their employment of various duration. We have seen them engaged in it during twenty-five minutes, only taking breath, as it were, by the shortest interruption of the vibration. On ceasing, they are succeeded by others, so that there never is any intermission of the buzzing in a populous hive.

EXPERIMENTS DEMONSTRATING THE ORIGIN OF WAX.

The existence of the organs above described, and the scales seen under different gradations, induce us to believe them appropriated for the secretion of wax. But, in common with other animal and vegetable se

cretions, the means by which this is accomplished appears to be carefully vailed by nature.

Our researches by simple observation thus being obstructed, we felt it essential to adopt other methodr for ascertaining whether wax actually is a secretion or the collection of a particular substance.

Providing it were the former, we had first to ver ify the opinion of Reaumur, who conjectured that it came from an elaboration of pollen in the stomach, though we did not coincide with him that bees then disgorged it by the mouth. Neither were we disposed to adopt his sentiments regarding its origin; for, like Hunter, it had struck us that swarms newly settled in empty hives do not bring home pollen, notwithstanding they construct combs, while the bees of old hives, having no cells to build, gather it abundantly. We had, therefore, to learn whether bees, deprived of pollen for a series of time, would make wax, and all that this required was confinement.

On the 24th May, we lodged a swarm which had just left the parent stock, in a straw hive, with as much honey and water as necessary for the consumption of the bees, and closed the entrances so as to prevent all possibility of escape, leaving access for the renewal of the air.

At first the bees were greatly agitated; but we succeeded in calming them by carrying the hive to a cool, dark place, where their captivity lasted five days. They were then allowed to take flight in an apartment, the windows of which were carefully shut,

and where the hive could be examined conveniently The bees had consumed their whole provision of honey; but their dwelling, which did not contain an atom of wax when we established them in it, had now acquired five combs of the most beautiful wax, suspended from its arch, of a pure white, and very brittle. We did not expect so speedy a solution of the problem; but before concluding that the bees had derived the faculty of producing wax from the honey on which they fed, a second experiment, susceptible of no other explanation, was necessary.

The workers, though in captivity, had been able to collect farina; while they were at liberty they might have obtained provisions on the eve or on the day itself of their imprisonment, and enough might have been in the stomach, or on the limbs, to enable them to extract the wax from it that we had found in the hive.

But if it actually came from the farina previously collected, this source was not inexhaustible; and the bees being unable to obtain more, would cease to construct combs, and would fall into absolute inaction. Before proceeding to the second experiment, which was to consist in prolonging their captivity, we took care to remove all the combs they had formed in that preceding. Burnens made them return to the hive, and confined them again with a new portion of honey. The experiment was not tedious. From the evening of the subsequent day, we observed them working in wax anew; and on examining the hive on the third

day, we actually found five combs as regular as those they had made during their first imprisonment.

The combs were removed five times successively, but always under precaution of the escape of the bees from the apartment being prevented, and during this long interval, the same insects were preserved and fed with honey exclusively. Undoubtedly the experiment, had we deemed it necessary, might have been prolonged with equal success.

On each occasion that we supplied them with honey, they produced new combs, which puts it beyond dispute that this substance affected the secretion of wax in their bodies, without the aid of pollen. As the reverse of the preceding experiment would prove whether the pollen itself had the same property, instead of supplying our bees with honey, we fed them on nothing except fruit and farina. They were kept eight days in captivity, under a glass bell with a comb, having only farina in the cells; yet they neither made wax, nor were scales seen under the rings. Could any doubt exist as to the real origin of wax? We entertained none.