Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy. Inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc / by John Hunter ... With notes by Richard Owen.
- John Hunter
- Date:
- 1840
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Observations on certain parts of the animal oeconomy. Inclusive of several papers from the Philosophical transactions, etc / by John Hunter ... With notes by Richard Owen. Source: Wellcome Collection.
433/494 page 425
![reason to believe that they fill their crops with honey when they come away; probably from the stock in the hive. I killed several of those that came away, and found their crops full, while those that remained in the hive had their crops not near so full: some of them came away with farina on their legs, which I con- ceive to be rather accidental. I may just observe here, that a hive commonly sends off two, sometimes three swarms in a summer ; but that the second is commonly less than the first, and the third less than the second; and this last has seldom time to provide for the winter: they shall often threaten to swarm, but do not; whether the threatening is owing to too many bees, and their not swarming Is owing to there being no queen, I do not know. It sometimes ~ happens that the swarm shall go back again; but in such instances ] have reason to think that they have lost their queen, for the hives to which their swarm have come back do not swarm the next warm day, but shall hang out for a fortnight or more, and then swarm; and when they do, the swarm is commonly much larger than be- fore, which makes me suspect that they waited for the queen that was tohave gone off with the next swarm. So far we have set the colony in motion. The materials of their dwelling, or comb, which is the wax, is the next consideration, with the mode of forming, preparing, or disposing of it. In giving a to- tally new account of the wax, I shall first show it can hardly be what it has been supposed to be. First I shall observe that the materials, as they are found composing the comb, are not to be found in the same state (as a composition) in any vegetable, where they have been supposed to be got. The substance brought in on their legs, which is the farina of the flowers of plants, is, in common, I believe, imagined to be the materials of which the wax is made, for it is called by most the wax: but itis the farina, for it is always of the same colour as the farina of the flower where they are gather- ing; and indeed we see them gathering it, and we also see them covered almost all over with it, like a dust; nevertheless, it has been supposed to be the wax, or that the wax was extracted from it. Reaumur is of this opinion. I made several experiments to see if there was such a quantity of oil in it as would account for the quantity of wax to be formed, and to learn if it was composed of oil. I held it near the candle; it burnt, but did not smell like wax, and had the same smell when burning, as farina when it was burnt. I observed that this substance was of different colours on different bees, but always of the ‘same colour on both legs of the same bee ;* ~ * (Aristotle, who describes many interesting particulars of the economy of the bee, and knew something of the structure of the interior of the hive, was the first to observe that a bee in each single excursion from the hive always visits the same species of flower, and consequently comes home laden with pollen of the same colour. This has been confirmed by all subsequent observers, and, as we see, did not escape Mr. Hunter. The necessity for this instinct arises out of the operation which the pollen first undergoes; the bee rakes out the pollen with incredible quickness by means of its first pair of legs, then passes it to the middle pair, which transfer it to the hind legs, by which it is wrought up into 37*](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b33292292_0433.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
