d at the
entrance of the hive, and very soon a number of the working bees start
on their first trip to the fields and begin to come back laden with
nectar and pollen....

Let us now lift up, so far as we may, one of the folds of this
garlanded curtain in the midst of which the swarm is beginning to
produce that strange exudation which is almost as white as snow, and
is lighter than the down on a bird's breast. The wax which is now
being made does not resemble at all that with which we are acquainted.
It is colorless, and may be said to be imponderable. It is the very
soul of the honey, which in its turn is the very spirit of the
flowers, evolved by the bees in a species of silent and motionless
incantation....

* * * * *

It is very difficult to follow the various phases of the secretion and
of the manner in which the wax is evolved by the swarm which is just
beginning to build. The operation takes place in the midst of a dense
crowd which becomes constantly more and more dense, thus producing a
temperature favorable to the exudation of the wax in its first stage.

Huber, who was the first to study these operations with marvellous
patience, and sometimes not without personal danger, has written more
than fifty pages on the subject, but they are very confused. For
myself, as I am not writing a scientific book, I shall confine myself
to describing what anybody can see if he will watch the movements of a
swarm in a glass hive. At the same time I shall not fail to avail
myself of Huber's studies whenever they may prove to be of service. We
must admit at the very outset that the process by which the honey is
transformed into wax in the bodies of this mysterious curtain of bees
is still hidden in mystery. All that we know is that after about
eighteen or twenty-four hours in a temperature so high that one might
almost imagine there was a fire in the hive, small, white, transparent
scales appear at the opening of the four little pockets which are to
be found on each side of the abdomen of the bee. When the larger part
of those who form the reversed cone have their abdomens decorated with
these little ivory plates, one of them may be seen, as if under the
influence of a sudden inspiration, to detach itself from the crowd and
climb over the backs of its passive brethren until it reaches the apex
of the cupola of the hive; attaching herself firmly to the top, she
immediately sets to work to brus