ll will admit, "to tell
where instinct ends, and reason begins." Instances of sagacity, like
the following, have been mentioned. "When the weather is warm, and the
heat inside is somewhat oppressive, a number of bees may be seen
stationed around the entrance, vibrating their wings. Those inside will
turn their heads towards the passage, while those outside will turn
theirs the other way. A constant agitation of air is thus created,
thereby ventilating the hive more effectually." _All full stocks do
this in hot weather._

WHAT THEY DO WITH PROPOLIS.

"A snail had entered the hive and fixed itself against the glass side.
The bees, unable to penetrate it with their stings, the cunning
economists fixed it immovably, by cementing merely the edge of the
orifice of the shell to the glass with resin, (propolis), and thus it
became a prisoner for life." Now the instinct that prompts the
gathering of propolis in August, and filling every crack, flaw, or
inequality about the hive, would cement the edges of the snail-shell to
the glass, and a small stone, block of wood, chip, or any substance
that they are unable to remove, would be fastened with it in the same
manner. The edges or bottom of the hive, when in close proximity to the
bottom, is joined to it with this substance. Whatever the obstacle may
be, it is pretty sure to receive a coating of this. The stoppers for
the holes at the top are held in their places on the same principle;
and the unaccountable sagacity that once fastened a little door, might
possibly be nothing more than the same instinct.

Another principle, I think, will be found to be universal with them,
instead of sagacious reasoning.

Whenever the combs in a hive have been broken, or when combs have been
added, as was mentioned in the chapter on fall management, the first
duty of the bees appears to be to fasten them as they are; when the
edges are near the side of the hive, or two combs in contact, a portion
of wax is detached and used for joining them together, or to the side.

MENDING BROKEN COMBS.

Where two combs do not touch, and yet are close together, a small bar
is constructed from one to the other, preventing any nearer approach.
(This may be illustrated by turning the hive a few inches from the
perpendicular after being filled with combs in warm weather.)

MAKING PASSAGES TO EVERY PART OF THEIR COMBS.

Should nearly all the combs in the hive become detached from any cause,
and lie on