protect their buds in winter by resinous coats; and it was quite like the adaptable bee to find use for this resin in her own domicile.
The elder Huber, whose observations of a century ago have been verified, discovered the source of propolis; he planted poplars in pots and placed them near the hives, and the bees were seen in the act of collecting the resin from the buds. They have been observed by others, working on the buds of the horse-chestnut, birch, willow, alder, and even the balsam fir. However, the bees have no prejudices in favour of any kind of resin, anything will do so long as it answers the purpose; hence they visit shops where furniture is being finished and appropriate the varnish without saying "please." And Darwin mentions the fact that bees collected a cement of wax and turpentine, used to cover trees from which the bark has been removed. If any old hives or fixtures with propolis on them be left around the apiary, the bees make all haste to save every particle of the precious stuff.
One of the oldest superstitions about bees is that they will gather on the coffin of their dead master; and authenticated instances of the kind are on record. But this beautiful tradition is made empty of sentiment by the assertion that the bees assemble there not to mourn their dead master, but to gather the varnish from the coffin. Some iconoclasts ascribe to this the origin of "telling the bees" when some member of the family dies; but we believe this beautiful custom originated before varnished coffins
