The wax, it is said, is carried to court and reserved for the emperor, the princes, and chief mandarins. The producing insects are found in most of the south-eastern provinces of China, as well as in Cochin China. Nearly the whole of the wax employed in Europe, and the greater part of that consumed in America, is the produce of the common hive bee, but in the latter country the produce of wild bees is also extensively used. Wax forms an important branch of trade and commerce in all those countries where the Roman Catholic religion prevails, being extensively used in the festivals and rites of that church. According to Humboldt, wax to the value of eighty-three thousand pounds was formerly annually exported from Cuba to New Spain, where the quantity consumed in the festivals of the church is immense, even in the smallest villages. The total exports from Cuba in the year 1803 were worth upwards of 130,000_l._ [Illustration: [Hive]] CHAPTER V. MANUFACTURE OF HONEY BY THE HIVE BEE. Many and various are the trees, shrubs, and plants, yielding blossoms rich in honey, which have been recommended to be cultivated in the neighbourhood of bee-hives; and no one can have watched the proceedings of the industrious inhabitants without observing that the early blossoms of the sallow and of the horse-chestnut seem peculiarly acceptable, and later in the season those of the lime; while mignonette, thyme, rosemary, lavender, and various other flowers, are assiduously visited by these diligent collectors. But the best stores of our gardens yield a scanty supply compared with the treasures of the fields, such as bean blossoms, and clover blossoms. The latter crop (especially the white Dutch clover called honeysuckle) is so rich in sweet juices, that when there is plenty of it, a good supply of honey is also pretty certain. [Illustration: THE PASSION-FLOWER. (_Passiflora Cærulea._) ]