326 
BEE. 
hornet some hundreds; but not living in society 
during the winter, they are subject to great de- 
struction, so that probably not one in a hundred 
lives to breed in the summer. 
“ Of the Male Bee. 
“ The male bee is considerably larger than the 
labourers: he is even larger than the queen, al- 
though not so long when she is in her full state 
with eggs: he is considerably thicker than either, 
but not longer in the same proportion: he does 
not terminate at the anus in so sharp a point ; and 
the opening between the two last scales of the 
back and belly is larger, and more under the 
belly, than in the female. His proboscis is much 
shorter than that of the labouring bee, which makes 
me suspect he does not collect his own honey, but 
takes that which is brought home by the others; 
especially as we never find the males abroad on 
flowers, &c. only flying about the hives in hot 
weather, as if taking an airing; and when we find 
that the male of the humble bee, which collects 
its own food, has as long a proboscis, or tongue, 
as tlie female, I think it is from all these facts rea- 
sonable to suppose, the male of the common bee 
feeds at home. He has no sting. 
“ The males, I believe, are later in being bred 
than the labouring bee. As they are only pro- 
duced to go off with a hive, they are not so early 
brought forth: for in the month of April I killed 
