342 
DEE. 
lives one month longer than the others of the 
same species. I believe this is the case with all 
insects j but the age of either a labourer or a 
queen may never be discovered. One might sup- 
pose that the life of a bee, and the time a liive can 
possibly last, would be nearly equal : although 
this is not absolutely necessary, because they can 
produce a succession, which they probably do ; 
for I am very ready to imagine, that after the first 
brood ill the season, all the last winter bees die, 
and the hive is occupied with this first brood; and 
that they breed the first swarm, or that the old 
breed the whole of this season’s breeding, and 
then die, and those that continue through the 
winter are the young; and if so, then they follow 
the same course with their progenitors. 
“ The comb of a hive may be said to be the 
furniture and storehouse of the bees, which by use 
wear out; and from the description I have given, 
it will appear that the comb in time will be ren- 
dered unfit for use. I observed, that they did not 
clean out the excrement of the maggot, and that 
the maggot, before it moved into the chrysalis 
state, lined the cell with a silk, similar to many 
other insects. It lines the whole cell, top, sides, 
and bottom; the two last are permanent; and at 
the bottom it covers with this lining its own excre- 
ment*. Why the bee maggot is formed to do 
this, is, probably, because honey afterwards is to 
* This neither the wasp nor hornet do, although tliey do 
not clean out tlie excrement of their maggots.” 
