THE APIAEY. 317 



pistence. Tlie beginner, -without either experience or knowledge, may meet 

 with dioconragements, — undoubtedly will. Swarms will be lost, others Avill fail 

 to winter, the young apiarist will become nervous, — which will disgust the bees in 

 so much that they will essay to administer reproof of a sharp and pointed kind. 

 Yet, with persidence all of tiiese difficulties wall fade away. Every contingency 

 will bo foreseen and provided against, and the myriad little workers will become 

 as manageable and may be fondled as safely as a pet dog or cat. And the 

 apiarist will minister to their needs with the same fearlessness and self-posses- 

 sion that he would attend to his gentlest cow or favorite horse. Persistence in 

 the face of those discouragements, which are so apt to confront inexperience, 

 will surely triumph. For he who has one jot of appreciation of the beautiful 

 and the marvelous in his character will soon grow to love his insect pets, and 

 the labor attendant ujjon their care and management, and this love will soon 

 kindle into enthusiasm. 



CHAPTEE II. 

 THE BEE'S PLACE IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 



THE BEA]S'CH OF THE HONET-BEE. 



The Honey-bee belongs to the great branch of animals known as Articulates, 

 a very appropriate name given by the great French naturalist Cuvier, as it 

 refers to the ring or jointed structure which characterizes all the animals of the 

 group, whether worms, Crustacea — which includes the lobsters, sow-bugs, and 

 barnacles — or true insects. These rings form a skeleton, which, unlike that 

 of the higher vertebrate branch, is external, and this serves to protect the softer 

 inner parts, as well as to give strength and solidity. An examination of a bee 

 will quickly reveal these rings, while in our beautiful Italians coloration makes 

 them show even more plainly. 



CLASS OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



Our subject belongs to the class Insecta, wdiich is characterized by breathing 

 air usually through a very complicated system of air tubes. These tubes are 

 very peculiar in their structure, as they are formed of a spiral thread, and thus 

 resemble a hollow cylinder which might be formed by closely winding a fine 

 wire about the finger, and then withdrawing the latter, the wire remaining 

 unmoved. These tubes are constantly branching and are almost infinite in 

 number. Nothing is more surprising and interesting than this labyrinth of 

 beautiful tubes as seen in dissecting a bee under the microscojDe. I have fre- 

 quently detected myself taking long pauses in making dissections of the honey- 

 bee, as my attention would be fixed in admiration of this beautiful breathing 

 apparatus. Doubtless all of my readers have associated the quick movements 

 and surprising activity of birds and most mammals with their well developed 

 lungs. So, too, in such animals as the bee we see the relation between this 

 intricate system of air-tulles — their lungs — and the quick, busy life which has 

 been proverbial of them since the earliest times. 



ORDER OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



Our bees belong to the order Ilexapods, or true Insects. The first term is 

 appropriate, as all have in the imago or last stage, six legs. Nor is the second 



