MEXICAN BEES. 



SOME ACCOUNT OF THE HABITS OF A MEXICAN BEE, 



PARTLY FROM THE NOTES OF CAPTAIN BEECHEY : WITH A DESCRIPTION 

 OF THE INSECT AND OF ITS HIVE, BY E. T. BENNETT, ESQ., F.L.S., &C. 



In the hives of the domesticated bees of Mexico we meet 

 with a structure altogether pecuhar. They exhibit httle of 

 the regularity of construction which characterizes the hives of 

 the bees of the old continent, and are far inferior in this re- 

 spect to the habitations of wasps. In one particular they 

 approximate to the nests of the European humble bees; the 

 honey which they contain is deposited in large bags distinct 

 from the common cells. It is somewhat singular that so in- 

 teresting a point of natural history has never been particularly 

 noticed ; our previous knowledge scarcely extending beyond 

 the facts, that some of the bees of America form nests, like 

 those of wasps, attached to, or suspended from trees, and 

 covered by an outer case constructed by themselves; while 



quelquefois enveloppes auroient eu le temps de se decomposer comme 

 ceux que ron trouve dans les pays cliauds et tempera's. 



II auroit ete surtout bien impossible qu'un cadavre tout entier, tel que 

 celui que M. Adams a de'couvert, eut conserve ses chairs et sa peau sans 

 corruption, s'il n'avoit ete enveloppe immediatement par les glaces qui 

 nous I'ont conserve. 



Ainsi toutes les hypotheses d'un refroidissement graduel de la terre, 

 ou d'une variation lente, soit dans rinclinaiscn, soit dans la position de 

 I'axe du globe, tombent d'elles-memes. 



Cnvier, Ossemens Fossiles, 1821, torn. i. p. 203. 



