CH. I.] THE HIVE BEE. 27 



recognised by their* industry, and by the smallness 

 of their size : 2dly, of males (fig. 3) ; of which se- 

 veral hundreds belong to each community ; these 

 are larger than the working bee, and live idly : over 

 all presides a queen, the most important member 

 of the whole of this little commonwealth (fig. 1). 

 A person may keep hives for years, and never see 

 this insect, about which more extraordinary things 

 have been seen and written, than the reader would 

 be disposed to believe. Aristotle and the more an- 

 cient naturalists have given very marvellous ac- 

 counts of the perfect despotism and strict discipline 

 established among these insects, as well as of the 

 consummate wisdom with which every thing is 

 ordered for the common good. 



Reaumur and Huber have fully determined the 

 influence which the presence of the queen has upon 

 her subjects. The former divided a swarm, and 

 placed them in two glass hives, one of which, 

 therefore, had a queen ; the other being without 

 one. The account which he gives of the conduct 

 of these two sets of insects is too curious to be 

 omitted. 



" After the tumult, excited by their removal into 

 a little glass hive, was calmed, and I had looked 

 at it for ten minutes, for the first time of my life, I 

 succeeded in seeing a queen bee, which was walking 

 at the bottom of the case. I was recompensed in 

 this instance, for my disappointments in the various 

 attempts that I had previously made — for now I 

 could view her as often as I wished. Indeed, I had 

 it in my power to point her out to a large party 

 who were at my house, not one of whom but 

 evinced the greatest curiosity to see this renowned 

 sovereign. 



" For the first few minutes, in which I followed 

 her with my eyes, I was tempted to believe that the 

 stories of the respect paid her by the other bees, 

 the train by which she was attended, were imagi- 



