A. Mellifica Linn. — mellifera Fourc. — cerifera Scop. — gre- 



garia G^-o^ — doinestica Ray. 



Piceous, clothed with fine silky ochreous hairs : antennse black : wings 

 yellowish, nervures ferruginous. Male the darkest, thorax and 2nd 

 joint of abdomen velvety, the space between them filled up with ochreous 

 down, margins of segments pale; 2 apical joints clothed with longish pi- 

 ceous hairs: tarsi ferruginous, excepting outside of basal joints. Neuter: 

 thorax hairy, hinder tibiae as well as tarsi ferruginous internally, light 

 brown outside. Female : second abdominal segment with 2 large rufous 

 patches at the base : hinder legs deep and bright ochreous. 

 Our figures represent the male, neuter, and female somewhat 

 larger than life, but their relative proportions are preserved : 

 the comb was one foot in length. I consider myself fortunate in 

 being able to introduce into my plate the nest of some Hive- 

 bees, which was discovered by Lord Malmesbury in his planta- 

 tions, near the river Avon, not far from Sopley. I had the 

 jjratification of seeinjr it before it was removed in October 

 1 838 ; it was attached to the arm of a tree, and hung down, as 

 represented in the plate, about 2 feet from the ground : a con- 

 siderable number of the bees had died with their heads in the 

 cells. Combs have been rarely found in hollow trees in this 

 country, but one formed on the outside is I believe without a 

 parallel in the history of bees. 



It would not be possible for me to condense into my limited 

 space the valuable remarks that have resulted from the ob- 

 servations of Swammerdam, Reaumur, Huber, Wildman and 

 Kirby, I must therefore content myself with referring to their 

 works, and to Dr. Bevan's " History of the Honey-Bee," tor 

 accounts of the wonderful ceconomy of these little animals ; I 

 shall however transcribe a few remarks from the Mag. of Zool. 

 It is more than probable (says Dr. Bevan) that the life of the working 

 bee does not exceed 6 or 7 months. A good family of bees consists of from 

 12 to 20,000, and a fertile queen breeds that number every year, but they 

 all die annually except about 8000, which are supposed to be the summer 

 and autumn hatched ones. In the 1st week of July the young workers be- 

 gin to issue from their cells, and continue to do so for nearly 3 weeks : on 

 tlic 13th July was the first issue of drones, which continued to come forth 

 till the 2.5tb; these, if not killed by the neuters, begin to die naturally the 

 end of October till the middle of November, so that the life of the drone is 

 about 4 months ; the queen has been traced from hive to hive through a pe- 

 riod of nearly 4 years, so that she sees many generations pass away. 



I may add that in the early days of April the workers awake 

 from their slumbers, and resort to the catkins of the willows to 

 rej)lenish their stores; the males appear later, and amount to 

 about 1500. 



With the bee I have now concluded my task, and I trust the 

 materials collected have been selected to the taste and advantage 

 of those who have taken an interest in my Hive. I have to 

 thank my friends who have so handsomely protected it against 

 the attacks of enemies, as well as those whose valuable mate- 

 rials have been so kindly contributed during sixteen years to 

 Us support. After a little rest I hope to resume my labours,* 

 and 1 trust the contents of a future hive may prove as accept- 

 able to the public as the present one. 



• Vide the Prospectus attached to this volume, regarding the Synopsis 

 of Species and an Atlas of Genera. 



