

H Y MEN OP TERA . 3 I / 



dreamt of. The results of their researches were pubHshed, in 1789, 

 in a volume which produced a profound sensation among naturalists.* 

 Burnens was at a later period called back to the bosom of his family, 

 and invested by his fellow-citizens with important functions. Francis 

 Huber then continued his observations through the eyes of the 

 excellent wife he had married. A second volume was thus composed 

 by him twenty years after the appearance of the first. This volume 

 was published by his son, Pierre Huber, to whom we are indebted 

 for the admirable researches concerning ants, of which we shall have 

 to speak further on. 



We will now speak of the habits of the bees. The labours of 

 Reaumur, of Schirach, and of Huber, have perfectly revealed them 

 to us, and have initiated us completely into the habits of these 

 precious insects, w^hich are for us to a certain extent domestic 

 animals. We will begin by describing the Common Bee {Apis 

 meUifica). 



During the greater part of the year the population of our hives is 

 composed exclusively of two sorts of individuals — 

 the female, or mother bee, called also the queen ^^ 



bee ; and the working bees, or neuters, which are, ^ ^^ 



properly speaking, females incompletely developed. " -^ 



A third kind of individuals, the males, called also :^ V 



drones, are generally not met with except from . * ■ 



May to July. Working°Bee 



The working bees are the people, the crowd, {ap^s mcinjica). 

 the servuju peciis, the living force, the bee com- 

 munity. They are recognised by their small size, reddish brown 

 colour, and, above all, by the palettes and brushes witli which the 

 hind legs are furnished. 



The three pairs of legs which are inserted in its ihorax are its 

 tools. The two hind-legs are longer than the other pairs, and present 

 on the exterior a triangular depression, resembling ^.paette^ which is 

 surrounded by stiff hairs, forming, as it were, the border> of a sort of 

 basket, in which the insect deposits the pollen of i lowers. The 

 broadest part of the leg articulates with the tarsus, ^\hich is of a 

 square form, smooth on the exterior, and having hairs ca its interior 

 surface, which has caused it to be named the brush. : he joint is 

 used for gathering the pollen ; it folds back on the !■ - (Fig. 310), 

 and forms with it a sort of small pair of pincers ; and, I'llly, the leg 



* *'Nouvelles Observations sur les Abellles," par Fran9;)is iiuu-r. Paris et 

 Geneve, in 8vo. 2e edition. 18 14. 



