64 Transactions of the [Sess. 



and this is the better species." It is clear that these remarks apply 

 to the bronze colour of the anterior folds of the abdomen in the 

 Ligurian, which is the distinguishing characteristic of the species. 

 Coming down to a later period, we have Tusser, — old Tusser, 

 as he is called, — who lived in the sixteenth century, and wrote 

 ' The Five Hundred Points of Good Husbandry,' who has a curious 

 couplet on the position of beehives. He says : — 



" Set hive on a plank, not too low, on the ground, 



Where herb with the flowers may compass it round ; 

 And boards to defend it from north and north-east, 

 From showers and rubbish, from vermin and beast." 



And again, we have Bees mentioned several times by Shakespeare. 

 We all know Ariel's song in the "Tempest" ; and also where he 

 says, so graphically and concisely — 



" So work the honey-bees, — 

 Creatures that by a rule of nature teach 

 The art of order to a peopled kingdom." 



Again, the Scottish poet of nature, Thomson, very pleasingly 

 writes, in the ' Seasons ' : — 



" Here their delicious task the fervent Bees 

 In swarming millions tend. Around, athwart, 

 Through the soft air the busy nations fly, 

 Cling to the bud, and with inserted tube 

 Suck its pure essence, its ethereal soul ; 

 And oft, with bolder wing, they soaring dare 

 The purple heath, or where the wild thyme grows, 

 And yellow load them with the luscious spoil. " 



The oldest book I possess on the subject is dated 1721, and is 

 entitled, ' The True Amazons ; or. Monarchy of Bees,' by Joseph 

 Warder ; and in this are quotations from a book by a Mr Purchas, 

 dated 1656, and bearing the curious title of 'The Theatre of Politi- 

 cal Flying Insects.' Warder gives, with all seriousness, directions 

 for bringing dead Bees to life, by holding them in your warm 

 hands, or putting them in a perforated tin box in the trousers' 

 pocket ; but I need scarcely remark that the Bees so operated upon 

 were simply cases of suspended animation through cold. I have 

 revived hundreds, probably thousands, in the same manner, either 

 by holding them in my hands or putting them in a small perfor- 

 ated zinc tea-infuser in my trousers' pocket, without knowing that 

 Joseph Warder had adopted a precisely similar practice a century 

 and a half ago. The first symptoms of returning animation in chilled 

 Bees is a slight quivering of the antenna3 ; then a movement of the 

 folds of the abdomen in breathing ; then the insect gets on her 

 legs, moves her head about to see where she is, and lastly, before 

 taking flight, wipes her eyes and each of her antennas with her 

 fore-feet. It is interesting to watch this return to life and activity 



