APIS. 



left a treatise on " Solar-dials." He gave 

 an account of the new star that appeared 

 in Cassiopeia in 1572, which is preserved. 



APIARY, a garden or other conveni- 

 ent place where bees are kept. A sou- 

 thern aspect is reckoned the most proper, 

 and the bee-hives should be exposed as 

 little as possible to the wind, and should 

 enjoy as much of the influence of the sun 

 as possible, as wind retards the bees in 

 their work, while the beams of the sun 

 invite them to it. In the vicinity of the 

 apiary there should be plenty of flowers, 

 wild thyme, and the like. The hives 

 should be free from the droppings of 

 trees, the annoyance of dunghills, long 

 grass and weeds ; as from these insects 

 are bred, which are not only destructive 

 to bees, but greatly retard them in the 

 preparation of honey. See APIS. 



APIS, in natural history, a genus of 

 insects of the order of Hymenoptera. 

 Gen. char, mouth furnished with jaws, 

 and an inflected proboscis, with two bi- 

 valve sheaths : feelers 4, unequal, filiform : 

 antenna; short, filiform, those of the female 

 subclavate ; wings flat or without plaits; 

 sting in the feinule and neutral insects 

 concealed. 



This genus is distributed by Linnaeus 

 into two assortments, viz. those in which 

 the body of the animal is but slightly co- 

 vered with fine hair or down, and those in 

 which it is remarkably villose or hairy : 

 the insects of the latter division are com- 

 monly distinguished by the title of hum- 

 ble-bees. In the first division, the princi- 

 pal or most important species is the apis 

 mellifica, or common honey-bee, so long 

 and justly celebrated for its wonderful 

 polity, the neatness and precision with 

 which it constructs its cells, and the dili- 

 gence with which it provides, during the 

 warmth of summer, a supply of food, for 

 the support of the hive during the rigours 

 of the succeeding winter. The general 

 history of this interesting insect has been 

 amply detailed by various authors, as 

 Swammcrdam, Keaumur, &c. &c. Among 

 the most elaborate accounts of later times 

 may be mentioned that of Mr. John Hun- 

 ter, which made its appearance in the 

 Philosophical Transactions for the year 

 1792, of which the followingis an abstract. 

 There are three periods at which the his- 

 tory of the bee may commence : first, in 

 the spring, when the queen begins to lay 

 her eggs ; in the summer, at the com- 

 mencement of a new colon)' ; or in the 

 autumn, when they go into winter quar- 

 ters. We shall begin the particular his- 

 tory of the bee with the new rolony, when 



VOL. I. 



nothing is formed. When a hive sends 

 off a colony, it is commonly in the month 

 of June ; but that will vary according to 

 the season, for in a mild spring bees some- 

 times swarm in the middle of Mav, and 

 very often at the latter end of it. iicfore 

 they come off", they commonly hang about 

 the mouth of the hole or door of the hive, 

 for some days, as if they had not sufficient 

 room within for such hot weather, which 

 we believe is very much the case ; for if 

 cold or wet weather come on, they stow 

 themselves very well, and wait for fine 

 weather. But swarming appears to be 

 rather an operation arising from necessity, 

 for they would seem not n ilurally to 

 swarm, because if they have an empty 

 space to fill they do not swarm ; there- 

 fore by increasing the size of the hive the 

 swarming is prevented. This period is 

 much longer in some than in others. 

 For some evenings before they come off 

 is often heard a singular noise, a kind of 

 ring, or sound of a small trumpet; by 

 comparing it with the notes of a piano 

 forte, it seemed to be the same sound with 

 the lower A of the treble. The swarm 

 commonly consists of three classes; a fe- 

 male, or females, mules, and those com- 

 monly called mules, which are supposed 

 to be of no sex, and are the labourers; 

 the whole, about two quarts in bulk, 

 making about six or seven thousand. It 

 is a question that rannot easily be deter- 

 mined, whether this old stock sends off 

 entirely young of the same season, and 

 whether the whole of their young ones, or 

 only part. As the males are entirely bred 

 in the same season, part go off; but part 

 must stay, and most probably it is so with 

 the others. They commonly come off in 

 the heat of the day, often immediately 

 after a shower. When one goes off, they 

 all immediately follow, and fly about 

 seemingly in great confusion, although 

 there is one principle actuating the whole. 

 They soon appear to be directed to some 

 fixed place ; such as the branch of a tree 

 or bush, the cavities of old trees, holes of 

 houses leading into some hollow place; 

 and whciu ver the stand is made, they im- 

 mediately repair to it till they are all col- 

 lected. But it would seem, in some 

 cases, that they had not fixed upon any 

 resting place before they come off, or, if 

 they had, that they were cither disturbed, 

 if it was near, or that it was at a great 

 distance ; for, after hovering some time, 

 as if undetermined, they fly away, mount 

 up into the air, and go off with jfreal ve- 

 locity. When they have fixed upon their 

 future habitation, they immediately begin 

 M in 



