APIS. 



largest in number of the whole communi- 

 ty : there are thousands of them to one 

 queen, and probably some hundreds to 

 eacli male. It is to be supposed they are 

 the only bees which construct the whole 

 hive, and that the queen has no other bu- 

 siness but to lay the eggs : they are the 

 only bees that bring in materials ; the only 

 ones we observe busy abroad ; and indeed 

 the idea of any other is ridiculous, when 

 we consider the disproportion in numbers, 

 as well as the employment of the others, 

 while the working bee has nothing to 

 take off its attention to the business of the 

 family. They are smaller than either the 

 queen or the males : not all of equal size, 

 although the difference is not very great. 

 " The queen and the working bees are 

 so much alike, that the latter would seem 

 to be females on a different scale : how- 

 ever, this difference is not so observable 

 in the beginningof winter as in the spring, 

 when the queen is full of eggs. They are 

 all females in construction ; indeed, one 

 might suppose that they were only young 

 queens, and that they be- ame queens af- 

 ter a certain age ; but this is not the case. 

 They all have stings, which is another 

 thing that makes them similar to the 

 queen. From their being furnished with 

 an instrument of defence and offence, they 

 are endowed with such powers of mind as 

 to use it, their minds being extremely ir- 

 ritable ; so much so, that they make an 

 attack when not meddled with, simply 

 upon suspicion, and when they do attack 

 they always sting ; and yet, from the cir- 

 cumstance of their not being able to dis- 

 engage the sting, one should suppose they 

 would be more cautious in striking with 

 it. When they attack one another, they 

 seldom use it, only their pincers : yet I 

 s:i\v two bees engaged, and one stung the 

 other in the mouth, or thereabouts, and 

 the sting was drawn from the body to 

 which it belonged, and the one who was 

 stung ran very quickly about with it ; but 

 I could not catch that bee, to observe how 

 the sting was situated. 



" As they are the collectors of honey, 

 much more than what is for their own use 

 either immediately or in future, their 

 tongue is proportionally fitted for that 

 purpose : it is considerably larger than 

 that of either the queen or the male, 

 which fits them to take up the honey from 

 the hollow parts of flowers of consider- 

 able depth. The mechanism is very cu- 

 rious, and will be explained further on. 



"Bees certainly have the five senses : 

 sight none can doubt : fueling they also 

 have ; and there is every reason for sup- 

 posing they have likewise taste, smell, and 



hearing. Taste we cannot doubt ; but of 

 smell we may not have such proofs; yet, 

 from observation, I think they give strong 

 signs of smell. When bees are hungry, 

 as a young swarm in wet weather, and are 

 in a glass hive, so that they can be ex- 

 amined, if we put some honey into the 

 bottom, it will immediately breed a com- 

 motion ; they all seem to be upon the 

 scent: even if they are weak, and hardly 

 able to crawl, they will throw out their 

 proboscis as far as possible to get to it, 

 although the light is very faint. This last 

 appears to arise more from smell than see- 

 ing. If some bees are let loose in abee-hive, 

 and do not know from which house they 

 came, they will take their stand upon the 

 outside of some hive, or hives, especially 

 when the evening is coming on : whether 

 this arises from the smell of the hives, or 

 sound, I can hardly judge. 



" Bees may be said to have a voice. 

 They are certainly capable of forming se- 

 veral sounds. They give a sound, when 

 flying, which they can vary according to 

 circumstances. One accustomed to bees 

 can immediately tell when a bee makes an 

 attack, by the sound. This is probably 

 made by the wings. They may be seen 

 standing at the door of their hive, with 

 the belly rather raised, and moving their 

 wings, making a noise. But they produce 

 a noise independent of their wings ; for if 

 a bee is smeared all over with honey, so 

 as to make the wings stick together, it will 

 be found to make a noise which is shrill 

 and peevish. I have observed that they, 

 or some of them, make a noise the even- 

 ings before they swarm, which is a kind of 

 ring, or sound of a small trumpet : by com- 

 paring it with the notes of the piano-forte, 

 it seemed to be the same with the lower 

 A of the treble. 



" I have observed, that it is only the 

 queen and the labourers that have stings ; 

 and this provision of a sting is perhaps as 

 curious a circumstance as any attending 

 the bee, and probably is one of the cha- 

 racters of the bee tribe. 



"The apparatus itself is of a very curious 

 construction, fitted for inflicting a wound, 

 and at the same time conveying a poison 

 into that wound. The apparatus consists of 

 two piercers, conducted in a groove or di- 

 rector, which appears to be itself the sting. 

 All these parts are moved by muscles, 

 which we may suppose are very strong in 

 in them, much stronger than in other ani- 

 mals ; and these muscles give motion in 

 almost all directions, but more particularly 

 outwards. It is wonderful how deep they 

 will pierce solid bodies with the sting. Y 

 have examined the length they havepierc- 



