THE HONEY-BEE. 



subject of Bees has for many ages at- 

 J. tracted the attention of mankind. The 

 Sacred Writings, the most ancient of which we 

 have any knowledge, shew in numerous places 

 how strongly the fathers of the Jewish people had 

 been impressed by the peculiarities in the natural 

 history of the Bee ; and we know that Aristotle 

 and other philosophers of old Greece deemed the 

 subject worthy of years of patient investigation. 

 Virgil also, and many other Roman authors, 

 dwelt on it with enthusiasm in their writings ; 

 while, in much later times, many distinguished 

 cultivators of science have pursued the same 

 track with ardour. The most zealous of these 

 inquirers was Francis Huber (born at Geneva 

 1750, died 1831), who, though labouring under 

 the deprivation of sight, by the aid of his wife 

 formed a most valuable collection of observations 

 on the habits of bees, and to whose work as yet 

 the best of its kind we shall have frequent occa- 

 sion to refer. Societies have been formed for 

 the sole purpose of investigating this portion of 

 natural history. On the present occasion, an 

 attempt can only be made to cull from the most 

 approved sources such details as may form a 

 complete although very concise history of the 

 Honey-bee, along with directions for the practical 

 management of this most useful insect. 



Bees are arranged by zoologists in the family of 

 the Apida (apis, a bee), in the order Hymenoptera 

 of the Insect class. (See ZOOLOGY.) The Social 

 Bees form the principal division of the family, 

 their type being the Apis mellifica, the common 

 Honey-bee. To this species the observations to 

 follow will have reference ; but the description of 

 it applies in all the most important particulars to 

 the other honey-storing species of the Old World, 

 the differences being very inconsiderable amongst 

 those of them which, like it, have been made by 

 man his property and the objects of his care. It 

 is somewhat doubtful whether the common Bee is 

 a native of Europe, or was originally introduced 

 from the East. Another species, the Ligurian 

 Bee (Apis Ligustica), is found in the south of 

 Europe, and has recently been introduced into 

 this country by some of our zealous bee-culti- 

 vators. The Hive-bee of Egypt is the Banded 

 Bee (Apis fasciatd). Besides these, there are other 

 species, all very similar to them, as they are to each 

 other, which are cultivated if the expression may 

 be U sed in different parts of the East Indies and 

 of Africa. The native wild bees of America do not 

 belong to the genus Apis, but to a quite different 

 group of the great family of the Apida, and their 

 honey is remarkably liquid. The common honey- 

 bee has, however, become completely naturalised 

 in North America, and is to be found in the woods 

 at great distances from the abodes of civilised men. 



ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 



A hive of honey-bees contains three classes 

 of inhabitants, the external characters of which 

 43 



differ considerably, while their uses and functions 

 in the community are most obviously distinct 

 By far the most numerous class is that of the 

 workers, or working-bees, formerly regarded as 

 neuters in respect of sex, but now more properly 

 considered as undeveloped females. The second 

 class is composed of the males of the hive, termed 

 the drones. There is usually but one perfect 

 member of the third class present at a time in a 

 hive, and this is the queen, or mother-bee, the sole 

 perfect female of the community. 



Workers. 



The working honey-bee has a body about half 

 an inch in length, blackish-brown in hue, and 

 covered with close-set hairs, which are feather- 

 shaped, and assist the creature materially in 

 collecting the farina of flowers. The head, which 

 is a flattened triangle in shape, is attached to the 

 chest by a thin ligament ; and the chest or thorax. 

 which is of a spherical form, is united in a similar 

 way to the abdomen (see No. 9). The abdomen 

 is divided into six scaly rings, which shorten the 

 body by slipping over one another to a certain 

 extent These three external divisions of the 

 insect's body have all of them appendages of 

 peculiar interest and utility. The head is pro- 

 vided with a double visual apparatus. In front 

 are placed two eyes, consisting each of numerous 

 hexagonal plates, studded with hairs, to ward off 

 the dust or pollen of flowers; and three small 

 eyes are also to be found on the very top of the 

 head, intended, doubtless, to give vision upwards. 

 The antennae, however, which are two slender 

 horns springing from betwixt the front eyes, and 

 curving outwards from each side, most probably 

 fulfil many of the purposes of vision in the dark 

 interior of the hive. These instruments have 

 each of them twelve articulations, and terminate 

 in a knob, gifted with the most delicate sensitive- 

 ness. By the flexibility of the antenna?, the bee is 

 enabled to feel any object in its way ; and there 

 can be little doubt that it is chiefly by means of 

 these it builds its combs, feeds the young, fills the 

 honey-cells, and performs the other operations of 

 the hive. Bees also use these appendages for the 

 recognition of one another. 



The mouth of the bee is a very complex 

 structure, and one wonderfully fitted for its duties. 

 Its most important parts are the mandibUs, the 

 tongue, the proboscis, and labial feelers. The 

 mandibles are merely the two sides of the upper 

 jaw, split vertically, and movable to such a degree 

 as to enable the insect to break down food 

 betwixt them, to manipulate wax, and use them 

 otherwise as serviceable tools. They are fur- 

 nished with teeth at their ends, two in number. 

 The tongue of the bee is extremely small Many 

 of the usual functions of a tongue are indeed per- 

 formed by the proboscis, a long slender projec- 

 tion, composed of about forty cartilaginous rings, 

 fringed with fine hairs. From the base of this, on 



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