BEL: 



150 



BEE 



posterior part being very long), and another to the tip of 

 tho tanu*. The female of this species U so much unlike 

 the malo, that it has Wu thought by many to lie a .1 



i; is entirely bl.ick. except the outer -i'lc of the 

 hinder tibia-, which i 'covered with red hairs: it is without 

 llii> t,,:i - .. tlui intermediate leg. This specie* constructs 

 its cclU i. -of bantu, generally choosing those 



which re perpendicular. 



1 1 is to tins same family that the hive-bee belongs, to the 

 : v and economy of which we shall confine onrschc-. 



The Api* meUifica, hive-bee, or honey-bee, has for many 

 age* justly claimed the attention and study of naturalists. 



ig the earliest of its observers may In? cnum 

 Aristotle and Virgil : also An.-tomachus of Soli in Cilicia, 

 and 1'l.ilisi-us the Thasian. Anstomarhua, we are told by 

 Pliny, attended solely to bees for fifty-eight years ; and 

 Phili*cut, il i> said, spent the whole of his lime in forests, 

 investigating their habits. (Plin. xi. 9.) Both these ob- 

 servers wroto on the bee. In modern times the labours of 

 .Sua'iimerdam. Reaumur, Bonnet, Schirach, Thorley, Hun- 

 ter. Hul.er, iiii'l other?, have added greatly to our know- 

 ledge of this interesting species. 



The honey-bee always lives in society with many of its 

 own species. In its natural state it generally constructs 

 it- nc.-t in hollow trees ; but throughout Europe it is now 

 rather a rare occurrence to find it otherwise than domes- 

 ticated. 



Each society or swarm is composed of three descriptions 

 of bees the male or drone, the neuter or worker, and the 

 female or queen. 



Pig, 3. 



The Ihnv deteriptlont of !!<< of a liive. n. :hr Male or Drone ; I. the 

 .ir or Wurkn : e, ttx i'rmnK- or Uuvrn. The !! ilrnotu the ua 

 tonl Uofth of each. 



The Drone.nr Male Bfe, in general form, is almost cylin- 

 drical, the separation lid-.vc n ih.> thorax and abdomen 

 being much l>"-s distinct than in the fcmnlo or neuters. 

 The head is l:iri;r, rather narrower than the thorax: the 

 eyes are very large, ami meet at the vertex of the head, but 

 divide as tin y approach the forehead ; close to the point of 

 separation there are three stemmata. The antenna) are 

 thirteen-jointcd. The thorax is thickly covered above and 

 beneath with short pale brown hairs resembling \el\rl. 



Tho length of the abdomen is scarcely 'greater than iu 

 breadth, and it is terminated ubluseh : il h.is only four 

 meats viable from the upper side, tin- an.il M-JJIIU iit.s . 

 hidden beneath the others. The ha.sul and apic.i, 

 are each thickly covered with pale hairs. The colour of the 

 abdomen is black above, having nient 



of a light brown colour; the underside of the bud\ i al.-o 

 pale. The. lens are black; tho inner side of the hinder 

 - covered with pale down. All the claw* are divided, 

 the inner part being Dearly equal in length to 

 part. The wings are lar^i 1 , and rather longer than the body ; 

 the anterior wings are rather acute at the a)>e\. 



The drone may be readily distinguished from the queen 

 aiul workers by its greater breadth, large eyes (which 

 in the top of the head), and the abdomen having onh lour 

 segments visible from the upper side. Tho wing* are much 

 longer in proportion than those of the worker or queen, 

 for in this sex they reach beyond tho extremity of the 

 abdomen. 



The number of drones in a hive is remarkably irregular, 

 vary ing from six or seven hundred to two thousand ; but 

 the proportion is not regulated by the number of 

 tamed in the hive, for a small swarm will sometin 

 as many drones as a large one. 



The time required to complete the metamorphosis of the 

 drone is as follows. In three days after the iie]>o>ition of 

 the eg^', the larva makes its appearance : about the middle 

 of the seventh day from this time, ihe larva having then 

 arrived at its full growth, spins iu cocoou, a silken sub- 

 stance with which it lines the interior of its cell : ihis is 

 accomplished in about a day and a half. It then turns to 

 the pupa, and ultimately to the perfect insect, having been 

 about four-and-twenly days from the laying of the e^g to 

 the coming forth m the winded state. 



The Xeuter, or H'ttrker, is of a dark-brown colour, ap- 

 proaching to black : the head and thorax resemble those of 

 the female, hut the head has blaek hair on the vertex. The 

 abdomen is conical, and composed of six distinct segments: 

 the basil one is thickly covered with hair, the other seg- 

 ments are. sparingly clothed. The leg* are blaek : the 

 plantm of the hinder legs are transversely striated on the 

 inner side. The wings when closed nearly reach to the 

 ajiex of tho abdomen. 



In about four days after the egg of the worker has been 

 deposited, the larva is hatched, and in five or six more (ac- 

 cording to the weather) it is full grown : it is then - 

 up in its cell by the nurse bees with a covering of farina 

 mixed with wax. As soon as the larva is inclose.! r 

 its cocoon, which operation requires about thirty-six hours : 

 it then turns to the pupa, and in about eight (lavs more to 

 the perfect insect; having been ono-and-tweiity days in 

 existence, that is, from the lime the eizg was laid until the 

 insect has attained its perfect stale. Tho number of workers 

 in a well-stocked hive is about fifteen or twenty thousand. 

 The occupation of these bees i.s to collect honey, pollen, and 

 propolis ; to build tho combs, and to attend upon the young. 



Fig, 3. 



a, ll pnboMW at th* Mvc-bM : e. th* tanfrnc : ft. the hinder leg of the 

 nurkei-bro ; d, the put on which the pollen ! carried. 



