BEE 



153 



BEE 



and the strongest remains queen of the hive, after destroy- 

 ing all the royal larvse and pupae that remain. 



But if the hive be an unusually populous one, there may 

 be four or five swarms sent off, all accompanied by the same 

 circumstances as those just related. In case a hive is poorly 

 stocked at the time of the great laying of male eggs, no 

 royal cells are built, and consequently no swarms leave. 

 After the swarming, a general massacre of the drones takes 

 place : these defenceless individuals (for the male has no 

 sting) are stung to death by the neuters. 



When a swarm quits a hive, it usually clusters on a tree 

 or bush in the neighbourhood, and if it be not hived it will 

 shortly leave this situation, and take possession of an old 

 tree or part of an old building. It is said that bees send 

 out scouts before leaving the hive, to search for a convenient 

 situation for their new abode, and that they may be seen 

 going backwards and forwards to the spot fixed upon, some 

 little time before the swarm departs. The clustering of the 

 swarm probably proceeds from a desire in the bees to be 

 congregated together prior to their last flight. As soon as 

 the bees have taken possession of a new abode, or have been 

 hived, they commence building the comb. 



It has been stated that the first swarm is always con- 

 ducted by an old queen, and the following swarms by the 

 young queens as they are successively hatched. The latter 

 are in a virgin state, but not so the former, nor do these re- 

 quire farther intercourse with the male. About two or 

 three days after quitting her cell, and the fifth day of her 

 existence in the winged state, the young queen quits the 

 hive, and after reconnoitring its exterior, and making her- 

 .-If acquainted with its situation, by flying from it and 

 returning several times, she then soars high in the air, 

 forming spiral circles as she ascends. This ascent is gene- 

 rally preceded by a flight of drones, and it is at this time 

 (whilst on the wing) that the sexual intercourse takes place. 

 The queen is never observed to quit the hive but at this 

 time ; and hence it is supposed that this one intercourse is 

 sufficient to fertilize all the eggs she may ever lay. Huber 

 decidedly ascertained that it was sufficient for two years. 

 We; think it very improbable that a queen would live much 

 beyond that time. In about six and forty hours after the 

 intercourse with the male has taken place, at which 

 time a part of the comb would be constructed in the 

 new hive, the queen commences laying her eggs ; those 

 first deposited being such as will turn to workers, as before 

 described. 



The construction of the Comb. In the Introduction to 

 Jiritinh Entomology by Kirby and Spence, after referring 

 to the various accounts of antient and modern writers on 

 this subject, it is observed, 'still the construction of the 

 comb of the bee-hive is a miracle which overwhelms our 

 faculties.' John Hunter, who was the first to discover 

 the true origin of wax, imagined that the waxen scales 

 (which we shall hereafter mention) bore some proportion to 

 the ditFerent parts of the cells, in the formation of which they 

 were used, and thus furnished a guide to their construc- 

 ting Some naturalists have conjectured that the an- 

 tennas, mandibles, and other parts of the body were used 

 to measure the work, and from this they have endeavoured 

 to account for the accuracy of their proceedings. The latter 

 conjecture appears incompatible with instinct ; while the 

 well-authenticated mode of proceeding in the construction of 

 the comb throws great doubt on the former. 



Upon examination of various combs, the partitions be- 

 tween all the ordinary cells (both at the sides and bottoms) 

 are found to be exactly the same in thickness, and the cells 

 hexagonal with angular bottoms. Exceptions to this ge- 

 neral rule are occasionally found, and it is by observing 

 these exceptions with attention by observing the various 

 mo'lifications of the work under extraordinary circumstances, 

 that some idea of the principles which guide the bee in its 

 operations may he formed. The royal cell is a remarkable 

 exception ; its form we have already described. In the 

 original construction of this cell, a profusion of material is 

 always disposed of, particularly at the junction of the cell 

 with the comb. The extra quantity of wax in this part, and 

 on the surface of the cell (which is also unusually thick) 

 is, however, soon reduced by numerous circular excavations, 

 the depth of which varies according to that of the wax, and in 

 the mass nearest the comb they actually becomecells, though, 

 in most instances, unfit for use. These cells are invariably 

 cylindrical, with concave bottoms, except they come in con- 

 tact with others, in which case the wax is always removed 



from the interstices thus formed, either at the sides or at 

 the bottoms ; and the partitions are thus reduced to the 

 same thickness as those between the cells constructed in the 

 ordinary way. Hence we frequently find, in these parts, 

 cells with one side circular and the other angular ; the 

 situation of the angles being invariably determined by the 

 position of those cells with which they are in contact. 



To work in circles or segments of circles appears most 

 compatible with animal mechanism acted upon by instinct, 

 for we observe that the works of almost all insects (perhaps 

 we may say almost all animals) proceed in circles or seg- 

 ments of circles. The cells of almost all the various species 

 of bees are of this construction, and we find that, under pe- 

 culiar circumstances, those of the hive-bee are so likewise, 

 as in the case of the queen's cell, and in some of those cells 

 close to it, and sometimes in other parts of the comb, in 

 cases where an accident has been repaired. 



If some hive-bees could be made to work in a large solid 

 mass of wax, the first cell formed would most probably be 

 cylindrical, with a hollow circular bottom ; this would also 

 be the form of the following cells unless they came in con- 

 tact with each other ; and, in this case, supposing the cir- 

 cumferences of three cylinders were to touch, the bees work- 

 ing in each of these cylinders would cut away the wax at 

 a, a, a (fig. 7). But supposing the wax block were excavated 



Fig. 7. 



on one of its sides, into the greatest number of equal-sized 

 cylinders that it would admit of, it would then follow that 

 each cylinder would be surrounded by six others, this being 

 the only number of equal-sized circles which may be placed 

 round one of the same magnitude : by the same rule of re- 

 moving the wax from the interstices, each of these cylinders 

 would become hexagons. Again, supposing this block to be 

 a flat mass of equal thickness in all parts (the ordinary 

 thickness of a comb), this block being cut into cylinders 

 of equal diameter on both sides, and the base of each cylin- 

 der being exactly over parts of three opposing ones (as repre- 

 sented below), when the wax is cut away at the interstices, 



Fig. 8. 



as at the sides, it follows that the bottoms of the cells will 

 be each composed of three equal rhombus-shaped pieces. 

 Hence we have cells exactly like those of the hive-bee, but 

 not constructed in the ordinary way, though upon such prin- 

 ciples as analogy points out (a circular form being the basis 

 of the work*), and in such a way as we have observed they 

 do occasionally proceed. 



Let us now examine the construction of the comb in its 

 usual way of proceeding : 



The first operation is the formation of wax : this is not, 

 as many have supposed, the farina collected from flow- 

 ers, but is secreted by the insect at the time of building the 

 combs. For this purpose the wax-workers suspend them- 



If wn allow that the basis of the work of the hive-ben be circular, the 

 royal cell forms no exception to tho general ruje, so far as the principle ( 

 construction is concerned. 



NO. 224. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.] 



VOL. IV.-X 



