BEE. 



469 



himself by a speedy flight. A terror to the neigh- 

 bouring nations, the rapacious Bedouin lives in a 

 state of continual watchfulness ; poor, ignorant, wild, 

 and rude, but free, and proud of his liberty. This 

 people is remarkable for temperance in regard to 

 food, amounting almost to abstinence. See Berber. 



BEE (apis mellifica, L.) ; a species of hymenopte- 

 rous insect, belonging to the family apiaria.The 

 honey-bee is universally celebrated for its singular 

 instincts, and highly prized for the valuable products 

 of its industry. A vast number of interesting facts 

 have consequently been collected in relation to the 

 economy of the species, for the detail of whose history 

 a volume of considerable size would be required. We 

 shall therefore be able to present nothing more than 

 a sketch of the most striking generalities, obtained 

 from the admirable works of Huber, Cuvier, &c., 

 and to these authentic sources must refer the reader 

 desirous of more ample information. 



Three sorts of individuals are found to form a 

 community of honey-bees; the female, mother, or, 

 as she is commonly called, queen; the males, or 

 drones ; and the working bees, improperly termed 

 neuters, as they are actually females, though, in a 

 peculiar respect, imperfect. A hive commonly con- 

 sists of one mother, or queen, from 6 to 800 males, 

 and from 15 to 20,000 working bees. The last 

 mentioned are the smallest, have twelve joints to 

 their antenna, and six abdominal rings: the first 

 joint or square portion of the posterior tarsi is en- 

 larged at the posterior angle of its base, and shaped 

 like a pointed auricle, having its internal surface 

 covered with a fine, short, close, silky down. They 

 are provided with stings. The mandibles are spoon- 

 shaped, and not dentated. There is, on the outside 

 of the hind legs, a smooth hollow, edged with hairs, 

 called the basket : the silky brush of the first joint 

 of the posterior tarsi has seven or eight transverse 

 strice. The mother, or queen, has the same charac- 

 teristics, but is of larger size, especially in the abdo- 

 men : she has a shorter sucker or trunk, and the 

 mandibles grooved and velvet-like beneath the tip. 

 The males, or drones, differ from both the preceding 

 by having thirteen joints to the antenna ; a rounded 

 head, with larger eyes, elongated and united at the 

 summit ; smaller and more velvety mandibles, and 

 shorter anterior feet, the two first of which are arched. 

 They have no auricular dilatation nor silky brush on 

 the square part of the posterior tarsi, and are desti- 

 tute of stings. The genitals consist of two horn- 

 shajied bodies of a reddish-yellow colour, with a broad- 



'llllMl Jll'Ilis. 



When we examine the internal structure of this 

 insect, we find at the superior base of the trunk or 

 sucker, below the labrum, a considerable aperture, 

 shut by a small, triangular piece, which has been 

 called tongue, epipharynx, &c. This opening receives 

 the food, which is thence conveyed by a delicate 

 oesophagus, through the corselet, to the anterior 

 stomach, which contains the honey; the second 

 stomach receives the pollen of flowers, and has, on 

 its internal surface, a number of transverse and annu- 

 lar wrinkles. The abdominal cavity of the queen 

 and working bees also contains the little bag of 

 poison communicating with the sting. In the queen, 

 tli ere are, moreover, two large ovaries, consisting of 

 a great number of small cavities, each containing 

 sixteen or seventeen eggs. These ovaries open near 

 the anus, previous to which they dilate into pouches, 

 where the egg is delayed to receive a viscous coating 

 from an adjacent gland. The inferior half-circles, 

 except the first and last, on the abdomens of working 

 bees, have each on their inner surface two cavities, 

 where the wax is formed in layers, and comes out 

 from between the abdominal rings. Below these 



cavities is a particular membrane, formed of a very 

 small, hexagonally-meshed network, which is con- 

 nected with the membrane lining the walls of the 

 abdominal cavity. 



Wax, of which the combs are formed, is elaborated 

 from honey. The pollen collected from flowers, 

 mixed with a small quantity of wax, constitutes the 

 food of bees and their larves ; and this food appears 

 to be modified in its composition, according to the 

 sort of individuals it is intended for. Another sub- 

 stance collected by bees from the opening buds of 

 poplar and other trees, and used by them for lining 

 their hives, stopping holes, c., is called propolis. 



Besides the distinctions remarked in the female, 

 male, and working bees, Huber regards the working 

 bees as of two sorts ; one devoted to the collection 

 of provisions, and all the materials necessary to the 

 comb, as well as to its construction ; these he calls 

 cirii-res. The others are more delicate, small, and 

 feeble, and employed exclusively within the hive, in 

 feeding and taking care of the young. 



The resemblance existing between the working 

 and female bees first led to the idea that they were ol 

 the same sex, and the ingenious experiments and ac- 

 curate observations of Huber euabled him to estab- 

 lish this fact in the most satisfactory manner. Hav- 

 ing deprived a hive of the mother or queen, he found 

 that the working bees immediately began to prepare 

 a larve of their own class to occupy this important 

 station. This was effected by enlarging the cell to 

 the dimensions of a maternal or royal chamber, and 

 feeding the selected individual on food exclusively 

 destined for the nourishment of the royal larves. If 

 merely fed upon this food, without an accompanying 

 enlargement of the cell, the maternal faculties were 

 but imperfectly acquired, as the female did not attain 

 the proper size, and was incapable of laying any eggs 

 but those which produced males. 



The season of fecundation occurs about the begin- 

 ning of summer, and the meeting between the fe- 

 males and males takes place high in the air, whence 

 the female returns with the sexual parts of the male 

 attached to the extremity of the abdomen. This one 

 fecundation is thought to be sufficient to vivify the 

 eggs which the mother may lay in the course of two 

 years. The laying begins immediately afterwards, 

 and continues untu autumn. Reaumur states, that 

 the female, in the spring, lays as many as 12,000 

 eggs in the lapse of twenty-four days. Each sort of 

 egg is deposited in the appropriate cell, unless a 

 sufficient number of cells have not been prepared : 

 in this case, she places several eggs in one, and 

 leaves to the working bees the task of subsequently 

 arranging them. The eggs laid at the commence- 

 ment of fine weather all belong to the working sort, 

 and hatch at the end of four Bays. The larves are 

 regularly fed by the workers for six or seven days, 

 when they are enclosed in their cell, spin a cocoon, 

 and become nymphs, and in about twelve days ac 

 quire their perfect state. The cells are then imme- 

 diately fitted up for the reception of new eggs. The 

 eggs for producing males are laid two months later, 

 and those for the females immediately afterwards. 

 Tin's succession of generations forms so many parti- 

 cular communities, which, when increased beyond 

 a certain degree, leave the parent hive to found a 

 new colony elsewhere. Three or four swarms some- 

 times leave a hive in a season. A good swarm is said 

 to weigh at least six or eight pounds. The life of the 

 bee, like that of all the otlier insects of its class, does 

 not continue long after the great business of provid- 

 ing for the continuance of the species is completed. 



The cells of the comb compose two opposite ran- 

 ges of horizontal hexagons, with pyramidal bases : 

 each layer of the comb is perpendicular, and attach- 



