HYMEXOPTERA. ACULEATA. 245 



different from Eucera, &c., upon which they live. Mr. 

 Smith suggests as an explanation of this, that as the 

 Solitary Bee would repel any intruder even of her own 

 species, such resemblance would be useless, and therefore 

 does not exist, while in the case of the Social Bees it 

 might be of great service to the interloper. In the case 

 of Solitary Bees, too, only one watchful little mother has 

 to be supplanted, while the Humble Bee nest has many 

 pairs of interested little eyes looking on at all that 

 happens. 



It seems, however, that the idea of any deception or 

 evasion being necessary, or intended, is proved untenable 

 by the harmony which exists between the solitary Bees 

 themselves and their parasites, which goes to show that 

 the Bee does not always repel intruders. 



The last genus is Apis, which contains only one 

 English species, but that the crowning wonder of the 

 whole tribe the Hive Bee. 



So much has been written and said of the habits of 

 this insect, that such space as Bees could claim in this 

 work has been devoted to the description of less-known 

 genera, and it is not proposed to enter into details of 

 the life of the Hive Bee, which the reader may find in 

 other volumes without number. 



The Hive Bee is commonly quoted in connexion 

 with the Instinct versus Reason question, but whilst the 

 " instinct" of this little creature as displayed in its 

 admirable system of architecture, in its unvarying 

 adherence to the established form of government, in its 

 manner of collecting and of storing up food is a 

 favourite topic with those who allow only "instinct" and 

 deny "reason" to the lower orders of animals, it must 

 be admitted that, for beings without reason, the Bees 



