The Bees, 577 



the perfect insect changes, three or four hours after mid- 

 day, into the fly form, and dies soon after. This fly has 

 the singular characteristic of casting off its entire skin 

 very soon after it has attained its perfect state ; and 

 the empty coat may often be seen lying about after its 

 occupant has deserted it. 



ORDER V. Hymenoptera. 



IN this order the wings are neither so large nor so 

 strongly veined as in the previous one. The mouth is 

 furnished with mandibles, maxillae, and an upper and 

 lower lip ; and the abdomen of the female is terminated 

 either with an ovipositor or a sting. The metamor- 

 phosis of these insects is complete. 



This order contains the Bees, of which there are hun- 

 dreds of different species. The most interesting of 

 these is the common Hive Bee, from whose industry we 

 obtain wax, and by whose provident habits we are sup- 

 plied with honey. The inhabitants of a hive are of 

 three kinds : one Queen, a few hundred drones or males, 

 and several thousand workers. The Queen, or Parent 

 Bee, is the soul of the community; to her all the rest 

 are so attached, that they will follow her wherever she 

 goes. She has the power of quelling any disturbance 

 which may arise among her subjects by making a pecu- 

 liar humming noise. She is so prolific as to lay fifteen 

 or eighteen thousand eggs, which produce about eight 

 hundred males or drones, four or five Queen Bees, and 

 the rest Working Bees or Neuters. The combs of a hive 

 consist of a number of cells, formed of wax, a substance 

 which is secreted by the Working Bees after gorging 

 themselves with honey. These cells are for the habita- 

 tion and breeding of the young Bees, and are also used 

 as stores for honey, and bee-bread, or the pollen of 

 flowers. The royal cells, in which are laid the eggs 

 of future Queens, are the largest, and shaped like the 

 cup of an acorn. All the other cells are of a beautiful 

 hexagonal form, and of two kinds, one larger than the 

 other : the larger for the young drones, the smaller for 



2p 



