1O2 HISTORY OF 



Having thus given a cursory description of the 

 insect, individually considered, and of the habita- 

 tion it forms, we next come to its social habits 

 and institutions ; and in considering this little 

 animal attentively, after the necessary precautions 

 for the immediate preservation of the community, 

 its second care is turned to the continuance of 

 posterity. How numerous soever the multitude 

 of bees may appear in one swarm, yet they all 

 owe their origin to a single parent, which is called 

 the Queen-Bee. It is indeed surprising that a 

 single insect shall in one summer give birth to 

 above twenty thousand young ; but upon opening 

 her body the wonder will cease, as the number of 

 eggs appearing at one time amounts to five thou- 

 sand. This animal, whose existence is of such 

 importance to her subjects, may easily be distin- 

 guished from the rest by her size, and the shape of 

 her body. On her safety depends the whole wel- 

 fare of the commonwealth j and the attentions 

 paid her by all the rest of the swarm, evidently 

 show the dependance her subjects have upon her 

 security. If this insect be carefully observed, she 

 will be seen at times attended with a numerous 

 retinue, marching from cell to cell, plunging the 

 extremity of her body into many of them, and 

 leaving a small egg in each. 



The bees which generally compose her train 

 are thought to be males, which serve to impreg- 

 nate her by turns. These are larger and blacker 

 than the common bees, without stings and with- 

 out industry. They seem formed only to trans- 

 mit a posterity, and to attend the queen whenever 



