128 THE HISTORY OF ANIMALS. [B. V. 



2. There are two kinds of rulers, the best of these is red, 

 the other black and variegated : their size is double that of 

 the working bees ; the part of the body beneath the cincture 

 is more than half of the whole length : by some they are 

 called the mother bees, as if they were the parents of the 

 rest; and they argue, that unless the ruler is present, 

 drones only are produced, and no bees. Others affirm that 

 they have sexual intercourse, and that the drones are males, 

 and the bees females. 



3. The other bees originate in the cells of the comb, but 

 the rulers are produced in the lower part of the comb, six or 

 seven of them separated, opposite to the rest of the pro- 

 geny. The bees have a sting, which the drones have not : 

 the kings and rulers have a sting which they do not make 

 use of, and some persons suppose that they have none. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



1. THEHE are several kinds of bees, the best are small, round, 

 and variegated : another kind is large, like the anthrene : a 

 third kind is called phor ; this is black, and has a broad 

 abdomen : the drone is the fourth, and is the largest of all ; 

 it has no sting, and is incapable of work, for which reason 

 people often wrap something round their hives, so that the 

 bees can enter, but the drones, being larger, cannot. 



2. There are two kinds of rulers among bees, as I observed 

 before. In every hive there are several rulers, and not a 

 single one, for the hive perishes if there are not rulers 

 enough (not that they thus become anarchical, but, as they 

 say, because they are required for breeding the bees) ; if 

 there are too many rulers they perish, for thus they become 

 distracted. 



3- If the spring is late, and drought and rusts are about, 

 the progeny is small. When the weather is dry, they make 

 honey. When it is damp, their progeny multiplies ; for 

 which reason, the olives and the swarms of bees multiply at 

 the same time. They begin by making comb, in which they 

 place the progeny, which is deposited with their mouths, as 

 those say who affirm that they collect it from external 

 sources. Afterwards they gather the honey which is to be 

 their food, during the summer and the autumn ; that which 

 is gathered in the autumn is the best. 



