STINGLESS HONEY BEE. 403 



generally representing the mouth of a man, or some 

 monster, the head of which is moulded in the clay of 

 the hive, a bee is constantly stationed, whose office 

 is no sinecure,* for the hole is so small, he has to 

 draw back every time a bee wishes to enter or leave 

 the hive. A gentleman state'd to me that the experi- 

 ment had been made by marking the sentinel, when 

 it was observed that the same bee continued at his 

 post a whole day. 



" When it is ascertained, by the weight, that a hive 

 is full, 'the end pieces are removed and the honey 

 withdrawn. The hive we saw opened was only partly 

 filled, which enabled us to see the economy of the 

 interior to more advantage. The honey is not con- 

 tained in the elegant hexagonal cells of our hives, 

 but in wax bags not quite so large as an egg. These 

 bags, or bladders, are hung round the sides of the 

 hive, and appear about half full; the quantity being 

 probably just as great as the strength of the wax 

 will bear without tearing. Those near the bottom, 

 being better supported, are more filled than the upper 

 ones." (Mr. Jesse, in his gleanings upon the au- 



* If the Mexican bees enter the hives with 1 as much rapidity, 

 and in as great numbers as Reaumur states they do in this part 

 of the world, it would indeed be no sinecure. He observes that 

 the population of a hive amounts to 18,000, and that a hundred 

 enter in a minute ; if as many go out in the same time, I think 

 the sentinel must rather stand on one side of the entrance than 

 within it. Captain Beechey states that it withdraws on one side 

 to a recess adapted for the purpose, and that a Mexican family 

 of bees is not believed to amount to more than one thousand. 



