The Life of the Bee 



of years. The tribe in question is already 

 known to us ; it is that of the " Apiens," 

 whose essential characteristics are so dis- 

 tinct and well-marked that one is inclined 

 to credit all its members with one common 

 ancestor.^ 



The disciples of Darwin, Hermann 

 Miiller among others, consider a little 

 wild bee, the Prosopis, which is to be 

 found all over the universe, as the actual 

 representative of the primitive bee whence 

 all have issued that are known to us 

 to-day. 



The unfortunate Prosopis stands more 



^ It is important that the terms we shall succes- 

 sively employ, adopting the classification of M. Emile 

 Blanchard, — "APIENS, APID^ and APIT^, — 

 should not be confounded. The tribe of the Apiens 

 comprises all families of bees. The Apidas constitute 

 the first of these families, and are subdivided into three 

 groups : the Meliponge, the Apitse, and the Bombi 

 (humble-bees). And, finally, the Apitae include all 

 the different varieties of our domestic bees. 



388 



