BEE. 



insect world, that a fly, scarcely more than one-twelfth 

 of an inch in length, is able to inflict a wound, from 

 which an excrescence often a couple of inches in 

 diameter is produced. The subject, however, will 

 more appropriately come under our notice in the 

 article CYNIPS or GALL FLIES. 



BEE. The English name for all those species of 

 hymenopterous insects which compose the very 

 extensive Linnaean genus Apis, or the section Antho- 

 phila or Mellifera. of modern classifications ; and 

 which, as already stated under the article Apis, con- 

 sists of two distinct families. In the present article 

 we purpose confining ourselves to the domestic bee, 

 the Apis mellifica of Linnaeus, and which, with some 

 exotic species possessing similar habits, constitutes 

 the restricted modern genus Apis. 



It may be convenient, in the outset, to state that 

 the hive-bee is distinguished from all the other spe- 

 cies of bees, by having the shanks of the hind legs 

 furnished with a smooth and concave pollen plate on 

 the uuter surface, and destitute of spines at the 

 extremity ; by the basal joint of the tarsi, in the 

 workers, being of an oblong form, with its inner sur- 

 face clothed with fine hairs disposed in transverse 

 layers ; by the oblong shape of the body ; by the max- 

 illary palpi, or the feelers of the sheaths of the tongue, 

 being almost obsolete and formed of a single joint, 

 and by the oral apparatus being of an elongated 

 form. 



The hive-bee may be regarded as one of the most 

 perfectly social species of insects, and one, whose 

 economy is regulated by the possession of a more 

 perfect degree of instinct than is perhaps possessed 

 by any other invertebrated animal. Another pecu- 

 liarity, necessarily dependent upon the social habits 

 of these insects, is the existence of individuals which 

 have been regarded by many as a third sex, but 

 which modern investigations have ascertained to be 

 female insects, whose internal and sexual organisation 

 is in an undeveloped state. These individuals, neu- 



Neuter Bee. 



ters or mules, or workers, or female non-breeders, as 

 they have been termed, constitute the great mass of 

 the population of a society : they are the smallest 

 members in the community, a circumstance probably 

 dependent upon their imperfect organisation (if we 

 may be allowed to use the term to an animal pos- 

 sessing such perfection of habits) ; and it is to them 

 that the internal economy of the hive is committed, 

 and upon them the whole labour of the community 

 devolves. 



How skilfully she builds her cell, 



How neat she spreads her wax, 

 She labours hard to store it well 



With the sweet food she makes 

 She gathers honey all the day 



From ev'ry opening flow'r. 



Moreover k is their duty to guard and protect the 

 hive and the queen, to feed the young, and to kill 

 the drones at the appointed season. 



In a single hive, there are sometimes not fewer 

 than 30,000 of these individuals. They are distin- 

 guished from the fully developed females by having 



NAT. HIST. VOL. I. 



a longer lip, the jaws not notched at the tip, and the 

 sting straight. 



The perfect female, of which there is but a single 

 individual in a hive, is termed the queen, and is dis- 

 tinguished by her greater size, more elongate form, 

 brighter colour, shorter tongue, notched jaws, and 

 curved sting. Her duty principally consists in the 

 laying of eggs, and in her proceedings she is attended 

 by a body guard of workers, who pay her the greatest 

 attention ; hence, she is the mother of the hive, not 

 indeed of the contemporary generation, but of the 

 future inhabitants of the hive, as well as of the 

 swarms of the following summer. It is one of the 

 most curious points in the history of this insect, to 

 notice the immense influence which this solitary 

 female has upon an entire population of many thou- 

 sand bees. And, indeed, did not the accounts which 

 have been given respecting it, depend upon authors 

 of the most undisputed veracity, it would be next to 

 impossible to consider them to be otherwise than as 

 most marvellous and impossible fables. Reaumur, 

 however, by dividing a hive, clearly proved the 

 existence of the more than careful attention and 

 respect with which the queen is regarded. He 

 inclosed the two portions of "the society in glass hives, 

 and ascertained not only that such was the case, but 

 also, that whilst in that division which possessed the 

 queen, and but a small proportion of workers, the latter 

 quickly made two combs, the portion without a sove- 

 reign, although far more numerous, did not construct 

 a single cell ; whence it is evident that the instinctive 

 proceedings of the workers depend on the love of 

 progeny ; and what is the more remarkable, it is not 

 for their own offspring that they are content to 

 undergo all their labours, being totally incapacitated 

 from becoming the parents of a hive. 



Queen Bee. 



The absence of the queen deprives the workers of 

 no organ, paralyses no limb, yet in every instance 

 that they are deprived of her they neglect their 

 duties, and unless provided with another queen they 

 refuse food and quickly perish. How difficult is it 

 to attribute these wonderful proceedings to any 

 other cause than the possession of the most perfect 

 reason. 



The male bees, of which there are several hundreds, 

 sometimes even two thousand, in a full hive, are idle 

 creatures, doing no work : 



On other's toils, in pampered leisure thrive 

 The lazy fathers of the industrious hive. 



Their only duty is to impregnate the female, and 

 this effected, they are driven from the hive and killed 

 by the workers, who thereupon also destroy the male 

 larvae and pupae remaining. They are generally 

 termed drones, a term which has been misapplied to 

 various species of flies which indeed much resemble 

 bees, but which may at once be distinguished by 

 having only one pair of wings. 



These drones are of a more bulky size than the 

 other bees, and they are not armed with a sting. 

 Their antennas are composed of thirteen joints (those 

 GG 



