THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



167 



Inmates of the Hive. 



As every reader is not aware of the differences 

 of form that distinguish the queen, drones, and 

 worlcers from eacli other, a technical descrip- 

 tion is here given of those pertaining to tlie 

 common black or brown race. 



The body of the female bee or queen js con- 

 siderably larger than that of either the drone or 

 the worker. The prevailing color in all three 

 is the same, black or black-brown; but with 

 respect to the female this does not appear to 

 be invariably the case. Eeaumur affirms, after 

 describing some differences of color in different 

 individuals of this sex, that a queen may 

 always be distinguished from the workers and 

 males by the color of her body. If this obser- 

 vation be restricted to the color of some parts of 

 her body, it is correct; but it will not apply to 

 all generally, unless by the term body, he 

 means the abdomen In all that I have had an 

 opportunity to examine, the prevailing color, 

 as I have stated it, is the same. 



The head is not larger than that of the 

 workers; but the tongue is shorter and more 

 slender, with straighter maxillce. The man- 

 dibles are forficate, and do not jut out like theirs 

 into a prominent angle. They are of the color 

 of pitch with a red tinge, and terminate in two 

 teeth, the exterior being acute, and the interior 

 blunt or truncated. The labruni or upper-lip 

 is fulvous, and the antenuse are piceous. 



In the trunk the tegulce or scales that defend 

 the base of the Avings are rufo-piceous. The 

 wings reach only to the tip of the third abdo- 

 minal segment. The tarsi and the apex of the 

 tibiiE are rufo-fulvous. The posterior tibice are 

 plane above, and covered with short adpressed 

 hairs, having neither the corbicula (or marginal 

 fringe of hairs for carrying the masses of pol- 

 len) nor the pecten; and the posterior plantm 

 have neither the brush formed of hairs set in 

 strife, nor the auricle at the base. 



The abdomen is considerably longer than the 

 head and trunk taken together, receding from 

 the trunk, elongato-coi\ical, and rather sharp 

 at the anus. The dorsal segments are fulvous 

 at the tip, covered with very short, pallid, and 

 in certain lengths, shining, adpressed hairs; the 

 first segment being very short, and covered 

 with longer hairs. The ventral segments, ex- 

 cept the anal^ which is black, are fulvescent or 

 rufo-fulvous, and covered with soft longer hairs. 

 The vagina of the spicula (commonly called 

 the sting) is curved. 



The male bee or drone is quite the reverse of 

 his royal paramour; his body being thick, short, 

 and clumsy, and very obtuse at each extremity. 

 It is covered also, as to the head and trunk, with 

 dense hairs. 



The head is depressed and orbicular. The 

 tongue is shorter and more slender than that of 

 the female, and the mandibles, though nearly 

 of the same shape, are smaller. The eyes are 

 very large, meeting at the back part of the 

 head. In the space between them are placed 

 the antenna and stemmata. The former con- 

 sist of fourteen joints, including the radicle, 

 the fourth and fifth being very short and not 

 (o^sily distinguished. 



The trunk is large. The wings are longer 

 than the body. The legs are short and slender. 

 The posterior tibia? are long, club-shaped, and 

 covered with inconspicuous hairs. The pos- 

 terior plantaj are furnished underneath with 

 thickset scopula;, which they use to brush their 

 bodies. 



Tlie claw-joints are fulvescent. 



The abdomen is cordate, very short, being 

 scarcely so long as the head and trunk together, 

 consisting of seven segments, which are fulvous 

 at their apex. The first segment is longer than 

 any of the succeeding ones, and covered above 

 with rather long hairs. The second and third 

 dorsal segments are apparently naked; but 

 under a triple lens, in a certain light, some ad- 

 pressed hairs may be perceived — the remaining 

 ones are hairy, the three last being inflexed. 

 The ventral segments are very narrow, hairy, 

 and fulvous. 



The body of the workers is oblong. 



The liead is triangular. The mandibles are 

 prominent, so as to terminate the head in an 

 angle, toothless, and forficate. Tho, tongue anCi 

 maxiUai are long and incurved; the labru?n and 

 antennce are black. 



In the trunk the tegulae are black. The 

 wings extend only to the apex of the fourth 

 segment of the abdomen. The legs are all 

 black, with the digits only rather piceous. The 

 posterior tibiae are naked above, exteriorly 

 longitudinally concave, and interiorly longitu- 

 dinally convex; furnished with lateral and re- 

 cumbent hairs to form the corbicula, and armed 

 at the end with the pecten. The upper surface 

 of the posterior plantfe resembles that of fibige; 

 underneath they are furnished with a scopula 

 or brush of stitF hairs set in rows. At the base 

 they are armed Avith stiff bristles, and exteriorly 

 with an acute appendage, or auricle. 



The abdojncn is a little longer than the head 

 and trunk together, oblong, and rather heart- 

 shaped — a transverse section of it is triangular. 

 It is covered with longish flavo-pal'id hairs; 

 the first segment is short with longer hairs; the 

 base of the three intermediate segments is cov- 

 ered, and, as it were, banded with pale 'hairs. 

 The apex of the three intermediate ventral seg- 

 ments is rather fulvescent, and their base is 

 distinguished on each side by a trapeziform 

 wa.t-packet covered by a thin membrane. The 

 sting, or rather vagina, of the spicula, is 

 straight. 



The society of a hive of bees, besides the 

 j^oung brood, consists of one female or queen, 

 several hundreds of males or di'ones, and many 

 thousand Avorkers. 



Long before Linnaeus had discovered the nec- 

 tary of the flowers, those industrious creatures, 

 the bees, had made themselves acquainted and 

 intimate Avith every form and variety of them; 

 and no botanist, even in this enlightened era of 

 botanical science, can compare Avith a bee in 

 this respect. The situation of these reservoirs, 

 even Avhere the armed sight of science cannot 

 discover it, is in a moment detected by the 

 microscopic eye of this little creatnr<>.. 



