THE BEE.] 



THE MANAGEMENT OF Till- Al'IAliV. 



[the hee. 



son's translfition, the invocation runa — " Next proboBcia almost as lonp; as the body itaelf, 



will 1 si't fortli tho lu'avouly f»irt of neri:il microscopic in its bcvituI parts, telescopic in 



honey. Vouclisafe, INIax'enas, thy reganl to its mode of action ; with a «ting so iniiuitoly 



this part, also, of my work. I will sing spec- sharp, that, wore it magnified by tho same 



tacles to you inarvoUous of minute things ; glass whirh makes a needle's point seem a 



the magnanimous leaders, tho n\aiiners and (piarter of an inch, it would yet itself bo in- 



employmenls, tlie tribes and battles of tho visible, and this, too, a hollow tube ; — that all 



whole race in order. My labour is u[)on an these varied operations and contrivances 



humble theme; but not mean tho praise, if should bo enclosed within half an inch of 



the adverse deities permit one, and Apollo in- length, and two grains of matter ; while, in 



vocated, hear." Virgil, however, in this tho same small room, tho largo heart of at 

 Georgic, has proved himself a better poet than I least thirty distinct instincts is contained, is 



a well-informed naturalist. 



Besides the multitude of authors who have 

 written express treatises on bees, periodical 

 works have been published, confining them- 

 selves entirely to their management and 

 economy ; whilst learned societies have been 



surely enough to crush all thoughts of Atheism 

 and IMaterialism," wherever such opinions 

 may bo held. 



The leading feature in the history of bees, 

 and one which gives them a marked distinc- 

 tion from almost all other insects, is tho dif- 



established with the sole view of conducting ferent kinds into which they are distributed, 

 researches upon this subject. The most dis- and which, to all appearance, constitutes so 

 tinguished association of this kind is the ' many difl'erent modifications of sex. First of 

 iSocjV/e </es -4ie///^5, founded upwards of half a all comes the drone, who may readily be 

 century ago, in Little Bautzen, a village in ' known from the heavy noise which he makes, 

 Upper Lausatia, under the auspices of the and from which he has received his name. 



He is the " lazy, yawning drone" of Shake- 

 speare ; and is, indeed, all over the world, a 

 by-word, applied to those who are more lazy 

 than active — more sleeping than awake when 

 performing any duties that may be assigned 

 them in the several positions they may have 

 been called to occupy in life. " The drone," 

 says Butler, "is a gross stingless bee, that 

 speudeth his time in gluttony and idleness. 

 For howsoever he brave it with his round 

 velvet cap, his side gown, his full paunch, and 

 his loud voice, yet he is but an idle companion, 

 living by the sweat of others brows. He 

 worketh not at all, either at home or abroad, 



Elector of Saxony. The labours of this 

 society have greatly added to the general stock 

 of knowledge on the subject of bees, 



FUNCTIONS OF BEES. 

 Every reader of the Scriptures knows that 

 the Supreme Being has, in many senses, sup- 

 plied the houseless and the wanderer with 

 " wild honey," and " in a piece of honey- 

 comb," and "honey out of the stony rock;" 

 whilst, " a land flowing with milk and honey," 

 has, from the first, been the type of another 

 and a better country. The little honey- 

 maker, too, is, in itself, one of the most mar- 



vellous proofs of the goodness and power of and yet spendeth as much as two labourers 



the Almighty. " "Wise in their government," 

 observes Kirby, " diligent and active in their 

 employments, devoted to their young and to 

 their queen, the bees read a lecture to man- 

 kind *.hat exemplifies their Oriental name, 

 Deburah, she that speaketh.'''' — " That within 

 so small a body," says another writer, " should 



you shall never find his maw without a good 

 drop of the purest nectar. In the heat of the 

 day he flieth abroad, alr*^'*" and about, and 

 that with no small noise, as though he would 

 do some great act ; but it is only for his 

 pleasure, and to get him a stomach; and then 

 returns he presently to his cheer." This lazy 



be contained apparatus for converting the member is distinguished by a thicker body, a 



virtuous sweets which it collects into one 

 kind of nourishment for itself; another for the 

 common brood; a third lor the royal; glue 

 lor its carpentry ; wax for its cells ; poison for 

 its enemies ; honey for its master ; with a 



more flattened shape, a round head, and more 

 obtusely terminated abdomen, within which 

 are contained the male organs of generation, 

 as he is admitted to be the male of the species. 

 The queen-bee is tho next and the most dis- 



995 



