RULES AND CAUTIONS. 257 



this bee is of no sex, neither male nor female. Its 

 province is solely that of labour, of which it per- 

 forms every species which is needful for the com- 

 munity. Gathering in the harvest from the flowers, 

 constructing and filling the combs, feeding the 

 young, murdering the useless, and preserving the 

 hive in that state of cleanliness and neatness, in 

 which these industrious and astute insects take so 

 great delight. This bee is furnished with natural 

 implements, extensive and strong, in proportion to 

 the labour which it has to perform. It has two 

 hard teeth or jaws, which enable it to collect the 

 wax, knead it, and construct the cells ; also to re- 

 move any substance of which it is desirable to be 

 ridded. The proboscis, of a shining chesnut hue, 

 exclusive of its sweeping property, by which the 

 farina of the blossom is attracted, is likewise fur- 

 nished with a channel through which, by a muscular 

 power in the organ, honey and liquids are drawn 

 into the gullet. It is supposed that the collection of 

 honey and farina, by the bee, is a distinct operation, 

 and that it never enters the hive laden with both. 



For the following rules and cautions, furnished by 

 a judicious practical Apiarian, and friend to the 

 work, the author holds himself much obliged. 



" It is not to be expected that any one can possess 

 an intuitive knowledge of the management of an 

 apiary, and especially of some points of the utmost 

 consequence to the prosperity of the hives. A per- 

 son is generally, in a certain degree, a judge of the 

 goodness or badness of the article which he wishes 

 to purchase ; but how few are there, who when they 

 establish an apiary are able, from their own expe- 



