THE WORKERS. 41 



evident that the mortality during the middle of the 

 year must be very great, seeing that egg-laying and 

 hatching go on at the rate of several hundreds a 

 day, and during weeks and months in succession : 

 and yet it frequently happens, where room sufficient 

 for the growing stores is provided, no swarm will 

 be thrown off, from which we infer that a period is 

 reached when the birth-rate and death-rate pretty 

 closely approach each other. 



The older workers are distinguishable from the 

 younger by their deeper and more glossy colour. 

 The grey bloom of youth has been worn off, and 

 frequently their wings, notched or broken in places, 

 betray the veterans in the battle of life, who, amidst 

 rains, hail, and wind, have suffered more or less 

 severely. 



Some observers have called attention to certain 

 individuals in the community, which have been 

 spoken of as "black bees," 1 and which have been 

 supposed to possess special functions. Von Berlepsch 

 ascertained from his countryman Leuckart that no 

 anatomical differences existed between these and 

 ordinary workers ; and, from subsequent experiments, 

 came to the conclusion that the difference in colour 

 was due to the accidental absence or the loss of the 

 hairs or down with which bees are ordinarily covered. 

 This loss may have occurred through getting 

 smeared with honey, or from stifling, or fright, or 

 creeping constantly through apertures too small to 

 admit their bodies readily. Dzierzon, another great 

 authority, corroborates the above explanation, and 



1 This term is also used for all English bees, in distinction from the 

 Ligurian, Cyprian, and other varieties with yellow bands. 



