liKES 



termed beers, as persimmon hoi*r, sas- 

 safras, liquorice, and sarsaparilla root 

 beer. 



BEES. Apis mdlifica. A familiar 

 insect, much admired for its instinct 



and industry. Natural History. — 

 There are three orders of bees in 

 each hive ; the queen (a), drone (Z»), 

 and labourini,' bee (c) ; there is but 

 one queen, distinguished by a longer 



body and greater size than all the 

 other inhabitants ; she is the only fe- 

 male in the hive, and is, therefore, 

 watched with great interest by the 

 others, who attend her in her duties, 

 and live only in peace while assured 

 of her presence. The drones are the 

 males : they are larger and nearer 

 spherical than the labourers, and 

 ■without stings. After their duty is 

 performed in autumn, the drones are 

 expelled from the hive by the labour- 

 ers, and killed or driven abroad to die. 

 There are from 300 to 1000 drones in 

 the hive. The labourers form the 

 rest of the inhabitants, and vary in 

 number from 5000 to 20,000. They 

 are smaller than the rest, armed with 

 a sting, and neuter in sex, or, more 

 correctly, they are females in which 

 the ovaries are undeveloped. The 

 neuters divide themselves in compa- 

 nies to carry on the business of the 

 hive ; some collecting honey, others 

 building the comb, and another body 

 nursing the young. The bees which 

 go abroad seek for three distinct kinds 

 of matter, viz. : honey, farina or bee 

 meat, and propolis. The first, which 

 also contains more or less wax, is 

 obtained from flowers, and in part 

 converted into wax by the insect it- 

 self. The farina is stored up in cells 

 as food for the young, and is of a 

 whitish colour, altogether differing 

 from hone^ ; propolis is a resinou? 

 8^ 



exudation gathered from different 

 trees, as the black gum, wherewith 

 the bee closes crevices in the hive 

 and stops the cells of the young. As 

 soon as flowers begin to expand, the 

 labourers and queen bee are aroused 

 from the lethargy of winter and re- 

 commence the labours of the hive. 

 The queen lays about 50 eggs a day, 

 for six or eight weeks : these are all 

 neuters. Having finished this depos- 

 ite, she then lays the eggs of drones, 

 and lastly, those for queens. At this 

 season she produces but one egg a 

 day ; the number of queen eggs va- 

 ries from 3 to 20 ; they are deposited 

 in large conical cells called royal 

 cells. The working community in 

 the mean time introduce food into 

 each cell, taking care to furnish the 

 future queens with regal fare, differ- 

 ent from that of the neuters. In 

 three days the eggs are hatched and 

 produce a worm, which feeds upon 

 the bee bread stored- in its cell, and 

 at the end of a few days spins itself 

 a web and enters upon a series of 

 transformations, ending, in 21 days 

 from the deposite of the egg, in the 

 production of a young bee ; this eats 

 its way through the propolis that clo- 

 ses its cell, and is nourished by the 

 nursing bees until it is strong enough 

 to enter on the labours of the hive. 

 In due time the queen eggs are con- 

 l 'rtpd into bees. As soon as the 



