58 THE iTVE AJND HONEY-BEE 



" Deem life itself to vengeance well resign'd, 

 Die on the wound, and leave their sting behind." 



Hornets, wasps, and other stinging insects, are able to 

 withdraw their stings from the wound. I have never seen 

 the exception in the case of the honey-bee accounted for ; 

 but as the Creator intended it for the use* of man, did He 

 not give it this peculiarity, that it might be more com- 

 pletely subject to human control? Without a sting, it 

 could not have defended its tempting sweets against a 

 host of greedy depredators : while, if it had been able to 

 sting a number of times, its thorough domestication would 

 have been well nigh impossible. 



The defence of the colony against enemies, the construc- 

 tion of the cells, and storing of them with honey and bee- 

 bread, the rearing of the young, and in short, the whole 

 work of the hive, the laying of eggs excepted, is carried 

 on by the industrious little workers. 



There may be gentlemen of leisure in the commonwealth 

 of bees, but assuredly there are no such ladies, whether of 

 high or low degree. The queen herself has her full share 

 of duties, the royal office being no sinecure, when the 

 mother who fills it must daily superintend the proper 

 deposition of thousands of eggs. 



The queen-bee will live four, and sometimes, though 

 very rarely, five or more years. As the life of the drones 

 is usually cut short by violence, it is difficult to ascertain 

 its precise limit. Bevan estimates it not to exceed four 

 months. The workers are supposed by him to live six or 



* Since the publication of the first edition of this treatise, I have had an opportu- 

 nity during a visit to the Mexican frontier, of studying the habits of the honey-hornet, 

 of that region. Its nest, in shape and material, resembles that of our common hor- 

 net ; and some of them contain many pounds of delicious honey. This insect, 

 which in those regions is so serviceable to man, like the honey-bee, is unable to 

 withdraw its sting from the wound. It has also a queen, and lives in a colony 

 state during the whole year. 



