APIS. 



ed the palm of the hand, which is covered 

 with a thick cuticle : it has often been 

 ahout the one-twelfth of an inch. T-> per- 

 form this by mere force, two things are 

 necessary, power of muscles, and strength 

 of the sting, neither of which they seem 

 10 possess in sufficient degree. I own I 

 do not understand this operation. I am 

 apt to conceive there is something in it 

 distinct from simple force applied to one 

 end of a body : for if this was simply the 

 case, the sting of the bee could not be 

 'made to pierce by any power applied to 

 its base, as the least pressure bends it in 

 any direction : it is possible 'he serrated 

 edges may assist, by cutting their way in 

 like a saw. 



" The apparatus for the poison consists 

 of two small ducts, which are the glands 

 that secrete the poison : these two Jlie in 

 the abdomen, among the air-cells, &c. ; 

 they both unite into one, which soon en- 

 ters into or forms an oblong bag, like a 

 bladder of urine ; at the opposite end of 

 which passes out a duct, which runs to- 

 wards the angle where the two stings 

 meet,and entering between the two stings, 

 is continued between them in a groove, 

 which forms a canal by the union of the two 

 Stings to this point. There is another duct 

 on the right of that described above, which 

 is not so circumscribed, and contains a 

 thicker matter, which, as far us I have 

 been able to judge, enters along with the 

 other; but it is, the first that contains the 

 poison, which is a thin, clear fluid. From 

 the stings having serrated edges, it is 

 seldom the bees can disengage them ; and 

 they immediately upon stinging endeavour 

 to make their escape, but are generally 

 prevented, as it were caught in their own 

 trap ; and the force they use commonly 

 drags out the whole of the apparatus for 

 stinging, and also part of the bowels; so 

 that the bee most frequently falls a sacri- 

 fice immediately upon having effected its 

 purpose. Upon a superficial view, one 

 conceives that the first intention of the 

 bee having a sting is evident; one sees it 

 has property to defend, and that therefore 

 it is fitted for defence ; but why it should 

 naturally fall a sacrifice in its own defence 

 does not so readily appear ; besides, all 

 bees have stings, although all bees have 

 not property to defend, and therefore are 

 not under the same necessity of being so 

 provided. Probably its having a sting to 

 use was sufficient for natnre to -It-fend the 

 bee, without using it liberally ; and the loss 

 of a bee or two, when they did sting, was 

 of no consequence, for it is seldom that 

 more die." 

 Some naturalists suppose that the queen 



is formed from the larvaeof the working bee; 

 by a particular mode of treatment,or peculi- 

 arityor quantity of food,the bulk is augmen- 

 ted, and the generative organs developed. 

 We now proceed to notice some of the 

 species. The apis centuncularis, or car- 

 penter-bee, is remarkable for its faculty of 

 forming long, tubular, and slightly flexuose 

 cavities in wood, even of the most solid 

 kind, as oak, &c. Sometimes it performs 

 this operation in living trees, and some- 

 times in dry wood, posts, &c. When the 

 tube is properly finished, the animal pro- 

 ceeds to line each of the above-mentioned 

 spaces with rose-leaves rolled over each 

 other, the bottom of each being formed 

 by several circular pieces of these leaves, 

 placed immediately over each other to a 

 sufficient thickness. The animal then de- 

 posits an egg at the bottom, and having 

 left in the cell a sufficient quantity of a 

 kind of honey for the nourishment of the 

 young larva, when hatched, proceeds to 

 close the top with circular bits of rose-leaf; 

 and, thus proceeding, finishes the whole 

 series. This is usually done towards the 

 close of summer ; and the young, having; 

 passed the period of their larva state, 

 change into that of crysalis, and remain 

 the whole winter, not making their ap- 

 pearance till pretty late in the ensuing 

 season. This bee is about the size of the 

 common or honey-bee, but shorter and 

 broader bodied in proportion, and is of a 

 dusky colour above, the lower parts be- 

 ing covered with a bright ferruginous 

 down or hair. In seasons when this species 

 happens to be plentiful, it does considera- 

 ble injury to the trees which it attacks, 

 large trunks of apparently healthy oaks 

 having been found very materially injured 

 by the numerous trains of cells distributed 

 through them in different parts; thirty, for- 

 ty, or fifty tubes sometimes lying within a 

 very small distance of each other. In defect 

 of rose-leaves, the cavities are sometimes 

 lined with the leaves of elm, &c. A species, 

 very nearly allied to the preceding, pur- 

 sues a similar plan of forming a continued 

 series of cylindrical nests with rose or 

 other leaves, rolling them in such a man- 

 ner as to resemble so many thimbles, the 

 top of each being closed as before. In- 

 stead, however, of being placed in the 

 limber of trees, they are laid in horizontal 

 trains, at a certain distance beneath the 

 surface of the ground. Of the villose, or 

 hairy bees, popularly called humble-bees, 

 OIK' of the largos 1 , and most common in 

 England is the apis lapidaria of Linnaeus, 

 so named from the . ircumstance of its 

 nest being generally situated in strong or 

 gravelly places. This species is entirely 



