QUEEN DRONES WORKERS. 



monarch of the hive, is distinguished from her subjects by con- 

 spicuous personal peculiarities. Her body, fig. 2, is considerably 



Fig. 2. 



Fig. 3. 



Fig. 4. 



Queen. 



Drone. 



Wax-maker. 



Fig. 5. 



Fig. 6. 



Nurse, loaded with pollen. 



Drone ill flight, showing 

 organs of fecundation. 



longer than that of any of her subjects ; she is distinguished by a 

 more measured and majestic gait, by the comparative shortness of 

 her wings, and the curvature of her sting. Her wings, which are 

 strong and sinewy, are only half the length of her body, extending 

 very little beyond the posterior limit of her thorax, while those of 

 the drones, fig. 3, and the workers, fig. 4, cover the abdomen. Her 

 legs are destitute of the brushes and baskets with which those of 

 the workers are furnished. She has no occasion for these instru- 

 ments of industry, since her exalted station exempts her from 

 labour, all her wants being munificently provided for by her 

 subjects. She is distinguished by her colour as much as by her 

 form, the black of the dorsal part of her body being much brighter 

 than that of the drones and workers, and the ventral parts and 

 legs being of dark orange or copper-colour, the hue of the hinder 

 being deeper than that of the other legs. 



The queen, who is the only lady of the hive, enjoys the 

 privilege of being followed by many hundred suitors in the persons 

 of the drones. At the early age of two or three days she is mar- 

 riageable, and it rarely happens that her royal decision is long 

 postponed ; and, indeed, if she were not favourably disposed for 

 such an event, the anxiety of her numerous subjects would urge 



