SCO NATURAL HISTORY. 



and workers, or undeveloped females. These three forms are found together in the hive in the summer 

 months; at other seasons only the two -forms of females. Of these the peifect females are usually 

 more brightly- coloured than the workers ; their general form is longer (the workers being half an inch 

 and the females seven or eight lines long) ; the abdomen is long and tapering ; the wings, when 

 closed, do not reach the apex of the body. The eyes in both females and workers are of moderate size, 

 and confined to the sides of the head. The males, or drones, are about as long as the females, but of 

 a much stouter form of body ; their wings are larger, and their eyes so large as to meet on the crown 

 of the head. On the other hand, in the workers the basal joint of the posterior tarsi is concave, and 

 marked across with ridges, each of which bears a fringe of bristles, making a sort of basket for carrying 

 pollen. This apparatus is wanting in both the males and the perfect females. 



In Southern Europe, notably in Italy, a much more brightly-coloured Bee is found, distinguished 

 especially by having yellow transverse bands on the abdomen. This Bee was long supposed to be a 

 distinct species, and was described under the name of Apis ligustica, but it is now regarded as merely 

 a variety, and, under the name of the Italian or Ligurian Bee, has of late been introduced into the 

 more northern parts of Europe. Two other banded varieties (or species) are known in Africa, 

 and another in China. As to the country in which the Hive Bee originated, nothing can be said. It 

 appears to have been known since the earliest dawn of history, and is now in one or other of its forms 

 spread over nearly the whole surface of the earth, and in some localities in warm climates is even 

 found in a wild state, but whether truly wild or only escaped from captivity is a question. 



In all cases, however, the habits of the insect are the same. The nest is built in the protection 

 of some hollow in the wild state, usually in a hole of a tree ; under domestication, in a hive of some 

 sort. It would be futile to attempt any description of the immense variety of hives which have been 

 invented to serve as the homes of Bees. The old straw hive, the appearance of which must be familiar 

 to every one, has no doubt come down to us from a very remote antiquity, arid was the only form 

 known during the long period in which the cultivation of Bees was a matter of great importance. The. 

 introduction of a second hive, or " super," placed above the one in which the Bees live, so as to enable 

 the produce of their industry to be removed without sacrificing the Bees, was a great step in advance ; 

 and the employment of wooden hives with glass sides, enabling the whole economy of the community to 

 be easily superintended, has not only revealed to us most of the secrets of Bee-life, but at the same 

 time placed the management of the hive completely in the hands of the owner. At the present day 

 the Bee-keeper can actually govern the reproduction of his stock, by introducing into the hive the 

 foundations of cells of the size proper for receiving male or female eggs. 



During the winter and spring the community consists exclusively of female individuals, 

 namely, a single perfect female or " queen," and a multitude of workers. The business of the 

 former is to lay eggs ; that of the latter to perform all the necessary operations for the maintenance 

 of the hive and the support of the young. 



The actual nest, if we may call it so, built by the workers within the hive, consists of a series, 

 of so-called " combs " suspended perpendicularly side by side within the cavity of the hive, and formed 

 of numerous hexagonal cells laid horizontally, that is, at right angles to the general direction of the 

 comb. Each comb consists of two sets of cells opening on its opposite sides, and therefore placed 

 end to end and separated by a very thin plate of material ; and it is remarkable that the cells are 

 not placed directly end to end and terminated by flat surfaces, but so that each cell is closed by 

 portions of three cells on the other side of the comb, an arrangement which, as will be seen, insures. 

 a certain economy of space. Thus, the cell, which is a hexagonal prism, is terminated by a small 

 pyramid composed of three rhomboidal faces, and as these belong to three cells on the other side, 

 the apex of the pyramid, forming the deepest part of the cell, is placed at the junction of three 

 sides of the cells on the other side of the comb, so that the deepest parts of the cells on one side 

 tit into the shallowest parts of those on the other. This marvellously ingenious arrangement has long 

 excited the admiration of mankind, especially since it was found that in the form of their cells and 

 in the shape and arrangement of the pieces closing them, the Bees approximated very closely to 

 the proportions which, according to theory, were most advantageoas. The accuracy of Bee architec- 

 ture was, indeed, a little exaggerated, as such an example suited admirably a certain school of writers 

 whose delight it was to undervalue all manifestations of the human intellect. Nowadays, this sort of 



