156 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1792. 



served by little starts ; often we can only see the effects, which renders the know- 

 ledge of their economy still imperfect ; they would in many cases seem to evade 

 our wishes ; they often remove out of our sight part of their economy, when 

 they can. Thus they often remove their eggs and young. Many quadrupeds 

 do this, as cats, &c. and I have reason to believe that birds can remove their eggs, 

 at least I have reason to suspect the sparrow of this. 



As the bee is an insect, it has most things peculiar to that class of animals : 

 such as are common are not to be taken notice of in the history of this insect, 

 but only its peculiarities which distinguish it from all others, and constitute it to 

 be a bee ; and as bees form a large tribe of insects, it is the more singular pecu- 

 liarities that constitute a distant species of this tribe. As most parts of the 

 economy of insects have not been in every respect understood, and though now 

 known in some insects, yet cannot be observed in the bee, but which accord with 

 many circumstances attending this insect, therefore such must be brought into 

 the present history of the bee, to render it more complete. I shall not be mi- 

 nute in the anatomy of this animal, as that would be too tedious and uninterest- 

 ing. When we talk of the economy of the colony, such as the secreting wax, 

 making combs, collecting farina, honey, feeding the maggots, covering in the 

 chrysalis, and the honey, stinging, &c. ; it is the labouring bees that are meant. 

 In pursuing any subject, most things come to light as it were by accident ; that 

 is, many things arise out of investigation that were not at first conceived, and 

 even misfortunes in experiments have brought things to our knowledge that were 

 not, and probably could not have been previously conceived : on the other hand, 

 I have often devised experiments by the fireside, or in my carriage, and have also 

 conceived the result ; but when I tried the experiment, the result was different ; 

 or I found that the experiment could not be attended with all the circumstances 

 that were suggested. 



As bees, from their numbers, hide very much their operations, it is necessary 

 to have such contrivances as will explore their economy. Hives, with glass lights 

 in them, often show some of their operations, and when wholly of glass, still 

 more ; but as they form such a cluster, and begin their comb in the centre, little 

 can be seen till their work becomes enlarged, and by that time they have pro- 

 duced a much larger quantity of bees, so as still to obscure their progress. Very 

 thin glass hives are the best calculated for exposing their operations ; the distance 

 from side to side about 3 inches ; of a height and length sufficient for a swarm of 

 bees to complete one summer's work in. As 1 perpendicular comb, the whole 

 length and height of the hive, in the centre, dividing it into 2, is the best posi- 

 tion for exposing their operations, it is necessary to give them a lead or direction 

 to form it so; therefore it is proper to make a ridge along the top from end to 

 end, in the centre, between the 2 sides, for they like to begin their comb from 



