l60 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 179'2. 



Though bees support a heat nearly equal to that of a quadruped, yet their ex- 

 ternal covering is not different from that of insects which do not ; there is no 

 difference between their coat and a common fly's or wasp's, nor are they fatter; 

 all which makes them bad retainers of heat ; therefore they are chilly ; and in a 

 cold too severe for them to be comfortable in, they make up for their want of size 

 singly, and get into clusters. A single bee has so little power of keeping itself 

 warm, that it presently becomes numbed, and almost motionless ; a common 

 night in summer will produce this effect : a cold capable of producing such effects 

 kills them soon, by which means vast numbers die ; therefore a common bee is 

 obliged to feed and live in society, to keep itself warm in cold weather. We 

 know that the consumption of heat may be greater than the power of forming it; 

 when that is the case, we become sensible of it, and then take on such actions as 

 are either instinctive, such as arise naturally out of the impression, or as reason, 

 custom, or habit direct. Many animals, on the impression of cold, coil them- 

 selves up in their own fur, bringing all their extremities into the centre, or hol- 

 low of the belly ; birds bring their feet under the belly, and thrust their bill be- 

 tween their wing and body ; many, if not all, go to the warmest places, either 

 from instinctive principle, or habit : but the bees have no other mode but forming 

 clusters, and the larger the better. As they are easily affected by cold, their in- 

 stinctive principle respecting cold is very strong, as also with regard to wet. I 

 have seen a swarm hanging out at the door of a hive, ready to take flight, and 

 then return ; a chill has come on, of which I was not sensible, and in a few mi- 

 nutes the whole has gone back into the hive ; and by the cold increasing, I have 

 at length perceived the cause of their return. If rain is coming on, we observe 

 them returning home in great numbers, and hardly any abroad. The eggs of 

 bees require this heat as much as themselves, nor will the maggot live in a cold 

 of 60° or 70', nor even their chrysalis. This warmth keeps the wax so soft, as 

 to allow them to model it with ease. In glass hives, or those that have windows 

 of glass in them, we often find a dew on the inside of the glass, especially when 

 the glass is colder than the air within : whether this is perspiration from the bees, 

 both from their external surface and lungs, or evaporation from the honey, I 

 cannot say. 



Bees are very cleanly animals respecting themselves, though not so respecting 

 the remains of their young. I believe they seldom or never void their excrement 

 in the hive. I have known them confined many days without discharging the 

 contents of the rectum ; and the moment they got abroad, they evacuated in the 

 air, when flying : and they appear to be very nice in their bodies, for I have 

 often detected them cleaning each other, more especially if by accident they are 

 besmeared with honey. 



This animal may be considered alone, so far as concerns its own economy as 



