VOL. LXXXII.] PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. l6l 



an individual, which is common to the most solitary animals; but it can also be 

 considered as a member of society, in which it is taking an active part, and in 

 which it becomes an object of great curiosity. To consider this society individu- 

 ally, it may be said to consist of a female breeder, female non-breeders, and 

 males: but to consider it as a community, it may be said to consist only of female 

 breeders and non-breeders, the males answering no other purpose than simply 

 as a male, and are only temporary; and it is probable the female breeder is to 

 be considered in no other light than as a layer of eggs, and that she only in- 

 fluences the non-breeders by her presence, being only a bond of union, for 

 without her they seem to have no tie; it is her presence that makes them an 

 aggregate animal. May we not suppose that the offspring of the queen have 

 an attachment to the mother, somewhat similar to the attachment of young 

 birds to the female that brings them up ? for though the times of their attach- 

 ment are not equal, yet it is the dependence which each has on its mother that 

 constitutes the bond; for bees have none without her: however, the similarity 

 is not exact, for young animals who have lost their nurse will herd together, 

 and jointly make the best shifts they can, because in future they are to become 

 single animals; but bees have an eternal instinctive dependence on the mother, 

 probably from there not being distinct sexes. When the queen is lost, this 

 attachment is broken; they give up industry, probably die; or we may suppose 

 join some other hive. This is not the case with those of this tribe whose queen 

 singly forms a colony ; for though the queen be destroyed, yet they go 

 on with that work which is their lot; as the wasp, hornet, and humble 

 bee. Most probably the whole economy of the bee, which we so much 

 admire, belongs to the non-breeders, and depends on their instinctive 

 powers being set to work by the presence of the breeders, that being their 

 only enjoyment; therefore when we talk of the wonderful economy of bees, it 

 is chiefly the labourers at large we are to admire, though the queen gets the 

 principal credit, for the extent of their instinctive properties. 



This economy, in its appearances and operations, is somewhat similar to 

 human society, but very different in its first causes and mode of conduct. The 

 human species sets up its own standard; the bee has one set up by nature, and 

 therefore fulfils all the necessary purposes. This standard of influence, which is 

 the breeder, is called the queen, and I shall keep to the name, though I do not 

 allow her voluntary influence or power. The non-breeders are what compose 

 the hive, or what may be called the community at large; and the males, are 

 mere males: each of these parts of the community I shall hereafter consider 

 separately. - 



To take up the common bee in any one period of the year, or, in other 

 words, in any one month, and carry it round to the same, and observe what 



VOL. xvii. Y 



