148 



DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



IX. 



BEE- KEEPING. 



Oh, Nature kind ! Oh, laborer wise ! 



That roam'st along the summer ray, 

 Glean'st ev'ry bliss thy life supplies, 



And meet'st prepar'd thy wintry day : 

 Go envied, go with crowded gates, 

 The hive thy rich return awaits ; 

 Bear home thy store in triumph gay, 

 And shame each idler on thy way. Anon. 



I.-THE WONDERS OF THE BEE-HIVE. 



HE accounts given, by naturalists and writers on 

 bee-keeping, of the instincts and habits of the 

 bee seem truly fabulous ; and yet they are all 

 founded on observation, and there seems to be 

 no reason for calling them in question. 

 A hive of bees, we are told, consists of three kinds females, 

 males, and workers. The females are called queens, and only 



Fig. 44. 



Fig. 45. 



THE QUEEN Bi 



THE DRONE. 



one is permitted to live in the same hive ; but one is essential 

 to its establishment and maintenance. The males are called 

 drones, and may exist in hundreds, or even thousands, in a 



