26o STRANGE DWELLINGS. 



Independently, however, of these claims to our notice, if the 

 Bee never made an ounce of honey — if the wax were as useless 

 to us as wasprcomb — if the insect were a mere stinging creature, 

 with a tetchy temper, it would still deserve our admiration, on 

 account of the wonderful manner in which it constructs its 

 social home, and the method by which that home is regulated. 



I need not in this place repeat the well-known facts respect- 

 ing the constitution of the Bees, nor describe the duties of the 

 Queen, Drone, and Worker Bees. Suffice it to say, that the 

 former is the mother as well as the queen of the hive ; that the 

 workers are undeveloped females, which are properly called 

 neuters ; and that the drones are males, which do no work, and 

 have no stings. 



In the Queen Bee, the abdomen is long in proportion to its 

 width, and the wings slightly cross each other when closed ; the 

 latter being a very conspicuous badge of sovereignty. The 

 drones are easily distinguished by their generally larger size, 

 their larger eyes, and the wide, blunt, and rounded abdomen. 



There are three kinds of cell in a hive ; namely, the worker- 

 cell, the drone-cell, and the royal-cell. Of these, the two former 

 are hexagonal, but can easily be distinguished by the greater 

 size of the drone-cell ; while the royal-cell is totally unHke the 

 nursery of a subject, whether drone or worker, and is almost 

 always placed on the edge of a comb. 



The little grub which is placed in the royal-cell is not fed 

 with the same food which is supplied to the other Bees, but lives 

 upon an entirely different diet, and which is, apparently, of a 

 more stimulating character; and it is now well known, that if a 

 young grub which has been hatched in one of the worker-cells 

 be removed into the royal-cell, and supplied with royal food, it 

 becomes developed into a queen, and, in time, is qualified to 

 rule and populate a hive. This remarkable provision of nature 

 is intended to meet a difficulty, which sometimes occurs, when 

 the reigning queen dies, and there is no royal larva in the cell. 



The chief point which distinguishes the comb of the Hive 

 Bee from that of other insects, is the manner in which the cells 

 are arranged in a double series. The combs of the wasp or the 



