376 INSECTS AT HOME. 



perfect female, or queen, is smooth, as shown at g. The 

 antennae, too, are different in the sexes, as may be seen by 

 referring to Figs, a and cZ, the former representing the antenna 

 uf the female, and d that of the male. 



I may mention here that the little hieroglyphic marks 

 attached to the figures on this and a few other woodcuts 

 denote the sex. They are, in fact, the old astronomical 

 figures used to denote the planets by a sort of short-hand. 

 The circle with the barbed point was used as the emblem of 

 Mars, and is employed by naturalists to denote the male sex. 

 The circle with the crossed line below it was the emblem of 

 Venus, and denotes the female sex, while the circle with the 

 uncrossed line denotes the imperfect female, or neuter. 



A detailed account of this wonderful insect would be abso- 

 lutely impossible within the limited space at our command, 

 inasmuch as the whole volume would be consumed in such 

 an undertaking. I will, therefore, only mention a few of the 

 more salient points connected with the economy of the Hive 

 Bees, and leave the reader to look for further information 

 into the many excellent works which have been written ex- 

 pressly on this subject by men practically skilled in bee- 

 keeping. 



The constitution of the community, or, as we popularly call 

 it, the hive, differs from that of other social insects. 



There is but one perfect female permitted to live within the 

 hive, her duty being a very simple one — namely, to lay the 

 -enormous number of eggs from which proceed the future 

 swarms. She never leaves the hive except when she issues 

 into the air to find a mate, and she does no work of any kind, 

 not even requiring to feed herself. In form she is somewhat 

 longer than the worker, and, though, when young, she is 

 scarcely different from the. worker in size, she may be recognised 

 :by the shortness of her wings, and the manner in which they 

 cross each other at the tips as they lie at rest on her back. 

 Her whereabouts in the hive can soon be detected by a prac- 

 tised eye, as there is always a cluster of Bees around her, with 

 their heads towards their sovereign. They behave as politely 

 as any modern courtier. Wherever she goes they go too, but 

 they never turn their backs on her, always keeping a small 

 .space clear round her, just large enough to enable her tc 



