MARCH. 71 



but which by modern investigation are found to be females, 

 imperfect in their organization; these constitute the great 

 mass of the population in every hive ; to them is committed 

 the internal economy of the society, and upon them the 

 whole labour of the community devolves. It is also their 

 duty to guard and protect the queen, to feed the young, 

 and to kill the drones, or males, at the appointed season : 

 in a single hive there are many thousands of these indivi- 

 duals. The perfect female, or queen, may be distinguished 

 by her superior size and length, her brighter colour, and 

 curved sting. Her duty principally consists in laying eggs, 

 during which operation she is attended by a body-guard of 

 workers, who treat her with every mark of respect. The 

 male Bees, or drones, have no sting, the head is rounded, 

 and the eyes larger. 



As soon as the plants begin to flower. Bees are in motion 

 for the purpose of collecting honey and wax, the former of 

 which is a sweet limpid juice found in the nectaries of 

 flowers, the latter is a secretion from the body of the work- 

 ing Bees. These different materials, being brought to the 

 hive, are received by the labourers in waiting, who form cells 

 of the wax, which serve as storehouses for the honey, and 

 nests for the young. The honey is partly distributed for 



