R 
2 
“: a 
her the whgle:time. . Thisyis? doe, bythe -Becsej 
the honey,fromuts stomach intothe mouth of the Q 
When this has been dene the Bee goes,away, and another 
takes its place. The operation of laying her eggs again 
goes on, and is succeeded by the same mode of feeding— 
the attendant Bees frequently touching the antennz ofthe. 
Queen with their own. When the operation of laying the 
eggs is completed—and it generally occupies some time— 
the Queen retires to that part of the hive whieh is most 
filled with Bees. During her progress, thesurface of the 
comb is very little intruded upon, and the space seems 
purposely to be left unoccupied. Some few of the cells, 
however, in a brood comb are passed over by the Queen, 
and are afterwards filled either with honey or farina. 
These se S deposits of food, from which the neigh- 
bouring brood may be fed more readily, as such cells are 
never covered with wax. e . 
With the hives referred to I have been able to follow 
many of Huber’s experiments, and can bear witness to his 
general curacy, except in regard to the fecundation of 
the Queen-Bee. Ihave bestowed much time and pains in 
endeavouring to discover any of the circumstances he men- 
tions relating’to this fact, but without success. Neither 
have I ever seen a cell visited by one of the drones after 
the egg had been deposited, which a modern writer has 
. I have for many years watched my 
the greatest care and assiduity, but have never 
yet seen the Queen-Bee leave the hive, except at the time 
of swarming. I have also spoken to several experienced 
_ Bee-masters on the subject, and they are of*the same 
opinion with myself—that she never quits it. ‘Her per- 
son is so easily distinguished from the other Bees, by any 
one at all Gonversant with them, that if the Queen ab- 
sented herself from the hive, in the way Huber describes 
her as doing, it seems next to impossible that she should 
not have been perceived, either on her departure from, or 
on her return to the hive. It is, however, with conside- 
rable diffidence'that one would venture to doubt the ac- 
curacy of any statement of Huber’s, especially when the 
objection turns, not upona contradictory circumstance, but 
upon what myself and others have not been able to dis- 
cover. ; 
Wax isa secretion-formed under the seales of the back 
of the insect, from Which I have repeatedly seen it exfo- 
liate in small flakes. A considerable degree of heat ap- 
pears to be necessary to produce this secretion, as I have 
always observed it most frequent in hot weather. Other 
writers have maintained that the wax is discharged from 
the abdominal rings or segments of the Bees. This may 
be also the case, but I have never perceived it. 
The vision of ee seems very imperfect. I have fre- 
_, THE, CABRYBIORINATURAL gusTORY, 
_gtently turned a hive; »so as to make the- entrance about” 
a 
- 
two or three inehes from .its former. positiow, and ‘hae 
then always found the Beessat a loss to gain admittance. 
Indeed they seem more ‘to feel th ay, than to seegit, 
after they have once danded «thems fi the board of 
' their hives. Their progress thro e air is always. - 
made in’a direct line to the hive, and the instinct which, se 
enables them to find ityamongst forty or fifty 8 placed in, ¢ : 
arow,and nearly similar to each other ry striking. ; 
Mr. Rogers, in his «Pleasures of ory,” hag? © 
pretty idea on this subject:— = ” : Z 
4 ‘ “ - Se t F » ® —— 
eo te varied scents that charm’dsher as she flew,”"* © @* a 
« . ~ - ~ = * “ >. J o « 
he thinks might point out the way of her réturm to, the ay” 
hive. og . os 
Wasps appear to havea better as Bees, ‘though ‘? 
it is not easy to assign a reason for this being the case, 
sincellimggyetuction of the eyes of both insects se 
be similar. Derham, in his, Physico-theology, has 
served in regard to. the eye. of the Bee and wasp, etd) 
the cornea and optie nerves being always atone and the 
same distance, are fitted only to see distant objects, © 
cad not such as are verymigh, and that the eye will be 
found on examination to form a curious lattice-work of 
sr tg ego lens c nga separate 
op. ve minist ing to it, and r be consider- 
ed tinct eye.”’? Wasps, however, certainly seemto © 
alight at the entrance of their nests with more accuracy 
than Bees. I have frequently observed this to be the 
case, even when the hole of a wasp’s nest has been in a » 
grass field, surroun ith long grass. They ali ian 
it with the greatest i icin or ne . 
half an i er on one side or the other they 
do this even late in the evening. 
A hive of Bees which have been once m 
rated, do not soon fo 
with one of my hiv 
> 
‘exaspe- 
rget the injury. This was the case 
s, the Bees of which never allowed 
me for two yea come near them while they were 
working, without cking me, though a ce oe 
hive would.allow me to take almost) any liberties withat 
with impunity. Indeed T had familiarized myself so 
much with some of my Bees, that I am convinced they 
nd ty always appeared to distinguish me 
knew m 
from sages onstantly standing before the mouth 
of the hive, and 
ving vast numbers to fly about and 
settle upon me, and by frequently feeding them, they be- 
came so well acquainted with me, that I had much plea- 
sure in witnessing their attachment, and the confidence 
they placed in me. This affection was mutual, and I al- 
. 
