THE PRACTICAL BEE GUIDE. 



PART I. 

 THE HONEY BEE. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE OCCUPANTS OF THE HIVE. 



Kingdom — Animal. Sub-Khigdom — Annnlosa, Division — Arthropoda, 



Class — Insecta. Order — Hymenoptera. Family — Apid«. 



Genus — Apia. Species — Meilifica. 



" Therefore doth heaven divide 

 The state of man in divers functions, 

 Setting endeavour in continual motion ; 

 To which is fixed, as an aim or butt, 

 Obedience; for so work the honey-bees; 

 Creatures that by rule in nature, teach 

 The act of order to a peopled kingdom." 



Shakespeare. 



1. It is natural that a guide to bee-keepingf sliould begin 

 with a description of the bees that are to be kept. And it is 

 very necessarj' that everyone who desires to derive either 

 pleasure or profit from the keeping of bees should know some- 

 thing of the bees which he proposes to keep — of their habits, 

 their requirements, of the laws which govern their actions, 

 and of the objects to which their marvellous energies and 

 intelligence are devoted. 



2. Therefore this guide begins with a description of the 

 occupants of the hive, namely, the Queen, the Workers, and 

 the Drones. 



