PHYSIOLOGY; 45 



ceive all undoubted facts in the natural and the spiritual 

 world, with becoming reverence ; assured that however 

 mysterious to us, they are all most beautifully harmonious 

 and consistent in the sight of Him whose " understanding 

 is infinite." 



There is something, analogous to these wonders in the bee, 

 in what takes place in the aphides or green lice which in- 

 fest our rose bushes and other plants. We have the most 

 undoubted evidence that a fecundated female gives birth to 

 other females, and they in turn to others still, all of which, 

 without impregnation, are able to bring forth young, until 

 at length, after a number of generations, perfect males and 

 females are produced, and the series starts anew ! 



The unequaled facilities, furnished by my hives, have 

 seemed to render it peculiarly incumbent on me, to do all in 

 my power to clear up the difficulties in this intricate anJI yet 

 highly important branch of Apiarian knowledge. All the 

 leading facts in the breeding of bees ought to be as well 

 known to the bee keeper, as the same class of facts in the 

 rearing of his domestic animals. A few crude and hasty 

 notions, but half understood and half digested, will answer 

 only for the old fashioned bee keeper, jwho deals in the 

 brimstone matches. He who expects to conduct bee keep- 

 ing on a safe and profitable system, must learn that on this, 

 as on all other subjects, " knowledge is power." 



The extraordinary fertility of the queen bee has already 

 been noticed. The process of laying has been well de- 

 scribed by the Rev. W. Dunbar, a Scotch Apiarian. 



" When the queen is about to lay, she puts her head into 

 a cell, and remains in that position for a second or two, to 

 assertain its fitness for the deposit which she is about to 

 make. She then withdraws her head, and curving her 



