82 BRITISH BEES. 



strengthening position as do ours ; and also that the 

 cells -wherein the males are developed are oval, larger 

 than the honey-cells, and less uniform. With all these 

 similitudes it is fair to suppose that their economy may 

 be the same ; but their honey-cells, from their smaller 

 size, (the bee which produces them being smaller,) have 

 a more elegant appearance ; and it is concluded from the 

 largeness of the nest, taken conjunctively with the small- 

 ness of the cells, and of the bees constructing it, that 

 the communities thus associated must in their collective 

 number be considerably larger than those of our hives. 



Instinct, as expressed in the habits, is as sure a line 

 of separation, or means of combination, as structure, 

 and is corroborative in tending to preserve generic con- 

 junction in its inviolability. And, conversely, with 

 certainty, is indicated that such-and-such a form, in the 

 broad and most distinguishing features of its economy, 

 is essentially the same in every climate. The habits, 

 therefore, in whatever country the genus may occur, 

 may be as surely aflBrmed of the species, from the know- 

 ledge we have of those at home, as if observation had 

 industriously tracked them. This is especially the case 

 in a genus, the species of which present such a peculiar 

 identity of structure as does Apis, whose specific differ- 

 ences are derived only from colour and size, and this 

 identity is a peculiarity, so far as I have observed, rarely 

 found in other genera, numbering even no more species, 

 but wherein slight differences of structure often yield a 

 subsidiary specific character, complete structural identity 

 being almost solely incidental to the genus Apis. 



The importance of honey and wax throughout the 

 world, as well for the ceremonies of religion, as for the 

 service of the arts, and for medical or domestic pur- 



