4 THE APIARY. 



The three classes of bees are :— the queen-bee, with 

 the pupa or embryos intended for queens ; the working 

 bees ; and the drones,, or male bees. 



THE QUEEN. 



Appropriately styled, by German bee-keepers, the 

 mother-bee, fs the only perfectly developed female 

 among the whole population of each separate colony. 

 Thus her majesty indisputably sways her sceptre by a 

 divine right, because she lives and reigns in the hearts 

 of loving children and subjects. 



Dr. Evans* introduces the queen-bee to our notice 

 thus : — 



" First of the throng, and foremost of the whole. 

 One ' stands confest the sovereign and the soul.' " 



The queen may very readily be distinguished from the 

 rest of the bees by the greater length of her body and 

 the comparative shortness of her wings ; her legs are 

 longer, and are not furnished with either brushes or 

 baskets as those of the working bee, for, being constantly 

 fed by the latter, she does not need those implements ; 

 the upper surface of her body is of a brighter black than 



* Dr. Evans — who may be styled the poet-laureate of the bees 

 — lived at Shrewsbury, where he practised as a. physician. His 

 poem on bees is written with great taste and careful elaboration, 

 and it describes the habits of bees with a degree of accuracy only 

 attainable after continuous scientific observation. 



