386 INVERTEBRATES. 



all the swarms have left the original hive, the remaining queens 

 fight until one gains the throne. 



The old method of destroying bees for the sake of the honey 

 was not only cruel but wasteful, as by burning some dry " puff- 

 ball" the bees are stupefied', and shortly return to consciousness. 

 The employment of a "cap" on the hive is an excellent plan, as 

 the bees deposit honey alone in these caps, without any admixture 

 of grubs or bee-bread. Extra hives at the side, with a communi- 

 cation from the original hive, are also useful. 



The queen bee lays about eighteen thousand eggs. Of 

 these about eight hundred are males or drones, and four or five 

 queens, the remainder being workers. 



Wasps — The mouth of the wasp has maxillae without any 

 proboscis, and thus differing from the bee, which is provided with 

 a proboscis, which it can introduce into the bosom of flowers and 

 extract the delicious nectar. The upper wings of the wasp are 

 plicated; the sting is pointed and concealed; the eyes are lunar; 

 and the body naked and smooth. It is said there are twenty-eight 

 species. 



Of thecommon wasps there are three sorts : this is no doubt 

 applicable to the other species. There are the queens, or females, 

 the males, and the common laboring wasps, called mules, which 

 are neither male nor female, and therefore barren. The queens 

 are much larger than the other wasps, and the great size of their 

 body corresponds to the prodigious quantity of eggs with which 

 they are charged. The males are less than the queens, and have 

 nc stings, with which both the queens ana ttie mules are furnished. 

 In one nest there are two or three hundred males, and as many 

 females; but of course the number depends on the size of the 

 nest 



The mules are a very serviceable part of the community. 

 They are the laborers and the domestic servants belonging to the 

 nest. Even toasps can furnish an example of a well-regulated 

 domestic establishment. These muks procure materials for the 

 nest, and make use of the materials for its structure. They also 

 fiirnish the other wasps and their young with provision. Hovi 



