THE 
BEE-KEEPER’S MANUAL. 
INTRODUCTORY NOTICES. 
Tue Hive or domestic Honzy Bee of this country is 
classed entomologically Apis mellifica, order Hymenop- 
tera, or membrane-winged* insects ; it comprises the 
bees, wasps, ants, and some others. Great numbers 
of species of wild bees are known, and about 250 are 
natives of our islands; but even of the honey-bee pro- 
per there are now several kinds kept for domestic 
purposes. Of these the principal, besides our own, 
is the elegant Italian or Ligurian bee, which, 
though sometimes classed as Apis ligustica, is gene- 
rally allowed to be only a variety of the common 
honey-bee, possessing no clear mark for a specific 
distinction, and varying through the widest range 
in respect of its differences in external colouring. 
A still handsomer bee is the Egyptian, and this is 
probably with correctness reckoned as a distinct 
* Such (and not “wedded upon the wing” as might perhaps have 
been supposed) is the meaning of the word, though the characteristic 
is by no means peculiar to this order. But “having four wings,” 
which Mr. Taylor gave as its distinctive feature, is one that is common 
to no less than six out of the twelve of Cuvier’s orders of Insecta. * 
