CHAPTBB I. 



A BRIEF HISTORY. 



THREE KINDS OF BEES. 



Every prosperous swarm, or family of bees, must 

 contain one queen, several thousand, workers, and, 

 part of the year, a few hundred drones. 



QUEEN. WOKKBR. DRONE. 



QUEEN DESCRIBED. 



The queen is the mother of the entire family ; her 

 duty appears to be only to deposit eggs in the cells. 

 Her abd-omen has its full size very abruptly where it 

 joins the trunk or body, and then gradually tapers to 

 a point. She is longer than either the drones or 

 workers, but her size, in other respects, is a medium 

 between the two. In shape she resembles the worker 

 more than the drone; and, like the worker, has a 

 sting, but -wil-l not use it for anything below royalty. 



^* 9 



