MANUAL OP THE APIARY. 71 



ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY OF THE 

 HONEY-BEE. 



With a knowledge of the anatomy and some glimpses of 

 the physiology of insects in general, we shall now find it easy 

 to learn the special anatomy and physiology of the highest 

 insects of the order. 



THREE KINBS OF BEES IN EACH FAMILY. 



As we have already seen, a very remarkable feature in the 

 economy of the honey-bee, descrihed even by Aristotle, which 

 is true of many other bees^ and also of ants and many wasps, 

 is the presence in each fafliily of three distinct kinds, which 

 difier in form, color, structure, size, habits and function. 

 Thus we have the queen, a number of drones, and a far 

 greater number of workers. Huber, Bevan, Munn and Kirby 

 also speak of a fourth kind blacker than the usual workers. 

 These are accidental, and are, as conclusively shown by Von 

 Berlepsch, ordinary workers, more deeply colored by loss of 

 hair, dampness, or some other atmospheric condition. Ameri- 

 can apiarists are too familiar with these black bees, for after 

 our severe winters they prevail in the colony, and, as remarked 

 by the noted Baron, " They quickly disappear." Munn also 

 tells of a fifth kind, with a top-knot, which appears at swarming 

 seasons. I am at a great loss to know what he , refers to, 

 unless it be the pollen masses of the asclepias or milk-weed, 

 which sometimes fasten to our bees and become a severe 

 burden. 



THE QUEEN BEE. 



The queen (Fig. 14), although referred to as the mother 

 bee, was called the king by Virgil, Pliny, and by writers as 

 late as the last century, though in the ancient "Bee Master's 

 Farewell," by John Keys, published in London in 1796, I 

 find an admirable description of the queen bee, with her 

 function correctly stated. Reaumur as quoted by "Wildman 

 on Bees," published in London in 1770, says " this third sort 

 has a grave and sedate walk, is armed with a sting, and is 

 mother of all the others." 



Huber, to whom every apiarist owes so much, and who,, 

 though blind, through the aid of his devoted wife and Intel- 



