358 TEXT-BOOK OF ZOOLOGY 



It is, indeed, obliged to so expose itself, since its food consists of all kinds 

 of noxious plant-infesting creatures, and especially plant- lice or aphides. 

 These remarks also apply to the larva, which likewise is provided with a 

 warning colour (gray-blue with black and red dots), and, in accordance 

 with its predatory habits, is a very active creature, furnished with well- 

 developed legs and distinct eyes. (Contrast it with larvse which feed 

 on vegetables and live in the dark.) The pupa is black and red coloured, 

 and may be found suspended from leaves by the end of its abdomen. 



In addition to the seven-spotted lady-bird (why so called?), we have 

 numerous other species of this family resembling it in all the essentials 

 of structure and mode of life. 



ORDER III. : HOOK-WINGS (HYMENOPTERA). 



Mouth parts masticatory and suctorial. All the thoracic, somites united. 

 Fore and hind wings similar, connected, scale-less, traversed by a few 

 branching nervures. Metamorphosis complete. 



Sub-Order i : Provided with a Sting (Aculeata). 



The Honey-Bee (Apis mellifica). 



(Drones and queen about •§■ inch ; working females about £ inch.) 



A. The Bee in a State of Domestication. 



The honey-bee has been domesticated from time immemorial. It 

 has been spread from its home in temperate Asia and Europe over the 

 greater portion of the globe (why is it absent in cold regions ?), and, as 

 in the case of all other domesticated animals (examples), several varieties 

 or races of this insect have been produced. 



In hives, i.e., boxes or baskets made of boards or woven of straw, the 

 bee-keeper lodges his charges. A small opening in one of the sides of the 

 hive serves as a means of exit and entrance for the insects, and also for 

 the purpose of ventilation. In front of this opening a small shelf is 

 usually placed to facilitate the insects' arrival or departure. 



As a reward for his trouble, the bee-keeper takes from the hive a 

 portion of the honey conveyed by his industrious pets into the cells of 

 wax which they construct (honey in the comb). 



B. The Bee Community. 



1. Members of the Community. — A hive is inhabited by from 10,000 to 



50,000 individuals, consisting of males and females. The males, or 



drones, only appear in spring, and usually number a few hundreds. 



They are of larger size than the other bees, and easily recognised by 



