NATUEAi HISTORY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 43 



and religion alike teacli us to receive, with becoming 

 reverence, all undoubted foots, whether in the natural or 

 spiritual world ; assured that however mysterious they 

 may appear to us, tlK^y are beautifully consistent in the 

 sight of Him whose " understanding is infinite." 



All the leading facts in the breeding of bees ought to 

 be as familiar to the Apiarian, as the same class of facts 

 in the rearing of his domestic animals.* A few crude and 

 half-digested notions, however satisfactory to the old-fash- 

 ioned bee-keeper, will no longer meet the wants of those 

 who desire to conduct bee-culture on an extended and 

 profitable system. 



The extraordinary fertility of the queen-bee has already 

 been noticed. The process of laying has been well 

 described by the Rev. W. Dunbar, a Scotch Apiarian. 



" When the queen is about to lay, she puts her head 

 into a cell, and remains in that position for a second or 

 two, to ascertain its fitness for the deposit she is about to 

 make. She then withdraws her head, and curving her 

 body downwards,! inserts the lower part of it into the 

 cell : in a few seconds she turns half round upon herself 

 and withdraws, leaving an egg behind her. When she 

 lays a considerable number, she does it equally on each 

 side' of the comb, those on the one side being as exactly 

 opposite to those on the other as the relative position of 

 the cells will admit. The efiect of this is to produce the 

 utmost possible concentration and economy of heat for 

 developing the various changes of the brood !" 



Here, as at every step in the economy of the bee, we 



* " If it were possible," said«n able German Apiarian, in 1846, " to ascertain the 

 reproductive process of bees with as much certainty as ttiat of our domestic ani- 

 mals, bee-culture might unquestionably be pursued with positive assurance of 

 profit ; and would assume a high rank among the various branches of rural 

 economy." 



-f She is thus sure to deposit the egg in the selected coll. 



