16 HUMBLE CREATURES. 



Having thus acquitted ourselves of our obligations 

 in the cause of systematic Zoology, and traced the 

 correct position of our little Hive-Bee in the Animal 

 Kingdom, let us now proceed to the less formal and 

 more agreeable task of examining our subject with 

 the aid of the lens, and endeavour to form a nearer 

 acquaintance with its beautifully constructed organs 

 and members. As there are three different kinds of 

 inhabitants in a hive — the queen or perfect female, 

 the drones or males, and the workers or partially 

 developed females, — you might perhaps be puzzled 

 which to select for investigation ; for although they 

 resemble one another to a great extent, yet each has 

 its marked peculiarities. Inasmuch, however, as the 

 worker is the most easily obtainable, and possesses 

 some interesting features in its external anatomy that 

 are wanting in the queen and drone, we shall choose 

 it as the more immediate object of our study, and, 

 as we proceed in its investigation, shall refer cursorily 

 to the diversities of structure presented by the two 

 last-named types. 



In considering with the naked eye the general ap- 

 pearance of the worker-Bee (PL II. fig. 1), we cannot 

 fail at once to notice that, in common with nearly all 

 insects, its body is divided into three distinct parts or 

 sections — the head (o), the thorax or chest (6), and the 

 abdomen (c), which appear to be connected together as 

 though they were strung upon a thread ; and a very 

 slight scrutiny will suffice to show that nearly aU the 

 members or appendages of the body are disposed on 



