68 HBMBLE CKEATtTRES. 



" But she, with such delicate skill, 

 Her pillage so fits for our use, 

 That the chemist in vain with his still 

 Would labour the like to produce. 



" Then grudge not her temperate meals, 

 Nor a benefit blame as a theft. 

 Since, stole she not aU that she steals, 

 Neither honey nor wax would be left." 



COWPEB. 



Poets are often apt to exaggerate^ but in the case 

 of the Bee yre cannot lay this fault to their charge. 

 There can be no doubt that this insect is in every 

 respect one of the most interesting of aU living crea- 

 tures; and as the little denizen of the hive is the 

 companion of man, and renders him essential service, 

 it is but natural that he should receive a large share 

 of his attention. This, too, must be our excuse for 

 reproducing and endeavouring to give fresh interest 

 to the story that has already been narrated by so 

 many able writers, and we shall now proceed to take 

 a peep into the bee- world, and try to penetrate some 

 of the mysteries of the hive. 



A complete community of Bees comprises — 1°, one 

 queen, the mother of the hive, a perfectly developed 

 female; 2°, from 600 to 800 drones or males; and 

 3°, from 15,000 to 30,000 workers, to whom, although 

 they are known occasionally to lay fruitful worker- 

 eggs, we may give the appellation of neuters. The 

 office of the queen-bee is to lay all the eggs that are 

 hatched in the hive. She is moreover the constitu- 

 tional head of the colony, for, although she does 



