The Life of the Bee 
which is the smallest, the insect is always 
exactly the same, except for the slight modi- 
fications induced by the climate and by the 
conditions whereto it has had to conform.’ 
The difference between these various species 
is scarcely greater than that between an Eng- 
lishman and a Russian, or a Japanese and a 
European. In these preliminary remarks, 
therefore, we will confine ourselves to what 
actually lies within the range of our eyes, 
refusing the aid of hypothesis, be this never 
so probable or so imperious. We shall men- 
tion no facts that are not susceptible of im- 
mediate proof ; and of such facts we will only 
rapidly refer to some of the more significant. 
1 The scientific classification of the domestic bee is as 
follows :— 
Class. j . Insecta 
Order . : . Hymenoptera 
Family . : . Apide 
Genus . : . Apis 
Species . : .  Mellifica 
The term “ Mellifica” is that of the Linnzean classifica- 
tion. It is not of the happiest, for all the Apidz, with 
the exception of certain parasites perhaps, are producers 
of honey. Scopoli uses the term “Cerifera” ; Réaumur 
“Domestica” ; Geoffroy “ Gregaria.” The “Apis Ligus- 
tica,” the Italian bee, is another variety of the “ Mellifica.” 
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