6/4 THE STUDY OF INSECTS. 



uralists have studied it during past ages, until there is 

 probably no other insect with which man has such an inti- 

 mate acquaintance. The honey-bee was originally a Euro- 

 pean species, but has been domesticated the world over. 

 It was introduced into America more than three centuries 

 ago, and escaping swarms have stocked our forests with 

 what we call wild bees, for when free they almost univer- 

 sally build their nests in hollow trees. These insects offer a 

 no less interesting study of communistic society than do 

 ants. There are in each community three forms of indi- 

 viduals — the queen or female, the drones or males, and the 

 workers, which are imperfectly developed females. The 

 worker is our common acquaintance, the dull-black and 

 gold-colored companion of our walks, that we watch with 

 interest as she ransacks the flowers of a garden or a way- 

 side for her booty of nectar or pollen, now bending low a 

 violet or a clover-blossom, now plunging head foremost into 

 a hollyhock or a lily, from which she emerges dusty with the 

 gold of pollen-doors which barred her way to nectar-cham- 

 bers. We marvel at her industry ; but she is ever driven on 

 with the sense of her responsibilities : for the worker-sister- 

 hood must do all the work of the hive, collect and store the 

 food, manufacture the wax, build the comb, take care of the 

 footless, helpless larvae, fight the battles for protection, and 

 manage affairs generally. 



The drones are larger than the workers, and are reared 

 in larger cells. If honeycombs be examined, some sheets will 

 be seen to be composed of larger cells than those of the more 

 common type. It is in cells of this kind that the eggs are 

 laid which are to develop into males. In shape the drones 

 are broader and blunter than the workers. They are few in 

 numbers, and are only present in the hive during the early 

 summer. After the swarming season is over, these gentle- 

 men of leisure are driven out of the hive by the workers or 

 are killed by them. 



The queen is larger than a worker, and has a long, 



