BEE 



Brmeci with a fting. This 'genus comprehends an aTnazin» 

 number of ditlindt fpecies, many of which are clearly afcor- 

 tained ; fome are doubtful ; and many, if we inav be allowed 

 to realoii by analogy, are nio!l lik>.-ly yet unknown. Upon the 

 whole, there are fcarctly any gentra of infecls that compre- 

 hend a greater number or variety of fpecies than the tipcs. 

 The majority of thufe correftly known have been already 

 enumerated under the article Apis, to which the reader is 

 requefted to refer. Tlie principal lubdivifions, or natnral f:i- 

 milies of the genus under which thty have been defcribed by 

 Linnaeus, and by various writers before and fince the time of 

 that naturalift, will be alfo found there. Defcending from 

 the minutiae of critical inquiry into the complicated charac- 

 ters of thofe fubdivifions, it rells with lis in this place to 

 fpeak of the apes in another point of view : — as a race of 

 animals highly entei-taiuing, for their manners, habits, and 

 inftinClivc properties, to the naturalift ; important to thececo- 

 riomift in rural life ; and familiar tJ every one by the trivial 

 appellation of " a bee." 



Under this head, the common honey, or domefticated bee, 

 demands the iirft confideration, as it will ftrve to elucidate 

 the peculiarities of the whole tribe, at lead fo far as they 

 are of material conftquence in the corcerns of human life. 

 By the indilcriminate term of the common honey-bee, we 

 comprehend what are individually named the que^n hee, or 

 female ; male bee, or drone ; and ivorLl:!^ bee, or nciite''. 

 The natural hiftor)' of the common bee has been more fully 

 and impartially confidered than that of any other creature 

 of the infecl tribe ; with the 'exception of tl;c filk-woim, 

 and the coccus employed in dyeing, there appears to be none 

 more deferving of the regard paid to it. As an objeft of 

 advantage, the honey-bee has been deemed, by the common 

 confent of mankind in all ages, of fufficient confequence to 

 be particularly attended to. We are not to forget the occa • 

 fional recurrence of claflic writers of antiquity to the bee : 

 the paftoral poets celebrate its praife ; nor was the cultivation 

 of this ufeful creature overlooked even by the carliell Bri- 

 tons, of whom we poffefs any record. Its prefervation and 

 its culture were recognized in their laws ; the bee itfelf was 

 confidered as a mofl ferviceable domcftic, and the honey one 

 of the greateft delicacies the bounty of heaven had granted 

 them. In modern days, the importance of the bee has fuf- 

 fered a very fenfible diminution in this country : llill it is cul- 

 tivated, and with advantage, by the thrifty agriculturaliil. 

 But in the w'armer regions of Europe, Inch as the fonth of 

 France, Italy, and the neighbouring parts of Aha, its cul- 

 tivation is attended with more fuccefs than with us ; the cli- 

 mate of thofe countries, mild, invigorating, and abundantly 

 producftive of luxuriant vegetation, is perfeClly congenial 

 with the nature of the bee ; there it requires but little care 

 from the hand of culture, and amply repays that little be- 

 flovved with the fpontaneous produce of its mdufliy. 



Whilft we are fpeaking on this particular topic, it will not 

 be thought fuperfluous to advert to a few remarks that have 

 lately fallen from the pen of M. Latrcille, an ingenious 

 French naturahft, in an introdnflory difcourfe to the fludy 

 of bees publifhed lall year in Paris. " Da:is !a grande ferie 

 des animaux appelcs infefles (fays that writer), il n'-n eft 

 pas dont I'hiftoire prclente une aufii grande richeffe de faits, 

 et une audi prodigieufe fecondite de merveilles, que celle des 

 abeilles. Sous les rapports de I'induftrie, ces iafeftes font 

 le chef d'ccuvrc de la toute-puilTance du Crcateur ; et 1' 

 homme lui-meme, fi fier de fes dons naturels, eft, en quelque 

 forte, humilie a la vue de I'interieur d'une ruche. Ccffons 

 de nous extafier fur la cabane finguliere du caftor, fur la con- 

 ilruiScion ingenieufe du nid de quelques oifeaux ; tout cela 

 ell oublit, lorfqu'on volt ks travaux Je I'abeille. Quoi ! 



BEE 



tin animal, qui echappe prcfque a la vue, dont I'organifa'tion, 

 comparee avec celie des etres des claflcs fuperieures, cil fi 

 i.mparfaite, fe reunit en focicte pour fonder une ville, s'y 

 gouverner par des loix invariables, y viv/e dans une liarm.onie 

 que ni uae popuhition excefUve, ni ladiverfite d'humeurset des 

 caraciertsdei individus qui la compofent, ne fauroient altercr! 

 CHioi f uneinfefte fi vil en apparence, travaillera fans reliiche 

 pour rafrenibler atonies par atomes, les materiaux de fon ha- 

 bitraion, les petriia, Its faijonnera avec tant d'art, clevera cea 

 fupcrbes edifices, dont I'architccture a etc le fujet dcs^mcdita- 

 tions des plus granues geometres, recoltera avec tant de peine 

 cettc liqueur li agreable, cette efpece de nedar connu fous 

 le nom de miel ; et votre ame ue feroit pas ravie d'etonne- 

 ment ! vous ne fericz pas en contcniDlation ! L'abeille n'l 

 pas feulement des droits a votre admiration, elle en a aufli 

 fur votre coiur. Si elle travaille avtc tant de zele, c'efl 

 moins pour la convcrfation de fa frcle exiflence, que pour 

 celle de fes femblables, pour la profperite de I'etat." In pur- 

 luing this lotty ftrain of con-rnent, we are Itfs inclined to 

 admit the accuracy of his rtafoning, than the energy of diftion 

 with which it is advanced. The philofophy of his argu- 

 ments is loit in eniphalis ; and that which requires co^lnefs 

 to difarm us of prejudices, is placed in a moft flattering and 

 glowing light, more likely to miflead than to inform. We 

 may reply to nearly all that he has faid in this refpeft, in 

 the precife words of the late Mr. John Hunter, who, after 

 a patient invelligation of the bee, its operations, and mode 

 of lite, has given his opinion, in the Philofophicai Tranfac- 

 tions, upon this point, to the following efFed. — "From thefe 

 animals forming colonies, and from a vaft variety of effedls 

 being produced, and with a degree of attention and'nicety that 

 feem even to vie with man ; man, not being in the leail jea- 

 lous, has wiil.ed to bellow on them more than they poftefs, 

 viz. a realoning faculty ; while cveij aftion is only inllinc- 

 tive, and what they cannot avoid or alter, except from ne- 

 cefllty, not from fancy. They have been fuppoled to be le- 

 gidators, even niathematicia:.s : indeed, on a luperficial view, 

 there ia fome fhew ol reafon for fuch fuppofitions ; but peo- 

 ple have gone much farther, and have filled up from their 

 own imagination every blank, but in fo unnatural a way, 

 that one reads it as if it were the defcription of a monller." 

 The prevailing feuliments of this latter writer precifely cor- 

 rcfpoiicing with thofe of a well-known morahzing poet, may 

 be Hill more elegantly enforced : — 



**■«**** 'pjjg cejlni of bees 



* * thefe, for ever, though a monarch reign. 



Their feparate cells and properties maintain. 



Mark what unvaried laws preferve each ftate ; 



Laws wife as nature, and as iix'd as fate." 



Pope, 

 To a certain extent this opinion is inadmiffible. The uner- 

 ring laws by which the bees are governed, imply rather the 

 inllinftive compliance of the creature to the appointed ordi- 

 nance of the Creator, than the refult of any reafoning fa- 

 culty. We are " to look through nature, up to nature's 

 God." We admire, we are wrapt in aftonilhment at the 

 wonderful order preferved amidft fuch a vaft fociety of con- 

 temptible animals : their feill is worthy of our contempla- 

 tion, their induftry of our imitation ; but when we hear of 

 the prudence, the fagacity, or wildom of a bee, compared, 

 nay analvfed, by the lame criterion as the ftupendous powers 

 of iutelleft in man, the wild conjectures of the enthufiaftic 

 obferver fink into contempt beneath the calm reflection of 

 the mind, and beneath tiie pen of crjticifm. Much as we are 

 amufed with the perfection of its works, with the prevaihng 

 order, the pohcy, and afiiduitics of the bee, in its fecial 



mode 



