BEE 



BEE 



moJc of lite, we cannot perceive tlie benefit likely to refiilt 

 to the arcliitetl, the geometrician, or the ilatefman, by 

 making thefe the fubjedts of their contemplation. 



Tims far we have proceeded only in a general manner ; in 

 dcfceiiding to partic\ilars, the fubjcft before us naturally 

 divides itlelf into a variety of diftinil branches, under every 

 one of which it is neceitary the Bke fliould be confidered. 

 The line of difcrimination is to be iirll drawn between 

 thofe which herd in focieties, <iiid are moft conducive to the 

 interefl. of mankind : thofe which, livinp; in focieties, are 

 rather injurious than of utility ; and thofe which are foli- 

 tary, and of couife, like the latter, live in a ftatc of wild- 

 nefs. Bees of the firtt: defcription confift only of a few 

 fpccies ; the fpccies of wild aiTociatcd bees are rather more 

 numerous; but the far greater number are folitary. 



While we are fpeaking of thoie included in the tirtl clafs, 

 our attention again reverts with much propriety to the com- 

 mon bee, between which, and the other forts of honey-bees, 

 the line of parallel is lo intimately connefttd, that they can- 

 not eafily, and need not necefiarily be regarded feparateiy. 

 Of the common bee we are to contider the queen bee, male 

 bee, and working bee ; their ftrufture and anatomy ; their 

 economy, generation, prefervation, and varieties ; the 

 other analogous Ipccics productive of honey ; the general 

 habits of thofe bees which live in focieties ; and of thofe 

 which are of a folitary difpofition. The architeBure of 

 Bees, fo far as it relates to the common honev-bee, will 

 fall under notice in the article Hosty-CoMB ;• — Colonies ai 

 Bees, tmder Hive and Hiving ; — \\\t. ftvatm'mg oi Bees, 

 their Wax and Hone v, under their reipeftive articles. 



Bees, Sexej of. There are in every hive or colony three 

 forts of bees, which Linnseus calls regina (faemina), fuci 

 (mares), and operariae (fpadones). The tirll is the queen, or 

 female ; the lecond the drones, or males ; and the laft the 

 luork'mg bees, or neuters. The q\i£en is larger than the 

 others ; (he !:i armed with a fting, and has thirteen joints in 

 the antenna, including the radicle ; thofe of the male have 

 one joint more in the antennae ; the eyes in this fcx are large, 

 and it is deititute of a lling : the working bees are armed 

 ivilh a powerful lling. and liave fifteen joints in the antcnnsc. 

 And here it will be proper to obferve, that lh;r circumftance 

 of the antennx in the female and neuter bee, containing the 

 fame number of articulations, were not obfcrved till lately. 

 J.innsus tells us the anteiin.e of the female has ten joints, 

 the male eleven, and the w orking bee fifteen ; the difcovery 

 to the contrary is due to Mr. Kirby, who, to ufe his own 

 language, fays : " In every one of thefe alTertions, with 

 due deference to a name fo great be it fpoken, Linnxus is 

 niillaken." 



Bees, StruSure and Anatomy of . There is nothing parti, 

 cularly ftriking in the ftrudure of the bee. In their form 

 they vary in different fpecies, and in different fexes, but ge- 

 nerally fpeaking they are uniformly bulky animals, having 

 the head large, the eyes oval and confpicuous, the thorax 

 broad and thick, as well as the body, and moft are com- 

 monly covered with hair or down ; the fcxcs diftinguifhable 

 by the number of articulations in the antenna: (being one 

 more in thofe of the male than the female), and the mouth 

 furnifhed with ftrong inflntmenta cllaria. The jaws and lip 

 of the apis mellifica arc membranaceous at the tip, the for- 

 mer bidtntated ; as in other bees, the jaws open to the 

 right and left, and ferve to carry out of the hives any thing 

 that incommodes them. To thofo which have no iling, the 

 teeth of thefe jaws are of eifential fervice in their wars 

 with fuch as poffefs that formidable weapon ; and it is be- 

 bevedj but on what foundation is uncertain, that the wounds 

 inflicled by means of thefe teeth inevitably prove mortal to 



7 



the other, or flinging bees, when they bite. The tongue 

 in different kinds of bees is very different in fhnpe. It iias 

 been obfcrved, that in the more induftrious fpecies, this in- 

 ftrument, when ftrttched out, is Ihorter than in the others : 

 be this as it may, the tongue of the common honey-bee is 

 long, infleftcd, and extremely pliant ; by means of this, the 

 bee not only procures iticlt neceffary fubfillence, but it is 

 alfo employed by the animal to collect the honey, which 

 we appropriate to ourfclves. The parts of which the torgue 

 confifts in different bees are not unifomily diftinguiflied by 

 the fame terms in the works of entomological writers. Pro- 

 bofcis is that by which Mr. Kirby, after the example of 

 Linna:us, when defining the Apis genus, calls the tongue, 

 together with all the machinery that belongs to it, inclulive 

 of the (heath or vagina. This is more fully illuftrated ia 

 his diffeftions of the probofcis of the male, the female, 

 and the neuter of the common honey bee, wherein the ftruc- 

 ture of this inftrument, and the feveral parts of which it 

 confifts, are correftly difcriminated. It may not be altoge- 

 ther irrelevant to our purpofe to follow this agreeable writer, 

 ia fome degree, v.'hilft explaining the ftrudlure of the pro- 

 bofcis or tongue. This part of the bee is faid to confift of 

 feven pieces ; Mr. Kirby fpeaks of more, viz. the fulcrum, 

 tubus, valvuls, cardo, lora, palpi exteriores, palpi intcri- 

 ores, laciniae exteriores, lacinia? interiores, and lingua. Th.e 

 fulcrum is that part upon which the tube is feated, and has 

 been noticed both by Swamnierdam and Reaumur ; the lat- 

 ter of whom calls it le pivot. Tubus is that pnrt called by 

 Fabriciiis the bafe of the tongue, and by Swamnierdam and 

 others the fheath of the tongue, including the bale of that 

 organ j and in a certain meafure anfwering the fame purpofe 

 as thevalvulae. The latter, or •valvuls, form the exterior ffieath 

 of the tongue. As to the cardo, cardines i tervene between 

 the valvule and the lora, and feem to ptrfoim the office of 

 hinges. Reaumur mentions thefe as " tilets tendineux par 

 les quels les tiges font attachees a leurs appnis." Lora are ib 

 named by Mr. Kirby from their ufe, which feems to be to 

 let out or pull in the probofcis, being thofe parts '.vhich 

 Reaum.ur calls " les leviers ;" when the probofcis is extend- 

 ed, the angle on which the fulcrum of the tube fits, is ob- 

 fcrved to point towards the breaft, but when retradted, its 

 pofition changes, and it points towards the mouth. Pal- 

 pi exicnores are organs noticed in the rude {Icctch of 

 the probofcis of the hive bee by Swammcrdam, who does 

 not, however, fpeak of them. In this kind they are fmall, 

 and confifting only of a fingle joint, efcaped the obferva- 

 tion of Reaumur ; in fome bees they are large, and con- 

 tain from one to fix joints. Palfi interiores are thofe 

 parts of the probofcis which Reaumur dillinguifiies by the 

 term " barbes ;" in the common bee, thefe confift only of 

 two articulations ; in other fpecies they are known to con- 

 tain a greater number. De Geer calls thefe little organs, 

 " les petit barbilloiis." Lacinia exteriores are to be met with 

 in almoll every family of the apis genus. Lacinia inltriores 

 are peculiar to the apis, and embrace and defend the tongue 

 where it enters the tube ; thefe are called by Suammerdam 

 the third pair of joints of the probofcis ; Reaumur mentions 

 them as " pieces qui embrailent tt fortifient la tronipc. ;" 

 Latreille, in his Komada family, names them " foies late- 

 rales." Lingua, or the true tongue, called fometimcs by 

 De Geer " le levre infericur,'' or inferior lip, is occafionally 

 mentioned by I'abricius under the term of labium, or lip. 

 Roemer, in a work entitled " Genera Infeitorum, &c." 

 lays down the character of ap's thus : — " Jaws dentated, 

 with an infleited probofcis, with two bivalve fhells, in which 

 the tongue is included." Latveilic, in a work recently pub- 

 lifhed, divides the apis genus iuto two families : the firft, 



correlponding 



