BEE 



It was thouglit to extend to nine or ten jnn. Virgil and 

 Pliny limit it to fevcn. Soir.e fuppofe tliat they are annual; 

 others, that they live many years, but thehtteriJca is almoil 

 esplcded at this time. On the other hand, alrhough they 

 may be confidercd as annual, a few of the females certainly 

 live through the wi:iter, and lay the foundation for a new 

 fociety in the enfuing fummer. In the month of Augull, Mr. 

 Hunter imagines the queen, or queens, to be impregnated 

 by the males, ai^d as the males do not provide for thenifelves, 

 they become burdenfom.c to the working bees, and arc there- 

 fore deftroyed as ujflefs, and thrown out of the hives. 

 When the bees fet about the bufinefs of providii^g their 

 winter ftorc, every oneration ceafcs, excepting that of col- 

 lefting honey and bee-bread for the future fubfiltence of 

 the colony. At this particular crifis, it would feem as if 

 the males were confcious of their approaching danger, for 

 they do not rcll as before on the mouth cf the hive either 

 when going in or coming out ; aftivity is apparent in all their 

 aAions. But this avails them Httle, nor does it avert, 

 though it may protraft, their fate, for a (hort time ; they 

 are commonly attacked by the labouring bees, one, two, or 

 three together, and feeming to be incapable of making any 

 refiftance, or anxious to avoid the conte'l, attempt only to 

 enfure their fafety by hallening out of the way of their 

 cruel enemies as fpcedily as poffible. The labourers do not 

 fting the males, Mr. Hurler tells us, but only pinch, tor- 

 ment, and pull them about, as if to wear them out, and 

 haften, by Xuch violent treatment, the death of thefe hap- 

 Itfs creatures, who woulil die naturally in the fpace of a lit- 

 tle time afteE. 



Bees, Economy of. When wc fpeak in a familiar manner 

 J cf the economy of bees, fuch as the fecreting of wax, the 

 conftioifling of honey combs, ranging the fields and gardens 

 to colleft farina and nciSlarious juices for the preparation of 

 wax and honey ; attending, nurturing, and feeding the 

 maggots or larvae, covenngin the chrylalifes or pupa;, &c. 

 the labouring bee alone is meant, for the females and the 

 males are only implicated in the common concern, fo far as 

 relates to the wellgovernment of the colony, and generation 

 of the future brood. Among thofe who have minutely 

 treated on this fubjecl, (the economy of bees), many have 

 related very wonderful and incredible circumllances ; the 

 moral virtues (as it has well been faid) have all, at one time 

 or other, been attributed to the bees. They have been 

 celebrated for their prudence, induftry, mutual affeclion, 

 unity, loyalty to their lovereign queen, public fpint, fobriety, 

 and cleanlinefs. The fagacity of bees in forefeeing rain, or 

 cold has been often mentioned ; this is not very queftionable ; 

 /or a (hort time, at leaft, before we are fenfible of the altera- 

 tion in the ftate cf the weather, their conduft proves that they 

 are not ignorant of it. Mr. Hunter frequently -obferved 

 their return home in great numbers before rain or cold 

 was coming on, without being able to perceive himfclf, till 

 fome time after, the change in the temperature of the at- 

 mofphere. Bees require a confiderable degree of heat ; the' 

 ' eggs mud. be kept warm, and neither the larvae nor chryfa- 

 lifcs, it is afierted, will Hve in cold of 60° or 70°. " Bees 

 (fays one writer) feem to be warned of the appearance 

 of bad weather, by fome particular feehng. It fometimes 

 happens, even when they arc very alTiduous and bufy, that 

 they on a fudden c^-afe from their work ; not a fingle one 

 ftirs out ; and thofe that are abroad hurry home in fuch 

 prodigious crouds, that the doors of their habitations are 

 too fmall to admit them. On this occafion, look up to the 

 flcy, and you will foon difcover fome of thofe black clouds 

 which denote-impcnding rain. Whether they fee the clouds 

 gatheriiig for it, as fome imagine, or whether (as is rnucli 



BEE 



mofe probable) they feel fome other effecls of it upon their 

 bodies, is not yet determined ; but it is alleged, that no 

 bee is ever caught even in what we call a fudden (liower, 

 unlefs it have been at a veiy great dlftance from the hive, 

 or have been injured by fome accident, or been iickly, and 

 unable to fly fo fail as the reft. Cold is a great enemy to 

 them. To defend themfcKes againft its efftCls during a 

 hard winter, they croud toother in the middle of the hive, 

 , and\_buzz about, and thereby excite a warmth that is oftea 

 perceptible by laying the hand upon the glafs window of 

 the hive. They feem to underftand one another by the 

 motion of their wings : when the queen wants to quit the 

 hive, (he gives a little buzz ; and all the others iraajeiiately 

 follow her example, and retire along with her." 



Altliough many of the accounts that have been given of 

 the bee are fabulous, an intimate acquaintance with them 

 in their domellic operations, has funiifhtd many real fails 

 that are as furprifing as tiiofe which are apparently, or per- 

 haps wholly, groundlefs. It is not to be difputed, that at 

 certain time«, when they think th.eir florcs likely to fall 

 Ihort, they make no fcruple to kill and throw out of the 

 hives their own offspring ; the larvae and young b?es of the 

 male or drone kind, fcarcely extricated from thei'' pupa ftate, 

 have been carried away and left to peridi. They may be 

 juft in fom.e refptfts in their own kingdom, and to thofe 

 who are to be confidered as their fellow fubjefls, but they 

 rob and plunder ftrangers whenever they have power and 

 opportunity ; and they have frequently battles in commir- 

 ting depredations on neighbouring colonics and hives, or in 

 repelling the aggrcffions of other invaders, in their own de- 

 fence, which always terminate fatally to many of their 

 number. This '.idced does not often happen, except early 

 in the fpring, or late in autumn, when honey is fcarce in 

 their hives, and there are eo flowers abroad to furnifh them 

 with more. In this cafe, when they liave ranged the fields 

 without fuccefs, they endeavour to lupply themf^Ivcs at the 

 hazard of their lives, from the ftores of other bees. How- 

 ever, in all thefe conflidts, if the queen of either hive that 

 happens to be engaged is killed, the battle ceafea, and both 

 parties unite under the furvivor. 



The induftry and activity of bees in their domcftic la- 

 bours, afford a very inftruCtivc and amufing fpe£lac!e ; ail 

 are bufily engaged in their fcveral depaitments. While 

 fome are employed in gathering honey and wax, others re- 

 pair the rotten combs ; others carry out the dead, and 

 cleanfe the filth ; others keep guard, placing therafclves in 

 five or fix files eight or ten deep upon the floor of the hives, 

 fo that all the bees when they enter u•^x^ pafs between 

 them ; fome are even faid to fcrve for bridges or ladders 

 for others to pafs over ; and when they are tired with la- 

 bour, they recruit themfelves with reft. For this purpofc, 

 they fonn larger or fmaller clufters in the following manner ; 

 each bee with its two fore-legs lays hold of the hinder legs 

 of the bee that is next above it, and thus a chain is formed 

 by the fucccffivc application of one to another, and the 

 firft bee fupports the v.eight of all the reft to the bottom of 

 the chain. The larger clufters arc only a multitude of 

 thefe chains, of which there are fometimes an hundred to- 

 gether. The bees, it is faid, never lay hold of any part 

 of one another, except the legs. In this way, they likewife 

 guard themfelves from the etFefts of cold, and continue for 

 feveral weeks together in a ftate of torpidity. 



Bees, we are told, when they begin to work in their 

 hives, divide themfelves into four companies ; one of which 

 roves in the fields in fearch of farina for the wax ; another 

 is employed in laying out the bottoms and partitions of the 

 cells i a third ia making the infide fmooth from the angles 



P 2 and 



