BEE 



BEE 



rank ; in fliort, tliat the queen bee lays only two kinds of 

 ecrgs, thole which are to produce the drones, and thofe 

 from which the working bees are to proceed. This author 

 made his expei'iments not only in the fpring months, but 

 even as kite as November. He cut oiT from an old hive a 

 piece of the brood comb, taking care that it contained 

 larva= (or luorms as they are termed ) -which had been hatched 

 about three days. This he fixed in an empty hive, toge- 

 ther with a piece of honey-comb for food to his bees, and 

 t'r.en introduced a number of common bees into the hive. 

 As foon as the bees found themfelves deprived of ttieir 

 queen, and liberty, a drcadiul iiproar took place, whicb lafted 

 twenty-four hours. On the c^iTation of this tun-.ult, they 

 betook themfelves to work, firll proceeding to conllrutt a 

 royal cell, and then tnking the proper meafures for feeding 

 and hatching the brood inclofed within them ; fometimes, even 

 on the fecond dav, the foundations of one or more royal 

 cells were to be perceived, whicli proved a certain indica- 

 tion that they had elefted one of the inclofed larvse to the 

 fovereignty. 



The final refult of thefe experiments feemed to be, that 

 the colony of working bees being thus fhut up with a piece 

 of brood comb, not only hatch, but at the end of eighteen 

 or twenty days, produce from thence one or two queens, 

 which, it was fuppofed, proceeded from the iarvos of the 

 common working bee, and which had been converted by 

 the colony into a queen, merely bccaufe they wanted one. 

 — From thefe, and other experiments repeated, Mr. Schi- 

 rach concluded, that all the common workirig bees muft 

 be originally of the fcmiale fex ; although, if they are not 

 ^ fed, lodged, and brought up in a particular manner while 

 in the larva ftate, their organs are not developed ; and that 

 it is this circumftance attending the bringing up of the 

 queen, that allov/s the full cxtcnfion in the feniale organs 

 in the firft inftance, and produced afterwards that difference 

 in her fize and afpefl, fo diiTiT.iIar to that of the working 

 bee. 



Mr. Debraw, an ingenious apothecary of Cambridge, 

 made many experimental remarks on bees, which are in- 

 ferted in the Philofophical Tranfaitions for 1776. He 

 profcffes to have detctted the impregnation of tlie eggs by 

 the males, as well as to have difcovered the difference in fize 

 among the drones or males, of which Maraldi and Reaumur, 

 befides fome others, had conceived there might be two dif- 

 tinft kinds. M'-. Dcbraw fays, he watched the glafs hives 

 with indefatigable attention from the moment the bees 

 (among which he took care there fhould be a large number 

 of drones) were put into them, to the time of the queen's 

 laying her eggs, which generally happens the fourth or 

 fifth day. He obferved, that on the firil or fecond days, 

 (always before the third) from the time the eggs are placed 

 in the cells, a great number of bees faftening themfelves to 

 one another, hvmg dov/n in the form of a curtain from 

 the top to the bottom of the hive. They had done the 

 fame at the time the queen bee depofited her eggs, an 

 operation which feems contrived on purpofe to conceal 

 "frhat is tranfafting ; however, through fome parts of the 

 veil he was enabled to fee fome of the bees inferting the pof- 

 terior part of their bodies, each into a cell, but continuing 

 there only a (hort time. When t!iey had retired, it was 

 eafy to difcover a whitifh liquor left in the angle of the 

 bafis of each cell which contained an cg^. Lri a day or 

 two this liquor was abforbed into the embryo, which on the 

 fourth day affumes its larva ftate, and is attended by the 

 working bees, who bring it a little honey for nourifhment, 

 and continue to feed it for the fpace of eight or ten days 

 after its birth. When the bees find that the larva has at- 

 taiacd its full fize, they defift from bringing any more food, 



knowing that the larva has no more occafion for it while in 

 that ftate ; but they have ftill another fervicc,to btftow 

 upon it, in which tliey never fail to perform their duty : 

 this is to (hut up the top of the ftiell in which the larva is en. 

 clofed ; for eight days longer it remains within the cell 

 after being thus immured, during which time a fiirtlier 

 change takes place ; the larva, which was before idle, begins 

 to work as foon as the bees commence their operation of clof- 

 ing up the cell ; while the latter are employed in m.aking 

 the covering of wax, the larva is at work within the cell, 

 which it lines with a fine filk. The larva thus concealed, 

 voids its excrements, quits its fl;in, and affumes the pupa 

 form ; at the end of fom.e days, the young bee acquires fuf- 

 ficient ftrength to quit the covering of the pupa, tear 

 through the waxen enclofure of its cell, and proceed from 

 thence a perfctl winged infeiSt. 



To prove ft'.ll further that the eggs are fecundated by the 

 males, and that their prefence is ncceffary at the time of 

 breeding, Mr. Debraw made the following experiments : he 

 left in the hive the queen, with only the common or work- 

 ing bees, witliout any drones, to fee whether the eggs fhe 

 laid would be prolific : for this purpofe, he took a fwarm, 

 and (hook all the bees into a tub of water, leaving them 

 there till they were quite fenfelefs, by which means he was 

 able to difcover the drones without any fear of being ftung 

 by the others : he then reftored the queen and workino- 

 bees to their former ftate, by fpreading them on a brown 

 paper in the fun, after which he placed them in a glafs 

 hive, and they began very foon to work as ufual. The 

 queen laid eggs, which to his great furprife were impreg- 

 nated ; for he imagined he had feparatedall the drones, or 

 males, and therefore orsitted watching them. At the end 

 of twenty days, he found fevcral of the eggs had, in the ufual 

 courfe of changes, produced bees, while fome had withered 

 away and others were covered with honey. Hence he 

 inferred that fome of the males had efcaped his notice, 

 and impregnated part of the eggs. To convince him- 

 felf of th.is, he took away all the brood comb that was 

 in the hive, in order to compel the bees to provide a frefh 

 quantity, being determined to watch narrowly their motions 

 after the new eggs fhould be laid in the cells. On the fe- 

 cond day after the eggs were placed in the cells, he perceived 

 the fame operation that was mentioned before, namely, that 

 of the bees hanging down in the form of a curtain, while 

 others thruft their pofterior end of the body into the hive. 

 He broke off a piece of the comb in which were two of 

 thefe infefts, and found in neither of them any fting ; (a cir- 

 cumftance peculiar to the drones) ; upon diiTcdion, with the 

 afliliance of a microfcope, he difcovered the four cylindrical 

 bodies which contain the glutinous liquor, of a whitifti co- 

 lour, as obferved by Maraldi in the large drones. He was 

 therefore now under the necefilty of repeating his experi- 

 ments, after deftroying the males, and even thofe which 

 might be fufpefled to be fuch. 



He once more immerfed the fame bees in water, and when 

 they appeared to be in a fenfelefs ftate, he gently prcffcd 

 every one, in order to dittinguifh thofe arn'ed with a fting 

 from thofe which had none, and which of courfe he fup- 

 pofed to be males. He replaced the fame fwarm in a glaf=! 

 hive, where they immediately applied themfelves again to the 

 work of making cells, and on the fourth and fifth day, very- 

 early in the morning, he had the pleaiure to fee the queen 

 bee depofit her eggs in thofe cells ; he continued watching 

 moll part of the cnfuing days, but could difcover nothing of 

 what he had feen be'^ore. 



The eggs, after the fourth day, were found in the fame 

 ftate as on the firft day, except that fome of them were 

 covered with honey. A fingular event happened next day 



about 



