BEE 



of thefc experiments of Schirach, &c. from feveral circum- 

 ftanccs that occurrcdiii the courfe of his experiments. The 

 three following facls appear, in his mind, much agiind their 

 probability. Firil, a Cummer's evening in England is com- 

 monly too cold for fo fmall a parcel of bees to he lively, fo 

 as to fet about new operations ; they get lo benumbed that 

 they could hardly recover in the day, and he fufpeils, where 

 thefe experiments were made, it alfo was too cold ; and in- 

 deed fome even are faid to have been tried in this country. 

 Secondly, if the weather {liould be fo warm as to prevent this 

 effeft, then they are fo relllefs that they commonly dellroy 

 themfelves, or weary themfelves out; at lead, after a few days 

 conimement we find them n-.cRly dead ; and, thirdly, the ac- 

 count rriven of the formation of a royal cell, without mention- 

 ing the above inconvenience, which is natural to t:ie experi- 

 ment, leads him to fufpect the whole to be fabricated. To 

 obviate the firll obieclion, which he found from experiment 

 would prevent any fiiccefs that m.ight otherwife arife, he put 

 parcels of bees with their comb, in which were eggs and mag- 

 gots, (and in fome trials chr)-falifes befides) ijito a warmer 

 place, fuch as a glafs frame over tan, the furtace of which 

 was covered with mould to prevent the ill effects of the un- 

 wholefome effluvia arifing from it; but from knov.ing that 

 the maggot was fed with bee-bread, or farina, he took 

 care to introduce a cell or two with this fubllance, and aifo 

 the flowers of plants that produce a great deal of farina, to- 

 gether with fome honey for the old bees. In this manner 

 his bees were preferved from the cold, and alfo provided with 

 neceffaries ; but after being contined for feveral day?, upon 

 opening the doors of the hive, thofe which remained alive 

 came to the door-way, walked and flew about, but gradually 

 left it, and on examining the combs, &c. he found the mag- 

 gots dead, and nothing like an operation going on. He 

 chofe to have fome chryfalifes in the comb, fuppofing that 

 if the bees died or flew away, thofe newly hatched afterwards 

 from thofe chryfalifes, which would happen in a few days, 

 not knowing where to go, might ftay and take care of the 

 maggots that would be hatched from the eggs; but to his 

 furprife he found on opening the box that neither the eggs 

 hatched; nor the chryfalifes came forth, all died ; from which 

 he began to fufpeft that the prefence of the bees was necef- 

 fary for both. " The queen, the mother of all, (he con- 

 tludes with faying) iu whatever manner produced, is a true 

 female, and different from the labourers and the male." He 

 defcribes the difference between the female and the male, ob- 

 ferves that he believes a liive has only one queen ; and men- 

 tions Riem, who afferts that there are fupernumerary queens, 

 which he has feen killed both by the labourers and the males. 

 With due refpeft to the memory of fo great a man, we had 

 expefted better reafoning, and a more copious and extenfive 

 invefUgation of this myflerious affair, from the pen of Mr. John 

 Hunter. After following him through his various remarks, 

 we are almofl at a perfeft lofs to conceive their tendency. 

 He fets forward with exprefGng his doubts as to the accu- 

 racy of Schirach's experiments, who had, it feems, endea- 

 voured to prove, that a queen bee might ba reared from the 

 humble condition of the larva of a common worker : the 

 fuggeflion meets his ridicule, a ftrong vein of which is ap- 

 parent throughout his notes; r.nd in the true fpirit of critical 

 analyfis, he proceeds to examine the experiments by which 

 this fuggeflion has been fupported. Some few inadvertencies 

 of expreffion in the llateraent of particulars, are mentioned 

 by him, and after relating two or three unfatisfaftory experi- 

 ments, made in order to invalidate the obfervations of Schi- 

 rach, he tells us, that " the queen bee, the mother of all, in 

 whatever manner produced, is a true female," an inference 

 fo logical, that no one would be inclined, we may prefume, 



8 



BEE 



to difpute it ; but furely it could require no matter of argu- 

 ment, nor criticifm, norferies of experiments, to prove, that 

 the mother of all mull be a female ; nay ilill lefs was it in- 

 cumbent to fupport, by the ufe of many words, that this 

 female was produced in fome manner or another; this is ap- 

 parent enough ; we need not be therefore folicitous to en- 

 quire whetlier (he is produced, but to know in what manner 

 that production is accomplifhed ; and here we are left in un- 

 certainty. If Mr. Hunter was convinced, that the obfsrva- 

 tions of Schirach were erroneous, he could not, we appre- 

 hend, be ignorant of the manner in which (lie is produced ; 

 or, if he was, he muft have been unauthorifed to cenfjrc 

 Schirach. In a word, it ought to be acknowledged in can- 

 dour, between the two parties, that we had expected, in the 

 outfet, Mr. Hunter would have fairly controverted the ar- 

 guments of his opponent, but in the conclufion perceive, too 

 evidently, that he is content to cantradiif them onlv. 



But the experiments of Schirach have been found in many 

 refpecls ccnfiitep.t with the dileoverics of later naturalills ; 

 experience has proved that in inatiy points he is correft. It 

 is almofl enough to fav ihst they are in part confirmed by 

 Huber. The iattcr writer, after profeifing his opinion, that 

 there are no fuch creatures as miiies orneuteis in the focicty 

 of bees, endeavours to (hew that the working bees are all 

 originally of the female fex ; and that each is confcquently 

 provided with an ovaria, or womb, which neither Swam- 

 nierdam, Reaumur, and perhaps no other before him, had 

 ever feen, although they had conjeftured it mufl be fo. He 

 cites in proof of the pofition that they mull be femalcrs, the 

 difcovery of Schirach ; who, although he bad not detected 

 the ovaries, had feen the larvse of the working bees con- 

 verted into queens, when the neceflities of the ftate required 

 it ; a faft of which Huber had been occafionally himfelf a 

 witnefs. Huber is perfuaded, that however ilrange it may 

 appear, it depends entirely on the manner in which the 

 larva is treated while remaining in the comb, whether the in- 

 dividual will become a perfeft female, fitted for the purpofe 

 of perpetuating the race, the mother of the future fwarm, 

 and of being inverted with the powers of fovereignty ; or 

 be doomed to a life of labour as a common working bee. 

 If the larva be intended for the latter condition, the egg is 

 lodged within the confines of a narrow cell ; which, when 

 the larva hatched from it attains a certain (ize, efFeflually 

 prevents the diflenfion of thofe organs of the ovaria that are 

 neceffary to the .great purpofe of rendering the creature 

 piohfic in the lad ftage of being. Thus it happens, that 

 unlefs the lirva be allowed fufiicient room for thefe organs 

 to expand, they continue to be crippled, comprefTed, and 

 afterwards incapable of that expanfion which is abiohitely 

 requifite in impregnation. Hence we perceive the motives 

 for that efpecial care which the working bees bedow on the 

 enlargement of the cells of thofe larva: which any fortuitous 

 accident may induce them to adopt for the female parent 

 of the future brood. If the larva of a working bee is to 

 be converted into a proUfic female, the cell in which it has 

 been lodged is broken into and made more capacious than 

 before : this permits the creature to attain its full and pro- 

 per Cze ; the ovaria, no longer ftraitened by the compref- 

 fion of its cell, affumes a new and more expanfive form ; 

 and when the infeft comes forth in the winged date, the 

 fexual organs are found to have acquired that degree of 

 maturity which can alone render it capable of fullilling 

 the ordinary functions for which they were defigned. There 

 is alfo another caufe to which the barrennefs of the working 

 bee is attributed, the quantity of aliment which it receives ia 

 the larva form. At this time the creature is pent up within 

 it» narrow cell, and is allowed only a certain portion of the 



pafte 



