6Q HYMENOPTERA. 



The working bees are smaller, and have a longer 

 trunk than the males ; their feet are furnished 

 with several rows of short, close,and rough hairs, 

 and they are armed with a sting. The female 

 is remarkable for her size, which is nearly double 

 that of the male : her body is more elongated; 

 she has a shorter trunk than the workmen ; the 

 hind feet have not the rows of hairs which we 

 observe in the others, and she has a very sharp 

 sting. Upon opening a female the ovaria will 

 be found to contain a quantity of eggs, more 

 or less according to the season. 



The history of the habits, manners, and eco- 

 nomy of this industrious race, has occupied the 

 pens of different writers till the subject is ex- 

 hausted ; but it still remains a doubt with na- 

 turalists, to what particular country the wild 

 bee, as a native, ought to be referred. Some 

 have fixed their origin in the vast forests of 

 Muscovy and the North, where they colonize 

 in hollow trees and clefts of rocks. It is cer- 

 tain, that in Italy, in almost the whole of Asia, 

 and even in the southern provinces of France, 

 wild bees are often found : and it is probable 



