Microscopical Essays, 259 



Or feek repairs to clofe the fra&ur'd cell ; 

 Or ftiut the waxen womb where embryos dwell. 

 The caterers prompt a frugal portion deal, 

 And give to diligence a hafty meal ; 

 In each appointed province all proceed, 

 And neateft order weds the fwifteft fpeed ; 

 Difpatch flies various on ten thoufand wings, 

 And joy throughout the gladfome region rings." 



Mr. Schirach, a German naturalift, affirms that all the common 

 bees are females in difguife, in which the organs that diftinguilh 

 the fex, and particularly the ovaria, are obliterated/ or at leaft 

 from their extreme minutenefs have efcaped the obferver's eye ; 

 that every one of thofe bees, in the earlier period of it's exiftence, 

 is capable of becoming a queen bee, if the whole community 

 mould think it proper to nurfe it in a particular manner, and 

 raife it to that rank : in fhort, that the queen bee lays only two 

 kinds of eggs, thofe that are to produce the drones, and thofe 

 from which the working bees are to proceed. 



Mr. Schirach made his experiments not only in the early fpring 

 months, but even as late as November. He cut off from an old 

 hive a piece of the brood comb, taking care that it contained 

 worms which had been hatched about three days. He fixed this 

 in an empty hive, together with a piece of honey-comb, for food 

 to his bees, and then introduced a number of common bees into 

 the hive. As foon as thefe found them Pelves deprived of their 

 queen and their liberty, a dreadful uproar took place, which 

 laded for the fpace of twenty- four hours. On the ceffation of this 

 tumult, they betook themfelves to work, firff proceeding to the 



I i 2 conftruc- 



