402 



INSTINCT OF INSECTS. 



striking example of the whole I shall select the hive-bee, — 

 begging you to bear in mind that I do not mean to include 

 those exhibited by the queen, the drones, or even those of the 

 workers termed by Huber cirieres (wax -makers) ; but only 

 to enumerate those presented by that portion of the workers 

 termed by Huber nourrices or petites abeilles (nurses), upon 

 whom, as you have been before told, with the exception of 

 making wax, laying the foundation of the cells, and collecting 

 honey for being stored, the principal labours of the hive 

 devolve. It will be these individuals alone that I shall 

 understand by the term bees, under the present head; and 

 though the other inhabitants of the hive may occasionally 

 concur in some of their actions and labours, yet it is obvious 

 that so many as are those in which they distinctly take part, 

 so many instincts must we regard them as endowed with. 



To begin, then, with the formation of the colony. By 

 one instinct bees are directed to send out scouts previously to 

 their swarming, in search of a suitable abode ; and by another 

 to rush out of the hive after the queen that leads forth the 

 swarm, and follow wherever she bends her course. Having 

 taken possession of their new abode, whether of their own 

 selection or prepared for them by the hand of man, a third 

 instinct teaches them to cleanse it from all impurities 1 ; a 

 fourth to collect propolis, and with it to stop up every crevice 

 except the entrance ; a fifth to ventilate the hive for preserv- 

 ing the purity of the air ; and a sixth to keep a constant guard 

 at the door. 2 



In constructing the houses and streets of their new city, 

 or the cells and combs, there are probably several distinct 

 instincts exercised; but, not to leave room for objection, I 

 shall regard them as the result of one only : yet the operations 

 of polishing the interior of the cells, and soldering their angles 

 and orifices with propolis, which are sometimes not under- 

 taken for weeks after the cells are built 3 ; and the obscure, 

 but still more curious one, of varnishing them with the yellow 

 tinge observable in old combs, — seem clearly referable to at 

 least two distinct instincts. The varnishing process is so 



i Huber, ii. 102. 2 ibid. i. 186. ii. 412. 



3 Ibid, ii. 264. 



