BEE 
BEE 
' Though the Wood Bees are by no means nu- 
merous, there is fcarcely a garden where fome of 
them may not be found at different feafons of the 
year. They make their firft appearance at the clofe 
of winter, when they are frequently feen flying near 
fuch walls as are£xpofed to the fun. They gene- 
rally form their nefts in pieces of half rotten wood : 
and the holes are not made direftly forward, but in- 
clining to one fide, and having apertures large 
enough to admit the middle-finger j from which 
run their inner apartments, each generally twelve 
or fifteen inches long. Thefe cavities they bore 
with their teeth, and generally diverge them into 
three or four diff'erent rooms; in each of which 
they depofit ten or twelve eggs, which are involved 
in a fort of pafte, ferving for the protecflion of the 
young animals, as well as for their nourifhment. 
When they turn to worms, they are veiy white; 
the nymphs which proceed from them are of the 
fame colour, but afterwards turn brown, and then 
blackifh, by degrees. The females perform all 
the labour; and the males have no (lings. Thefe 
■Bees, when grown up, feed upon a fort of lice of 
a reddifli brown colour, each about the fize of the 
head of a fmall pin. 
■ Bee, Mason. The Mafon Bees confl:ru6l: their 
cells of a kind of mortar made of earth, againft 
thofe walls which are expofed to the fun. This 
mortar, which is at firft foft, foon becomes as hard 
as ftone; and the eggs being laid in this cement, 
undergo the fame metamorphofis as thofe of the 
common Bees, each neft or lodging confifting of 
fever al cells. Some of thefe Bees are red, and others 
black ; but they are all nearly of the fame fize, be- 
ing about the length of drones, though of inferior 
thicknefs. 
The black Mafon Bees are armed with flings ; 
but the red, being thofe males which are exempted 
from labour, have none. The liquid of which this 
mortar is compofed proceeds from their mouths, 
and ferves to glue one particle of earth to another. 
Externally their neflrs are rough, but internally 
they are extremely fmooth. Each cell is about an 
inch in height, and near half an inch in diameter; 
and to thefe cells the females carry the food necef- 
fary for their young, which is a fort of pafle like 
that of the wood Bees. 
In general, a neil confifls of feven or eight cells; 
but fometimes of only three or four, one cell be- 
ing placed over another. If the neft wants but 
few repairs, the infefts make ufe of it the follow- 
ing year, and fometimes three or four years fuccef- 
fively. They begin to build about the middle of 
April, and fometimes find great difficulty in com- 
pleating their work by the end of June; and though, 
from the apparent ftrength of their houfes, it might 
naturally be fuppofed that thefe Bees lodged in per- 
fe£l fecurity, no infe6ls whatever are more expofed; 
for a kind of worm, with very ftrong teeth, fre- 
quently infinuates itfelf into their littlefortifications, 
and devours the young. 
- There are many Bees of this fpecies which, by 
making choice of flieltered places, form their houfes 
with lefs durable materials than the former. They 
fele6l ftones with holes in them large enough to 
admit their whole bodies ; and v/hen tli s apertures 
happen to be too wide, they ftop up part of them with 
mortar, and make them exaftly round. Thefe Bees 
are covered all over with a fine down, of tv/o co- 
lours ; that, on their bodies being a kind of orange, 
while that on their breaft-plates is quite black. 
Theix trunks are fmall, an^ formed like thofe of the 
common Bees; but their teeth refemble the blades 
of fciiliirs, except that they are fcrrated. They have 
two horns, or feelers, on the fore-part of their heads, 
which are inflexile. Their pafle is more liquid 
than that of the real Maibn Bees ; and they always 
ftop up the holes of their cells v/ith the fame fort 
of earth which com.pofes their nefts. 
Bee, Ground. The Ground Bees build their 
nefts in the earth; making round holes five or fix 
inches deep, the mouths of which are fo narrow, 
as barely to admit their little inhabitants. It is, 
indeed, curious to obferve the patience and afTi- 
duity with which thefe infefts labour: they carry 
out all the earth, grain by grain, to the m^ouths of 
their holes, where it forms a little hillock ; an Alps, 
indeed, if compared with the magnitude of the 
artifls by v/hom it is raifed. Sonietimes the walls 
of gardens are undermined by their labours; fomc 
of their holes running direftly downward, and 
others horizontally beneath the ilirface. Like the 
former forts of Bees, they depofit in thofe cavities 
provifions for their young; though of a very diffe- 
rent nature, as they have the appearance of corn, 
and poffefs a faccharine tafte. 
Some of the Ground Bees are not fo large 
fmall houfe-flies; while others are equal in magni- 
tude to the common Bees. Some of them are of 
an oblong fhape, and others fliort. Thofe which 
form their nefts in the narrow walks of gardens are 
fmall, but have the appearance of common Bees; 
while others are black, with wings of a deep violet 
colour, and a little whitilli down or hair on the in- 
fides of their thighs. 
Bee-Fly. This infed forms a fpecies of itfelf^ 
being of a middle nature between the common 
Bee and the fly. The trunk difl?ers from that of 
the common Bee, the greateft part of it being hid 
in a kind of fnelly fheath ; and, when protruded, 
it is accompanied with a fort of threads, four in 
number, but at other times it lies concealed beneath, 
the teeth : under thefe threads there isa ibrt of flefhy 
prominence, the real tongue of the fly, with which 
it licks it's trunk. The body is longer than that of 
any other Bee ; and the rings, which compofe the 
trunk neareft the breaft-plate, are reddifh on the 
fuperior parts. 
Thefe Flies have their nefts in the ground, nine 
or ten inches deep: and the females are armed 
with ftings; but the males, which are diftinguifhed 
by their fuperior magnitude, have none. 
Bee, Leaf-Cutting. The Leaf-Cutting Bees 
build their nefts, as well as lay their eggs, among 
bits of leaves, very artificially placed in holes in 
the earth, of a finger's length. To thefe bits of 
leaves they give a cylindrical form; and with them 
they line the infides of their habitations, and after- 
wards cover them with pafte of a reddifh colour, 
which has fom.ething of a fweetifh tafte a little in- 
clining to acid. 
Of thefe Bees there are feveral fpecies, all dif- 
tinguifhed by one common character, that of be- 
ing fhort. Thofe which build their nefts with 
the leaves of the chefnut-tree are as big as drones; 
while thofe which make ufe of rofe-tree leaves are 
fmaller than the common Bees; and, through their 
downy coverings, their bodies appear femipellu- 
cid. The colour of the upper-part of their bodies 
is a brov/nifh black; except that on each fide 
there is a tuft of hair almoft white. The colour 
of the extremities of their bodies is a blackifh 
brown, as well above as below ; but the three rings 
next to them are covered, on the belly part, with 
