Longevity of the Honey Bee. 57 
a good specific distinction between it and the sprat ; but it will be 
found that this is not the case, for a herring less than six inches in 
length is as distinctly serrated on the belly with thirty-six teeth,* 
between the ventral and anal fins, as a sprat of equal size ; but as 
the herring increases in size, so the serratures become obliterated, 
and, by the time the fish reaches to the length of eight inches, the 
belly will be found to be no longer serrated, but carinated. 
The most prominent specific distinction of the herring, from the 
sprat, white-bait, and pilchard, is in the position of the dorsal fin, 
which is placed exactly in the middle of the fish, half way between 
the point of the upper jaw, and the end of the longest caudal ray. 
Dr Knox considers the food of the herring, while inhabiting the 
depths of the ocean, to consist principally of minute entomostracous 
animals j but it is certainly less choice (adds Mr Yarrell) in its se- 
lection when near the shore. Dr Neill found five young herrings 
in the stomach of a large female herring ; he has also known them 
to be taken by the fishermen on their lines, the hooks of which were 
baited with limpets. I have often found the young of the white-bait 
and small shrimps in the stomach of herrings when they were not 
in roe ; but when they are about to spawn their stomachs (as is ob- 
served in most other fishes at that period,) appear as if empty and 
destitute of any perceptible food. On the authority of Dr Fleming 
the fry have even been caught with a trout-fly. 1" 
April 18, 1836. 
VI. The Honey-Bee community. Length of life allotted to its dif- 
ferent members. By EDWARD BEVAN, M. D. 
THIS is a subject upon which, I believe, no precise information 
has ever been presented to the public. " Cool courage and steady 
perseverance, crowned with unincumbered leisure/' says Dr Evans, 
" can alone expect to unlock this curious arcanum in Natural His- 
tory." 
The opinions of the ancients respecting it were extremely vague 
and indefinite. The length of life allotted by them to the working 
* The serratures can be more evidently perceived when the abdominal scales 
are removed (as in Fig. 3.) which often project beyond the teeth, and prevent 
their points from being felt, when the finger is passed from the anal fin towards 
the pectorals. 
{ On the coasts of the West Highlands, herrings for many years past have been 
taken with the rod, the hook dressed with a white feather (generally from 
some of the gulls. ) Near Oban, and upon the shores of Mull and Jura, twelve 
dozens are sometimes taken by a single boat during the evening. ED. 
