ij6 Mr. Hunter's Observations on Bees. 
As they are the collectors of honey, much more than what 
is for their own use, either immediately, or in future, their 
tongue is proportionally fitted for that purpose : it is consi- 
derably longer than that of either the queen or the male, which 
fits them to take up the honey from the hollow parts of flowers, 
of considerable depth. The mechanism is very curious, as will 
be explained further on. 
The number of labourers in a hive varies very considerably. 
In one hive that I killed, there were - - 3338 
In another - 4472 
In one that died, there were - • - 2432 
That I might guess at the number of bees from a given 
bulk, I counted what number an alehouse pint held, 
when wet, and found it contained - - 2160 
Therefore, as some swarms will fill two quarts, such 
must consist of near - 9000 
Of the Parts concerned in the Nourishment of the Bee. 
Animals who only swallow food for themselves, or whose 
alimentary organs are fitted wholely for their own nourish- 
ment, have them adapted to that use only ; but in many, these 
organs are common for more purposes, as in the pigeon, and 
likewise in the bee. In this last, some of the parts are used as 
a temporary reservoir, holding both that which is for the im- 
mediate nourishment of the animal, and also that which is to 
be preserved for a future day, in the cells formerly described ; 
this last portion is therefore thrown up again, or regurgitated. 
As it is the labourers alone in the common bee that are so em- 
ployed, we might conceive this reservoir would belong only 
