192 
Mr . Hunter’s Observations on Bees, 
Of the. Life of the Bee. 
I have observed that the life of the male is only one sum- 
mer, or rather a month or two ; and this we know from there 
being none in the winter, otherwise their age could not be 
ascertained, as it is impossible to learn the age of either the 
queen or labourers. Some suppose that it is the young bees 
which swarm ; and most probably it is so : but I think it is 
probable also, that a certain number of young ones may be 
retained to keep up the stock, as we must suppose that 
many of the old ones are, from accidents of various kinds, 
lost to the hive; and we could conceive, that a hive three 
or four years old might not have an original bee in it, 
although a bee might live twice that time. But there must 
be a period for a bee to live; and if I were to judge from 
analogy, I should say, that a bee’s natural life is limited to 
a certain number of seasons; viz. one bee does not live one 
year, another two, another three, See. I even conceive that 
no individual insect of any species lives one month longer 
than the others of the same species. I believe this is the case 
with all insects ; but the age of either a labourer or a queen 
may never be discovered. One might suppose that the life of 
a bee, and the time a hive can possibly last, would be nearly 
equal: although this is not absolutely necessary, because 
they can produce a succession, which they probably do ; for 
I am very ready to imagine, that after the first brood in 
the season, all the last winter bees die, and the hive is occupied 
with this first brood ; and that they breed the first swarm, or 
