MR. NEWPORT ON THE TEMPERATURE OP INSECTS. 
299 
very moderately excited in the act of nursing 83 c, 2. It is not only at the moment 
when the young bee is about to come forth that the Nurse Bees produce a larger 
amount of heat ; they keep up the heat to a considerable amount for some time after 
the young bee is developed. At p.m., July 14, the bees were again incubating, 
the atmosphere 69 0- 5 ; the cells immediately beneath the cover of the nest were 89 0, 4. 
At 2 p.m., atmosphere 69 0, 5, the same cells were 92°-2, at which time most of the bees 
were crowding around this part of the comb, from which at 6 p.m. several young ones 
came forth. At 3 p.m., atmosphere 69°'5, the temperature of a single bee nursing on 
these cells was 91°. At 5 p.m., atmosphere 73°*4, atmosphere of the box was 75°-3, 
and that of four bees nursing 94°*2 ; while at 1 1 p.m., five hours after the young bees 
had been developed from this part of the comb and when no bees were present, the 
temperature at the very same spot was only 68°, exactly that of the open atmosphere; 
but in another part of the nest where the bees were again nursing it stood at 83°. 
It was in this way that the nurse bees constantly raised their own temperature and 
that of the cells upon which they were incubating whenever new bees were to be 
produced. In order to prove that this great amount of heat resulted directly from 
the temperature of the nursing bee, I placed the bulb of a thermometer on the back 
of a single individual that was nursing on the upper surface of a comb that was 
exposed to the temperature of the atmosphere, 71°-6, when it rose to and was main- 
tained exposed as it was at 85°, while the temperature of the cell immediately after 
the bee had quitted it was 75°’ 3, and it was maintained at that temperature several 
minutes. In other observations I found that on one occasion, when the atmosphere 
was 72 0- 5, a single female bee while nursing upon a single cell, from which a perfect 
insect was developed about eight hours afterwards, had a temperature of 92 0, 3 : the 
bulb of the thermometer in this instance was placed upon the cell immediately 
beneath the abdomen of the bee, which was respiring at the rate of 120 per minute. 
In another observation, when the temperature of the atmosphere was still the same, 
72 0, 5, a single bee while nursing had a temperature of 94°'5, but a little while after- 
wards when the atmosphere was 72°’7 it had subsided to 91°. 
These facts distinctly prove that bees have a voluntary power of evolving heat, 
while it seems only fair to conclude, on comparing the facts, that the quantity of heat 
produced in a given time and space, has relation to the number of respirations per- 
formed by the individual ; and from the quantity of atmospheric air consumed, and of 
carbonic acid gas evolved, that animal heat is greatly and perhaps almost entirely 
dependent upon the chemical changes which take place in the air respired. 
Temperature of the Hive Bee, Apis mellifica, Linn., during the Winter. 
The many curious facts connected with the production of heat in the Humble Bee 
and other insects, naturally disposed me to wish to extend my inquiries to the ascer- 
tainment of that of the inhabitants of the hive, and fortunately circumstances enabled 
me to carry my wishes into execution, and commence my observations in the summer 
mdcccxxxvii. 2 R 
