THE HONEY-BEE. 
07 
structed — as sometimes happens — against the glass, 
and where that substance forms one side of the cell. 
There they are, the fatigued labourers, stretched at 
full length, with their heads at the bottom, and every 
limb apparently in a relaxed state, while the little 
body is seen heaving gently from the process of respira- 
tion. Huber thinks he has ascertained that there are 
two kinds of workers in a hive, one of which he calls 
Wax-workers , and the other Nurses. The difference 
between these Bees had probably been observed by 
Aristotle and Pliny. The former speaks of “ opti- 
mum genus apum, quce breves, varice, et in rotundi- 
tatem compactiles ; secundce quce longce et vespis si- 
miles.” Pliny uses similar language. It does not 
appear, however, that these naturalists were acquaint- 
ed with the different functions — if the difference 
really does exist — of the two classes. The office of 
the first class, according to Huber, is not only to 
collect honey — which both kinds do — but also to 
elaborate the wax, and construct the combs. The 
particular function of the other, is to take care of the 
young. They may be distinguished in entering the 
hive, by carefully examining their shape ; the wax- 
workers having their bellies somewhat cylindrical, 
while those of the nurses retain their ovoidal figure. 
The anatomical structure of the two is said to be 
different, and the capacity of stomach not the same ; 
so that the one species is incapable of fulfilling all the 
functions of the other. Huber has also directed our 
attention to a class of workers, which he calls Black 
