68 
THE FUNCTIONS OF BEES. 
Bees,* and which he first observed in 1809, and on 
several other occasions from that time to the year 
1813. In every thing they bear a perfect resem- 
blance to tlicir fellow-workers, except in colour, which 
in them is a deep black. He describes them as per- 
secuted by the other workers, and finally expelled 
the hives, or destroyed. We have noticed them, 
though rarely ; perhaps not more than one or two in 
a season. The other Bees did not molest them, as 
far as we observed, nor indeed seem in any way sen- 
sible of their presence. It is not improbable, as 
Kirby and Spence conjecture, that they are merely 
aged Bees, and that their deeper colour arises from 
the hair or down, with which the young are so thickly 
clothed, being worn off their bodies. 
In describing the functions of the Working Bee, 
it would be improper to pass over unnoticed the fact, 
that it sometimes exercises the functions of a mother. 
To account for this apparent anomaly, we must 
remember that it has been ascertained by minutely 
accurate dissection, that all the workers are females, 
though of imperfect organization, — a fact confirmed 
by the very circumstance we are now discussing. 
We must also keep in mind, that the larva of a Queen 
is nourished with food of a different kind from that 
of common Bees ; and this difference, in conjunction 
with a more roomy cell, has, in the opinion of natu- 
ralists, the effect of expanding the ovarium, and 
qualifying her to become a mother. It is evident, 
* Huber, 235, 
