46 
THORAX, LEGS, AND WINGS. 
The structure is the same in the queen and drone. 
In both the wings are longer than in the worker. In 
the queen they extend half-way over the abdomen, 
and on the hind wing there are about twenty booklets. 
In the drone they are still longer, and cover the 
abdomen, while the hind wing is very much broader 
and stronger, and is provided with twenty-four book- 
lets. The number of booklets varies considerably, 
and we have found that sometimes there are not the 
same number on both sides ; but they generally range 
between the lowest number of fifteen, in the queen, to 
twenty-five, the highest number in the drone. 
It is very difficult to fix with certainty the distance 
to which bees are able to fly and their rate of flight. 
Careful observations have, however, shown that they 
usually work within a radius of two miles from their 
hives ; but if food is scarce they will fly further in 
search of it, and have been known to go as far as four 
or five miles. In mountainous districts the currents 
of air and temperature have an influence on the 
flight of bees, and it has been observed that, although 
they will work in the plains within a radius of two 
miles, they rarely rise to pastures above four hundred 
yards. The rate of flight is more difficult to deter- 
mine, but we have ourselves driven at the rate of 
twelve miles an hour and seen bees keep up with this 
speed for some distance, and even exceed it. The 
speed is, however, in a great measure regulated by the 
load the bee has to carry, and in returning laden to 
the hive bees fly much more slowly than when they 
leave it in search of food. 
