•THE EEEo 
5 ** 
of the reft ; wherever Ihe goes, therefore, ft.e is encircled 
t>y a guard, that continually pays court to her *, 
It is not without caufe that this fedulous attention is 
paid to the mother bee j flie is the foul of all their oper- 
ations. If a hive is deprived of her, however numerous* 
it will undertake no labour ; and the individuals will 
hardly give themfelves the trouble of collecting their 
daily fubfiftence. A fwarm that was bufy from mornii.g 
to night conftruCting cells and collecting wax, immedi- 
ately upon this accident feems to forget that the Bowen 
contain their food ; they fcarcely ftir from the hive, con- 
ftruCt no new cells, nor even finilh fuch as were begun. 
The moment fhe is reftored, their wonted fpirit and ac- 
tivity is refumed by the whole fwarm : Not only do the 
working bees refume their labours when the queen is 
reftored, but they ply them with an affiduity proportioned 
to her fertility. Although they contribute nothing them- 
felves to the generation of the young bees, the Author 
of Nature feems to have given them the fame afteCtion, 
and to have interefted them in their wellare, as much as 
if they had been their real parents. 
The external parts of bees are happily accommodated 
by their ftrufture, to the delicate operations they are 
deftined to perform. Each of them is furnifhed with a 
trunk or probofeis f, commonly folded up, but capable 
of being extended at pleafure : It is with this inltrument 
that they colled their food ; not by pumping or fucking, 
but by licking it from the ne&aria of flowers ; veffels 
that have been but lately difeovered by the botanifts, but 
with 
* Reaumur, Tome V. Mem. v. 
f This fniall inftrument is faid to confift of no lefs than twenty differoa* 
farts, perceivable by the miciofcopc. Reaumur 
