APIS. 
faint. This last appears to arise more from 
smell than seeing. If some bees are let 
loose in a bee-hive, and do not know from 
which house they came, they will take their 
stand upon the outside of some hive, or 
hives, especially when the evening is coming 
on : whether this arises from the smell of 
the hives, or sound, I can hardly judge. 
“ Bees may be said to have a voice. They 
are certainly capable of forming several 
sounds. They give a sound when flymg, 
which they can vary according to circum- 
stances. One accustomed to bees can im- 
mediately tell when a bee makes an attack, 
by the sound. This is probably made by 
the wings. They may be seen standing at 
the door of their hive, with the belly rather 
raised, and moving their wings, making a 
noise. But they produce a noise indepen- 
dent of their wings ; for if a bee is smeared 
all over with honey, so as to make the wings 
stick together, it will be found to make a 
noise which is shrill and peevish. I have 
observed that they, or some of them, make 
a noise the evenings before they swarm, 
which is a kind of ring, or sound of a small 
trumpet : by comparing it with the notes of 
the piano-forte, it seemed to be the same 
with the lower A of the treble. 
“ I have observed that it is only the queen 
and the labourers that have stings; and this 
provision of a sting is perhaps as curious a 
circumstance as any attending the bee, and 
probably is one of the characters of the bee 
tribe. 
“ The apparatus itself is of a very curious 
construction, fitted for inflictinga wound, and 
at the same time conveying a poison into that 
wound. The apparatus consists of two pierc- 
ers, conducted in a groove or director, which 
appears to be itself the sting. All these parts 
are moved by muscles, which we may sup- 
pose are very strong in them, much stronger 
than in other animals; and these muscles 
give motion in almost ail directions, but 
more particularly outwards. It is wonder- 
ful how deep they will pierce solid bodies 
with the sting. I have examined the length 
they have pierced the palm of the hand, 
which is covered with a thick cuticle : it has 
often been about the Jjth of an inch. To per- 
form this by mere force, two things are ne- 
cessary, power of muscles,- and strength of 
the sting, neither of which they seem to pos- 
sess in sufficient degree. I own I do not 
understand this operation. I am apt to 
conceive there is something in it distinct 
from simple force applied to one end of a 
body; for if this was simply the case, the 
sting of the bee could not be made to pierce 
by any power applied to its base, as the 
least pressure bends it in any direction : it 
is possible the serrated edges may assist, by 
cutting their way in like a saw. 
« The apparatus for the poison consists 
of two small ducts, which are the glands 
that secrete the poison : these two lie in 
the abdomen, among the air-cells, &c. : they 
both unite into one, which soon enters into 
or forms an oblong bag, like a bladder of 
urine ; at the opposite end of which passes 
out a duct, which runs towards the angle 
where the two stings meet, and entering 
between the two stings, is continued be- 
tween them in a groove, which forms a canal 
by, the union of the two stings to this point. 
There is another duct on the right of that 
described above, which is not so circum- 
scribed, and contains a thicker matter, which, 
as far as I have been able to judge, .enters 
along with the other; but it is the first that 
contains the poison, which is a thin, clear 
fluid. From the stings having serrated 
edges, it is seldom the bees can disengage 
them ; and they immediately upon stinging 
endeavour to make their escape, but are 
generally prevented, as it were caught in 
their own trap; and the force they use 
commonly drags out the whole of the appa- 
ratus for stinging, and aiso part of the bowels ; 
so that the bee most frequently falls a sacri- 
fice immediately upon having effected its 
purpose. Upon a superficial view, one con- 
ceives that the first intention of the bee 
having a sting is evident ; one sees it lias 
property to defend, and that therefore it is 
fitted for defence ; but why it should natu- 
rally fall a sacrifice in its own defence does 
not so readily appear : besides, all bees have 
stings, although all bees have not property 
to defend, and therefore are not under the 
same necessity of being so provided. Pro- 
bably its having a sting to use was sufficient 
for nature to defend the bee, without using 
it liberally; and the loss of a bee or two, 
when they did sting, was of no consequence ; 
for it is seldom that more die.” 
We now proceed to notice some of the 
species. The apis centuncularis, or car- 
penter-bee, is remarkable for its faculty of 
forming long, tubular, and slightly flexuose 
cavities in wood, even of the most solid 
kind, as oak, &c. Sometimes it performs 
this operation in living trees, and sometimes 
in dry wood, posts, &c. When the tube is 
properly finished, the animal proceeds to 
line each of the above-mentioned spaces 
with rose-leaves rolled over each other, the 
