58 
TIIE tTVE AJN'D IIONET-BEE 
“ Deem life itself to vengeance well resign’d, 
Die on the wound, and leave their sting behind.” 
Hornets, wasps, and other stinging insects, are able to 
withdraw tlieir stings from the wound. I have never seen 
the exception in the case of the honey-bee accounted for ; 
but as the Creator intended it for the use* of man, did He 
not give it this peculiarity, that it might be more com- 
pletely subject to human control ? Without a sting, it 
could not have defended its tempting sweets against a 
host of greedy depredators : while, if it had been able to 
sting a number of times, its thorough domestication would 
have been well nigh impossible. 
The defence of the colony against enemies, the construc- 
tion of the cells, and storing of them with honey and bee- 
bread, the rearing of the young, and in short, the whole 
work of the hive, the laying of eggs excepted, is carried 
on by the industrious little workers. 
There may be gentlemen of leisure in the commonwealth 
of bees, but assuredly there are no such ladies, whether of, 
high or low degree. The queen herself has her full share 
of duties, the royal office being no sinecure, when the 
mother who fills it must daily superintend the proper 
deposition of thousands of eggs. 
The queen-bee will live four, and sometimes, though 
very rarely, five or more years. As the life of the drones 
is usually cut short by violence, it is difficult to ascertain 
its precise limit. Bevan estimates it not to exceed four 
months. The workers are supposed by him to live six or 
* Since the publication of the first edition of this treatise, I have had an opportu- 
nity during a visit to the Mexican frontier, of studying the habits of the honey-hornet, 
of that region. Its nest, in shape and material, resembles that of our common hor- 
net; and some of them contain many pounds of dollclous honey. This insect, 
which in those regions is so serviceable to man, like the honey-bee, is unable to 
withdraw its sting from the wound. It has also a queen, aud lives in a colony 
state during the whole year. 
