58 
THE t/’VE AND HONKT-BEE 
“ Deem life itself to vengeance well resign'd, 
Die on the wound, and leave their sting behind.” 
IIoriK'.ts, wasps, and otlier stinging insects, are able to 
■withdraw their stings from the wound. I have never seen 
tlie exception in the case of the honey-bee accounted for; 
but as the Creator intended it for the use* of man, did lie 
not give it tliis peculiarity, that it might be more com- 
l)letely 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 
Lave 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 of leisure in the common we.alth 
of bees, but assuredly there are no siu-h hiclles, whether of 
high or low degree. The queen herself has her full share 
of duties, the roy'al 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 estim.ates 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 hail an opportu¬ 
nity duringa 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 eommon hor¬ 
net; and some of them contain many pounds of delicious honey. This Insect, 
which III those regions Is so serviceable to iiiali, like the honey-beo, la unahle to 
withdraw its sting from the wound. It has also a queen, and lives in a colony 
state during the whole year. 
