The Bees. 577 
the perfect insect changes, three or four hours after mid- 
day, into the fly form, and dies soon after. This fly has 
the singular characteristic of casting off its entire skin 
very soon after it has attained its perfect state ; and 
the empty coat may often be seen lying about after its 
occupant has deserted it. 
Order V. Hymenojptera. 
In this order the wings are neither so large nor so 
strongly veined as in the previous one. The mouth is 
furnished with mandibles, maxillae, and an upper and 
lower lip ; and the abdomen of the female is terminated 
either with an ovipositor or a sting. The metamor- 
phosis of these insects is complete. 
This order contains the Bees, of which there are hun- 
dreds of different species. The most interesting of 
these is the common Hive Bee, from whose industry we 
obtain wax, and by whose provident habits we are sup- 
plied with honey. The inhabitants of a hive are of 
three kinds : one Queen, a few hundred drones or males, 
and several thousand workers. The Queen, or Parent 
Bee, is the soul of the community ; to her all the rest 
are so attached, that they will follow her wherever she 
goes. She has the power of quelling any disturbance 
which may arise among her subjects by making a pecu- 
liar humming noise. She is so prolific as to lay fifteen 
or eighteen thousand eggs, which produce about eight 
hundred males or drones, four or five Queen Bees, and 
the rest Working Bees or Neuters. The combs of a hive 
consist of a number of cells, formed of wax,' a substance 
which is secreted by the Working Bees after gorging 
themselves with honey. These cells are for the habita- 
tion and breeding of the young Bees, and are also used 
as stores for honey, and bee- bread, or the pollen of 
flowers. The royal cells, in which are laid the eggs 
of future Queens, are the largest, and shaped like the 
cup of an acorn. All the other cells are of a beautiful 
hexagonal form, and of two kinds, one larger than the 
other : the larger for the young drones, the smaller for 
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