Thé WH SUT OsRGY sof NS BR Go S. 
hive, an idea may beft be formed of the de- 
gree of mortality that prevails amongft them : 
at thofe times their dead carcaffes are found 
at the bottom of the hive by handfuls toge- 
ther. Now, if by adding to thofe that die in 
this manner, all fuch as fly off and never re- 
turn, or that perifh in the fields in cold and 
rainy weather, or are devoured by Swallows 
and Dragon-Flies, dafhed by the wind againft 
the leaves and branches of trees, or entangled 
in the webs of Spiders, we may eafily guefs 
that a far greater number of them perith with- 
in the year, than thofe which are to be found 
alive in the hive. We likewife obferve in the 
autumnal feafon, that the wings of Bees are 
often mangled, broken and wounded, and they 
appear fo alfo in the beginning of the {pring ; 
whereas at the time when they fwarm, their 
wings are found, entire,.and in good order : 
all this makes'it more probable, that Bees live 
_ but one winter, or from one feafon of fwarm- 
ing to another. They may fometimes, how- 
ever, be obferved to continue in the fame hive 
for years together, provided part of the wax 
is now and then taken away; but this happens 
in the fame manner that in great and populous 
towns the number of inhabitants is kept up 
by thofe who come by degrees into the 
world, and infenfibly fucceed fuch as ficknefs, 
accidents, or old age, carry off. Befides, the 
working Bees which have outlived the fwarm- 
ing feafon and the winter, have performed 
the task afligned them by nature, namely, 
that of keeping each other warm in the cold 
weather, and nurfing the rifing generation: 
which neceflary tasks being done, . it it found 
that all other infects hitherto obferved, and 
fome a little fooner, and others a little later, 
perifh. Thofe for example which imme- 
diately fhed all their fperm, difappear before 
the reft ; asis plain in the Ephemerus, whofe 
eges are arrived at their full perfection from 
the very birth of the parent, and fo provided 
for by nature, as to render the parent’s care 
of them altogether needlefs, whereas other 
infects muft live longer, either becaufe the 
maturation of their eggs requires fome time, 
or becaufe their eggs require a flow hatching. 
This is the cafe with the female of the Bees, 
and fome other infects ; hence we may very 
probably conclude, that the female of the 
Bees lives longer than the working kinds, as 
it is impoffible that fhe fhould lay all her eggs 
at one time. However, it is not yet fo certain 
as we might wifh how long the lives. I be- 
lieve it might be eafily known by following 
the advice of Clutius, and contriving to make 
her fo that fhe could be readily diftinguithed ;, 
and the. beft way to do this, would be, I 
imagine, to make a very little puncture in her 
wings, or elfe to cut off fome inconfiderable 
portion of them with a pair of {ciffors, or 
otherwife to ftain the edges of them with fome 
oil colour. Thus we might foon learn in a 
certain manner, what fpace of life nature has 
affiened to this little creature. lam of opl- 
229g 
nion that fhe either dies, or grows barren at 
the age of two years. But it is by no means 
fo eafy to try this or any other experiment L 
can think of, upon-other Bees, on account of | 
their numbers, and our not knowing the 
exact time of their birth. he working Bees 
come into the world at almoft every {eafon of 
the year; and although the young Bees appear 
in greater numbers at the {warming feafon 
than at any other, yet they are hatched fome 
eatlier than others by one, two, three or four 
months ; for fome of them do not creep out 
of their eggs, till a long time after the fwarm- 
ing time; and this I have likewife found to 
be the cafe with the males. Add to this, that 
the female is very afliduoufly employed in 
laying her eggs fo early as the month of 
March, which makes it neceffary that fome of 
them fhould be hatched fooner than others ; 
and confequently this renders any judgment 
we fhould form of the length of their lives 
altogether uncertain ; for how is it poffible, 
where there are fuch numbers, to diftinguith 
between the old and the young? Certainly no 
one can do this: nor is there any poffibility 
_of alledging any thing certain concerning the 
natural extent of life allowed the male Bees, 
though I believe it fcarce exceeds fix or eight 
weeks: but I cannot affirm that Iam fup- 
ported in this opinion by any fufficient ex- 
periments ; and I fancy that if any can be 
made to afcertain it, they will coft a great deal 
of time and trouble. Some perfons have aflured 
me that they have feen male Bees alive in 
“winter, when the female Bee had not been 
fo fruitful as fhe generally is. Be this as it 
will, I can only fay, that all thefe things de- 
ferve to be more attentively examined ; for 
as the male Bees every feafon fuffer a violent 
death, nothing as yet can be determined con- 
cerning the natural extent of their lives, In 
the mean time, as I have, faid I am not againtt 
the opinion of thofe who fuppofe it but fix or 
eight: weeks. There are fome obfervations 
which induce me to think it is thus, befides 
thofe general laws of nature, by which thefe 
little animals are doomed to die, as foon as 
they have executed the commiffion given them 
by her of propagating their fpecies; for this 
bufinefs being over, the male Bees become 
altogether ufelefs. This is plain in the Ephe- 
merus, and likewife in the Silkworm Butter 
fly, which generally dies the third day after 
laying its eges, unlefs the feafon happens to 
be cool, for then thefe infeéts will live longer. 
I believe this is owing to a plain caufe, that 
the vital juices of thofe little animals who eat 
nothing during their appearance in this form, 
do not exhale fo readily in cool as in hot. 
weather, and confequently the means of life 
longer remain. 
I have made a collection of about three: 
thoufand infects, fuch as Butterflies, common 
Flies, Beetles, Locufts, Caterpillars, Worms, 
Chryfallides, water infects, and others ; amon eft 
which I muft not forget to mention fix kinds 
Nona of 
