BEE. 
required. We shall therefore be able to present 
'| nothing more than a sketch of the most striking 
generalities, obtained from the admirable works 
of Huber, Cuvier, &c., and to these authentic 
sources must refer the reader desirous of more 
ample information. 
Three sorts of individuals are found to form 
a community of honey-bees; the female, mo- 
ther, or, as she is commonly called, queen ; the 
males, or drones; and the working bees, im- 
properly termed neuters, as they are actually 
females, though, in a peculiar respect, imper- 
fect. A hive commonly consists of one mother 
or queen, from 6 to 800 males, and from 15 to 
20,000 working bees. The last mentioned are 
the smallest, have 12 joints to their antennz, 
and 6 abdominal rings: the first joint or square 
portion of the posterior tarsi is enlarged at the 
posterior angle of its base, and shaped like a 
pointed auricle, having its internal surface cov- 
ered with a fine, short, close, silky down. They 
are provided with stings. ‘The mandibles are 
spoon-shaped, and not dentated. There is, on the 
outside of the hind legs, a smooth hollow, edged 
with hairs, called the dasket: the silky brush of 
the first joint of the posterior tarsi has 7 or 8 
transverse striz. The mother, or queen, has the 
same characteristics, but is of larger size, espe- 
cially in the abdomen: she has a shorter sucker or 
trunk, and the mandibles grooved and velvet-like 
beneath the tip. The males, or drones, differ 
from both the preceding by having 13 joints to 
the antennz ; a rounded head, with larger eyes, 
- elongated and united at the summit; smaller and 
more velvety mandibles, and shorter anterior 
feet, the two first of which are arched. They 
have no auricular dilatation nor silky brush on 
the square part of the posterior tarsi, and are 
destitute of stings. The genitals consist of two 
horn-shaped bodies of a reddish-yellow colour, 
with a broad-ended penis.—When we examine 
the internal structure of this insect, we find at 
the superior base of the trunk or sucker, below 
the labrum, a considerable aperture, shut by a 
small, triangular piece which has been called 
_tongue, epipharynx, &c. This opening receives 
the food, which is thence conveyed by a delicate 
cesophagus, through the corselet, to the anterior 
stomach, which contains the honey; the second 
stomach receives the pollen of flowers, and has, 
on its internal surface, a number of transverse 
and annular wrinkles. The abdominal cavity of 
the queen and working bees also contains the 
little bag of poison communicating with the 
sting. In the queen there are, moreover, two 
large ovaries, consisting of a great number of 
small cavities, each containing 16 or 17 eggs, 
These ovaries open near the anus, previous to 
which they dilate into pouches, where the egg is 
delayed to receive a viscous coating from an ad- 
jacent gland. The inferior half-circles, except 
the first and last, on the abdomens of working 
bees, have each on their inner surface two cavi- 
393 
ties, where the wax is formed in layers, and 
comes out from between the abdominal rings. 
Below these cavities is a particular membrane, 
formed of a very small, hexagonally-meshed net- 
work, which is connected with the membrane 
lining the walls of the abdominal cavity. 
Besides the distinctions remarked in the female, 
male and working bees, Huber regards the working 
bees as of two sorts; one devoted to the collection 
of provisions, and all the materials necessary to 
the comb, as well as to its construction; these he 
calls cwzéres. The others are-more delicate, small 
and feeble, and employed exclusively within the 
hive, in feeding and taking care of the young.— 
The resemblance existing between the working 
and female bees first led to the idea that they 
were of the same sex, and the ingenious experi- 
ments and accurate observations of Huber en- 
abled him to establish this fact in a most satisfac- 
tory manner. Having deprived a hive of the 
mother or queen, he found that the working bees 
immediately began to prepare a larve of their 
own class to occupy this important station. This 
was effected by enlarging the cell to the dimen- 
sions of a maternal or royal chamber, and feeding 
the selected individual on food exclusively des- 
tined for the nourishment of the royal larves. 
If merely fed upon this food, without an accom- 
panying enlargement of the cell, the maternal 
faculties were but imperfectly acquired, as the 
female did not attain the proper size, and was 
incapable of laying any eggs but those which 
produced males.—The cells of the comb compose 
two opposite ranges of horizontal hexagons, with 
pyramidal bases: each layer of the comb is per- 
pendicular, and attached by the summit, and 
separated from the rest by a space sufficient for 
the bees to pass in and out. The comb is always 
built from above downward. The cells, with the 
exception of those for the female larve and nymph, | 
are nearly of equal size, some containing the 
progeny, and others the honey and pollen of | 
flowers. Some honey cells are left open, others 
are closed for future use by a flat or slightly | 
The maternal or regal | 
convex covering of wax. 
cells vary from 2 to 40 in number, are greatly 
superior in size, nearly cylindrical, and somewhat 
larger at the extremity. They have small cavities | 
on the outside, and commonly depend from the 
comb like stalactites, so that the larve has its 
head downwards.—The season of fecundation 
occurs about the beginning of summer, and the 
meeting between the females and males takes 
place high in the air, whence the female returns 
with the sexual parts of the male attached to the 
extremity of the abdomen. This one fecundation 
is thought to be sufficient to vivify the eggs | 
which the mother may lay in the course of two 
years. The laying begins immediately after- 
wards, and continues until autumn. Reaumur 
states that the female, in the spring, lays as many 
as 12,000 eggs in the lapse of 24days. Hach sort 
of egg is deposited in the appropriate cell, unless 
