THE HONEY-BEE:
ITS NATURE, HOMES, AND PRODUCTS.

Comb, Showing Different Kinds of Cells.

THE HONEY-BEE

ITS NATURE, HOMES, AND PRODUCTS.

BY

W. H. HARRIS, B.A., B.Sc.

LONDON:
THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY,
56, Paternoster Row; 65, St. Paul's Churchyard,
and 164, Piccadilly.

LONDON:
R. Clay, Sons, and Taylor, Printers,
BREAD STREET HILL.

CONTENTS.

PAGES

INTRODUCTION.

[1-3]

CHAPTER I.

HISTORIC SKETCH.

Holy Scriptures—Vedas—Egyptian Monuments—The Koran—Etymological Considerations—Literature of Subject—Aristotle—Philiscus—Pliny—Vergil—Columella—Other Classical Authors—Shakespeare—Modern Writers.

[4-9]

CHAPTER II.

NATURAL HISTORY.

Orders of Insects—Stages of Development—Egg, Larva, Pupa, Imago or Perfect Insect—Three Classes of Bees: Queen, Drones, Workers.

[10-16]

CHAPTER III.

THE QUEEN-BEE.

Early Errors as to Sex—The "Mother Bee"—Distinguishing Characteristics—Functions—Attentions paid her—Effects of Loss; how Repaired by Bees—Enmity to Rivals—Length of Life—Egg-laying.

[17-28]

CHAPTER IV.

THE DRONES.

Distinguishing Characteristics—Time of Hatching—Numbers—Purposes served by them—Destruction by Workers or other means—Unusual Survival.

[29-34]

CHAPTER V.

THE WORKERS.

Distinguishing Characteristics—Supposed Differences of Function among them—Sir John Lubbock's Experiments—Fertile Workers—Length of Life—"Black Bees"—Duties of Workers.

[35-43]

CHAPTER VI.

HONEY.

Origin—How Collected and Stored—Constitution—Poisonous Honey—Best varieties of Honey—Distances traversed by Bees in search of Honey—Uses

[44-48]

CHAPTER VII.

MEAD.

Nature—Method of Manufacture—Metheglin and Mead—Estimation in former times—Queen Elizabeth's Recipe—Scandinavian liking for Mead.

[49-52]

CHAPTER VIII.

WAX.

Origin—Production—Chemical Constitution—Comb-Building—Detailed Description—Amount of Wax in Hives—Commercial Value—Properties.

[53-71]

CHAPTER IX.

POLLEN, OR BEE-BREAD.

Origin—Collection—Conveyance—Deposition—Quantity Stored—Uses—Artificial Substitutes.

[72-75]

CHAPTER X.

PROPOLIS.

Derivation of Word—Sources—Nature—Purposes—Quantity Collected—Adaptation of Materials to Wants of Bees.

[76-79]

CHAPTER XI.

PHYSIOLOGY OF THE BEE.

Nervous System—The Head—Eyes—Compound and Simple—Uses and Powers—Sir John Lubbock's Experiments—The Antennæ—Structure and Uses—Mouth—Detailed Description.

[80-100]

CHAPTER XII.

HEARING, TASTE, AND SMELLING.

Hearing—Sir John Lubbock's Experiments—Sounds uttered by Queen—Effects produced by them—Smell-Organs—Purposes—Liking for, and Antipathy to, certain Effluvia—Discovery by Bees of Nectar and Honey

[101-108]

CHAPTER XIII.

THE THORAX.

Detailed Description—Legs—Wings—How used in Flight—Hooking together—Employed for Ventilating.

[109-114]

CHAPTER XIV.

THE ABDOMEN.

Respiratory Organs—Circulation of Nutritive Fluid—Digestion and Nutrition—Secretion of Wax—Reproductive Organs—Detailed description of Sting—Effects of Poison—Queen's Sting.

[115-128]

CHAPTER XV.

THE DISEASES OF BEES.

Dysentery: How Produced—Indications—Treatment. Foul-Brood: two kinds—Nature—Propagation. Mr. Cheshire's Discoveries and Treatment—Fatal Effects of Disease—Detection—Vertigo—Analogy of Human and Bee Diseases.

[129-138]

CHAPTER XVI.

THE ENEMIES OF BEES.

Birds—Mice—Moths—Braula cœca—Hornets and Wasps—Spiders—Toads—"Robber Bees"—Prevention of robbing.

[139-147]

CHAPTER XVII.

HIVES.

Natural Abodes of Wild Bees—Taking Honey from Roof of House—Straw Skeps—Cottager's Hive—Supering—Nutt's Collateral Hive—Village Hive—Woodbury Hive—Abbott's Hives—Sectional Supering—Stewarton Hive—Carr-Stewarton Hive—Observatory Hives—Bee-houses.

[148-170]

CHAPTER XVIII.

NATURAL SWARMING.

General Facts connected with Swarming—Reconnoitring—Settling—Hiving—Curious Incidents—Transferring Swarms to Bar-Frame Hives—Division of Swarms—Placing Swarm in Permanent Position-Number of Bees in Swarming—"Casts" and Later Swarms—Prevention of Swarming—Feeding of Swarms.

[171-186]

CHAPTER XIX.

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING.

Advantages—Driving: Close and Open—Transfer to Bar-Frame Hive—Conditions of Successful Driving—Various Methods of Artificial Swarming with Bar-Frame Hives.

[187-195]

CHAPTER XX.

QUEEN REARING.

Protection of Queen-cells—Nucleus Hives—Various Methods of Queen Rearing—American Plan—Introduction of Stranger Queens—Difficulties.

[196-200]

CHAPTER XXI.

FEEDING.

Troughs—Dangers of this Method—Bottle Feeders—Cheshire's Feeding Stage—Neighbour's Can Feeder—The "Round Feeder"—Autumn Feeding—Spring Feeding—Uses of Precautions—Summer Feeding of Swarms—Flour-cake—Barley-sugar or Sugar-cake—Mr. Hunter's Recipe.

[201-213]

CHAPTER XXII.

WINTERING BEES.

False and True Hybernation—Temperature of Hive in Winter—Necessity for Quiet during Winter—Structure and Winter-packing of Bar-Frame Hives—Prevention of Draught and Condensation of Vapour—Supply of Water.

[214-220]

CHAPTER XXIII.

BEE-STINGS.

Gentleness necessary in Manipulation—Causes of Irritation of Bees—Examination of Stocks—Treatment of Stings—Remedies—Effects of Stings—Inoculation—Bee Dress—Smoke and its Uses.

[221-228]

CHAPTER XXIV.

PASSIONS AND EMOTIONS OF BEES.

Affection for Queen and Brood—Recognition of Friends and Strangers—Fear—Anger—Covetousness—Benevolence—Remorse—Hope—Instinctive or Sense-action.

[229-233]

CHAPTER XXV.

INTELLECT AND INSTINCT IN BEES.

Intellect in Man and Animals as Related to Immortality—Memory—Judgment—Instances of Attention—Prevision—Provision—Instinct—Manifestations—Bearing on Evolution.

[234-243]

CHAPTER XXVI.

BEES IN RELATION TO FLOWERS.

Connection of Plant-life and Insect-life—Reproduction of Flowers—Intervention of Insects—Hermaphrodite Flowers—Cross-fertilisation—Cucumbers, Melons, &c.—Poplars—Firs—Epilobium or Willow Herb—Cincerarias—Darwin's Experiments—Nasturtium—Foxglove—Figwort—Salvia—Heath—Strawberry, Raspberry, and Blackberry—Apple and Pear—Altruism of Bees.

[244-258]

CHAPTER XXVII.

SUPERSTITIONS CONNECTED WITH BEES.

Superstitions likely to gather around Bees—Unlucky to Buy Bees—Ill Omen for a Swarm to Settle on a Dry Stick—"Have the Bees been told?"—Turning Hives on the Death of the Owner—Probable Origin of these Errors.

[259-267]

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE PROFITS OF BEE-KEEPING.

Methods of Honey-taking—Straw Caps—Bell-Glasses—Sections—Frames—Extractors—Run Honey—Average Returns of Hives.

[268-272]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE HONEY-BEE.

ERRATA.

[p. 22], ten lines from bottom, for "not full grown" read "not more than two or three days old."

[p. 30], last line but one from the bottom, for "neuters" read "strange workers."

[p. 55], line 10 from bottom, for "hind feet" read "pincers on the hind legs."

[p. 110], bottom line, for "four anterior tarsi" read "in the hind legs."

[p. 111], line 3, for "leg" read "hind leg."

" line 6, for "This pocket" read "Above this, on the outside of the tibia, is a pocket, lined, &c."

[p. 136], line 12, for "foul-breeding" read "foul-broody."

ADDENDA.

[p. 126], three lines from bottom, add

"The most remarkable function of the sting-apparatus has, in modern times, been discovered to be the insertion of a minute drop of the poison in each honey-cell when filled. This acts as an anti-septic, and prevents fermentation in the sweet liquid."

[p. 136], after first paragraph, add

"It is now known that this treatment is by no means always successful when the bacilli have reached the "resting" or "spore" stage."

[Note: All above corrections and additions have been applied!]

THE HONEY-BEE:
ITS NATURE, HOMES, AND PRODUCTS.

INTRODUCTION.

In these days of intense business-pressure, it is a good thing for men to cultivate hobbies. We say this, notwithstanding the fact that men with hobbies are likely to become bores, from thinking and talking too incessantly of their pet occupations, or are apt to run into extravagant expenditure of time and money, which could be better utilised. Now, in recommending apiculture, or bee-keeping, as a recreation from more serious pursuits, we feel that we incur little risk of increasing the number of bores in society, or of inducing an undue outlay of hours or pounds on the part of those who follow our suggestions. For, on the one hand, the facts likely to be spoken of by enthusiastic apiarians to casual hearers could not fail to interest; while the practical results of bee-keeping will certainly, to say the least, repay in hard cash all reasonable outlay on the part of any one who is possessed of ordinary good sense, and who learns to manage his hives according to modern methods.

In the following pages we hope to make good both these statements. We are sure that comparatively few people know what marvellous creatures bees are; what constant pleasure may be found in watching their work; what opportunities for skilful use of brain and hand are afforded by an apiary; what a wide field of study and information is displayed by these domesticated insects: and though we shall not hold out dazzling prospects of a large return of money from the pursuit we are commending, we shall show by facts that, in ordinary seasons, the yield of honey should amply cover the cost of the bees, their homes, and their requirements.

Nor would we be understood to limit our recommendation of bee-keeping to men alone. It is an occupation eminently suited to women. It has none of the manifest drawbacks of poultry or rabbit-rearing. The needs of the hives are usually not so pressing as to involve a disregard of weather or important engagements. Many operations in apiculture call for female dexterity of hand and finger. It is true that a little courage, in which few ladies are deficient, is necessary in making a beginning of skilful bee-management. But, duly protected by veil and gloves, even the timid need have no fear of being stung or seriously incommoded.

Intelligent boys and girls of fifteen years and upwards will find a hive or two of bees quite within their power of management, and the clever and industrious insects will afford them a surprising amount of interest, and, it may be, some not unimportant moral lessons.

In the hope of enlarging popular knowledge of these wonderful insects, and so of increasing apiculture, we have written this book. It does not profess to go exhaustively into the practical part of bee-keeping; but enough information is given for ordinary apiarian purposes.

The excellent publications of Langstroth, Cowan, Cheshire, Neighbour, Hunter, Taylor and Wood will supply all details intentionally omitted from the present treatise. To several of the above writers, and to some others mentioned at the end of [Chapter I]., the author desires to express his obligations for numerous facts.

Many of the most important illustrations in Chapters [XI.] and [XIV.], and the whole of those in [Chapter XXVI.] have been taken, by permission, from the diagrams published by the British Bee-keepers' Association. These diagrams are reductions from drawings made by Mr. Frank Cheshire, who is so well known as having devoted many years to the study of apiculture, especially on its scientific side. To the same gentleman is also due the discovery of many of the physiological marvels given in Chapters [XI.] and [XIV.], and of the chief facts embodied in the chapter on "Bees in relation to Flowers."

CHAPTER I.
HISTORIC SKETCH.

Holy Scriptures—Vedas—Egyptian Monuments—The Koran—Etymological Considerations—Literature of Subject—Aristotle—Philiscus—Pliny—Virgil—Columella—Other Classical Authors—Shakespeare—Modern Writers.

Far back in historic time there are records that man had learnt the value of the bee. The book of Job—probably the oldest of our sacred Scriptures—contains a reference to honey. The Pentateuch, the Chronicles of the Israelites, the Psalms, the works of Solomon, and nearly all the later books of the Old Testament, speak of these wonderful insects or their produce. They are referred to in the Vedas of Hindostan, the monuments of Egypt, the poems of Homer and Euripides, and the narrative of Xenophon's expedition into Persia.

Throughout the ancient civilised world the virtues of honey were celebrated, and the habits of the bee served to point a moral for human conduct. It is remarkable that in the Koran we find Mahomet representing the Almighty as addressing this insect alone of all the creatures He had made: "The Lord spake by inspiration unto the bee, saying, 'Provide thee houses in the mountains and in the trees, and of those materials wherewith men build hives for thee; then eat of every kind of fruit, and walk in the beaten paths of thy Lord.' There proceedeth from their bellies a liquor of various colours, wherein is a medicine for men. Verily, herein is a sign unto people who consider."

The ancient Egyptians must have known much of the domestic economy of the hive, for they took the figure of the insect to symbolise a people governed by a sovereign, and this so far back as the twelfth dynasty, or 2080-1920 B.C.

It has been argued on etymological grounds that in a much remoter period still, the human race had domesticated the bee; for in Sanskrit ma means honey, madhupa honey drinker, and madhukara honey maker. Madhu is evidently the origin of our word mead. Again, mih or mat, in Chinese, signifies honey; and it can hardly be a mere coincidence which has brought about so close a resemblance between the Turanian and the Indo-European terms above mentioned. We have rather the indication of the survival of a name in two branches of a still older language than either of the Asiatic tongues, from which so large a proportion of modern speech has flowed, thus carrying us back to an enormously remote period in the history of man. The Latin mel, and French miel, both meaning honey, are, of course, the offspring of the Greek; and all the above words, according to some authorities, point to the circumstance of the constructive power of the insect having impressed the minds of men emphatically.

In the Teutonic languages biene, bee, &c., are evidently connected with by—a termination met with in many English towns, and signifying "a dwelling"; and so we see that it was not so much the sweet liquid procured and stored by the insects, as the skill and beauty with which they fashioned their combs, which struck their human observers; and though we cannot with certainty affirm that men domesticated them in these remote times, it seems probable that races who, before the historic period, had learnt to make use of most of the animals now under immediate subjection to the wants and purposes of man, saw the convenience and wisdom of turning to account the nectar-collecting habits of the bee. Jacob, seventeen centuries before Christ, told his sons to take "a little honey" among their presents to the lord of Egypt. Again, the land of Canaan was pictured by God to Moses as "a land flowing with milk and honey." We should, therefore, probably be justified in inferring that, as the one liquid was derived from herds under the people's control, so, too, the other came from domesticated insects. It may be that no hives were used at so early a period as the sixteenth century before Christ, and the reference in Ps. lxxxi. 16—"with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee"—would seem to indicate that, at a much later date, the bees were left at large in their native haunts. Still, the numerous references of the earlier Scriptures make it plain that honey was an article of common use, and was obtainable at the discretion of those in Palestine who wished for it.

With regard to the ancient literature of our subject, the first treatise on the bee now extant is that of Aristotle in his History of Animals, written about 330 B.C. Observations of a scientific kind had, however, been made with regard to these insects by a philosopher of Asia Minor, who is said to have devoted a long lifetime to watching their habits. Unfortunately, the records of his studies in this department of entomology have not survived to our day. We have also to regret that later ages lost the benefit of the labours of Philiscus of Thasos, who is said to have abandoned the abodes of men for a forest life, that he might learn all that was possible of the nature and work of these creatures, which seemed to him so marvellous in their structure and their doings. It is Pliny the Elder—the well-known Roman man of science, who lived near the beginning of the Christian era—to whom we are indebted for notices of the workers in natural history just mentioned, while he himself devotes some considerable space in his own book to a description of the bee.

Nearly a century earlier, Vergil, the poet of rural life, as well as of loftier themes, wrote a charming book—his Fourth Georgic—on the subject of these our winged friends. We may smile at his wondrous plan for securing a prodigious swarm, and modern methods may claim far more reasonableness and success than those he advocates in apiculture; but we may rejoice to see how bewitching was the pursuit of bee-keeping nearly two millenniums ago, and how true it has been through all the centuries, as the French writer Gelieu says, "Beaucoup de gens aiment les abeilles; je n'ai vu personne qui les aima médiocrement: on se passionne pour elles."

The orator Cicero makes frequent reference to them in his charming treatise on Old Age, and other classical writers allude not unfrequently to these insects.

Columella, who lived in the first century of the Christian era, gave, in his work De re rusticâ, many directions for apiarians; and though, of course, abounding, like Vergil's work, in errors on certain points, his book shows a decided advance beyond the knowledge of preceding writers.

We might speak of Theophrastus, Celsus, and Varro as contributing to the literature of bee-lore, but it would be beyond the scope of our design to detail what they have written on the subject. Coming, however, down to much more recent times, and to our own country, we cannot resist the temptation to quote the well-known lines of our most marvellous poet Shakespeare, whose comprehensive intellect almost rivalled that of Solomon, for "he spake of trees, from the cedar-tree that is in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts and of fowl and of creeping things and of fishes." The passage to which we now especially refer is to be found in his play of Henry F., act i. sc. 2:—

"Therefore doth heaven divide

The state of man in divers functions,

Setting endeavour in continual motion;

To which is fixed, as an aim or butt,

Obedience: for so work the honey-bees;

Creatures, that, by a rule in nature, teach

The act of order to a peopled kingdom.

They have a king and officers of sorts:

Where some, like magistrates, correct at home:

Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad;

Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings

Make boot upon the summer's velvet buds;

Which pillage, they, with merry march, bring home

To the tent-royal of their emperor:

Who, busied in his majesty, surveys

The singing masons building roofs of gold;

The civil citizens kneading up the honey;

The poor mechanic-porters crowding in

Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate;

The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum,

Delivering o'er to executors pale

The lazy yawning drone."

Of more recent writers we may mention the French Réaumur; the Swiss, Bonnet; and Huber, of Geneva, who, with his assistant Burnens, gave the world so many wondrous details of bee-life and habits. In our own country, Dr. John Hunter, Dr. John Evans, who has been called the "poet-laureate of bees," Shuckard, Sir John Lubbock, Cowan, John Hunter, Taylor, Cheshire, Alfred Neighbour, Pettigrew, Abbott, and many writers in the British Bee Journal, have largely added to our apiarian knowledge. Not only in America, but universally, the Rev. L. L. Langstroth, of Ohio, has a well-earned reputation for his researches and his practical instructions with regard to apiculture. In Germany, Dr. Dzierzon of Carlsmarkt, in Silesia, and Baron von Berlepsch, of Coburg, stand at the very head of authorities on all that relates to bees and bee-keeping.

CHAPTER II.
NATURAL HISTORY.

Orders of Insects—Stages of Development—Egg, Larva, Pupa, Imago or Perfect Insect—Three Classes of Bees: Queen, Drones, Workers.

It will be observed from the title of this book that it deals with the honey-bee. The necessity of this restriction will become immediately evident when we mention the fact that in Great Britain there are no less than twenty-seven genera and 177 species of native bees, none of which have been successfully domesticated except Apis mellifica, or the ordinary hive-bee.

The term "insect" has unfortunately been loosely employed in popular parlance to include such diverse beings as coral-polyps and house-flies. As the name itself indicates, it is properly applicable only to such animals as are more or less distinctly divided into segments. All true insects, in fact, are plainly divisible in their perfect state into three portions, the head, thorax, and abdomen. The most important classes in this portion of the animal kingdom are distinguished by the characteristics of their wings, and are—

I. Coleoptera, or those possessing crustaceous sheathing wing-covers, including all the beetles.

II. Orthroptera, having the wings when at rest in straight longitudinal folds, comprising such families as the earwigs, cockroaches, grasshoppers, and locusts.

III. Neuroptera, nerve-winged, characterised by four naked, strongly reticulated organs of flight, as seen in dragon-flies, may-flies, and white ants.

IV. Hymenoptera, membrane-winged, resembling the Neuroptera in some respects, but with fewer reticulations, and their organs of flight when in use are hooked together along the margins, so as to expose a continuous surface. Another distinguishing character is the appendage at the tail, in the form of either a sting or an ovipositor. The chief representative families are the bees, wasps, gad-flies, ants, and ichneumons.

V. Lepidoptera, having the wings covered with a scale-like powder, set like the tiles of a house. The butterflies and moths all belong to this order.

VI. Diptera, or two-winged insects, embracing the gnats, "daddy-long-legs," blow-flies, and house-flies.

Less important are the Homoptera, which have the wings of the same consistence throughout, as the aphides or blight-insects.

The Heteroptera, having the fore-wings coriaceous (or leathery) at the base and membranous towards the extremity. These comprise the bug tribe; while fleas belong to the Aptera, or wingless insects.

Insects pass through four stages during their lifetime: the egg, the larva, the pupa, and the imago conditions. The honey-bee exists in each of these states.

The egg.—All the eggs of the community are laid by the queen. The cells in which they are deposited vary in size and in shape, according to whether queens, drones, or workers are to be developed in them. In length the eggs are about one-twelfth of an inch; in shape, oblong, but a little broader at the upper than at the lower end, and slightly curved; in colour they are white, with a bluish tinge. Their external coat is slightly glutinous when they are first laid, and thus they adhere to the bottom of the cell in which they are deposited.

Fig. 1.—Egg's and Larva of Bees.

The larva.—Under the genial influence of the heat of the hive, ranging from 66° to 70° Fahr., the formation of the larva from the egg-contents immediately begins; and, in the course of three days, a tiny worm or grub has been developed, and makes its way out of its delicate shell. It now lies curled round, still at the base of its dwelling, and, fed by the nurse-bees on a jelly-like mixture of pollen and honey, it rapidly grows. Its food supply is made strictly correspondent to its wants, and by the time the larva is ready for its next change not a drop of the jelly is unconsumed. The fleshy white grub is in shape at first slightly, and afterwards strongly curved, and a little pointed at each end. The future segments of the insect now become gradually visible, fifteen in number, and ten of them are furnished each with a minute aperture on opposite sides of the body, and connected with air-tubes, or spiracles, by which respiration is carried on. The segments have also a series of minute tubercles, whose office seems to be to aid in the motions of the grub, which motions doubtless contribute to the assimilation of food, and so to growth. The head of the larva is small, is smooth above, and is furnished with two little projecting horns, from which will be developed the future antennæ.

Fig. 2.—Larvæ.
a. Worker larvæ. b. Queen larva. c. Queen cell sealed.

The jaws are small, and articulate below a narrow lip. They are constantly in motion, probably to reduce the pollen-grains existing in the so-called bee-bread, which, with honey, as already mentioned, constitute their food. Beneath the jaws, and centrally between them, is a fleshy protuberance, which has a perforation at its extremity, through which the larva emits a sticky fluid, similar to that from which spider's-web or silk is made. With this the grub spins for itself a cocoon, in which a further and important transformation takes place in the structure of the insect.

Fig. 3.—Sealed Cells.

The time occupied in making this silken dress is, for drone- and worker-larvæ, thirty-six hours. Princesses, who trouble themselves to make only half-cocoons, finish theirs in twenty-four hours. So soon as the grubs are ready for this process, the nurse-bees form over the entrance to each cell a lid made of wax and a sticky substance called propolis; leaving, however, minute perforations for the admission of air. These coverings are darker than the caps of the honey-cells. They are also somewhat convex over worker-larvæ, and over drone-grubs they stand out almost hemispherically. Hence it is easy to distinguish the look of brood cells from that of those containing food-stores. Moreover, the former are situated usually in or near the centre of each comb, while the latter, where the two co-exist, are found near the top. It is very important to learn the difference in appearance between the two, as several points of successful manipulation depend upon the knowledge.

Fig. 4.—A. Larva full grown, viewed sideways. B. Larva preparing for pupa state.

The nymph or pupa.—In this condition the insect is at first semi-transparent, and white, with a yellowish tinge. Hour by hour the various organs of the perfect bee proceed in their development, and become more and more discernible through the thin pellicle enshrouding them. On the head, the eyes and antennæ assume their ultimate size and marvellous structure. The legs and wings are clearly seen folded lengthwise along the thorax and abdomen. The chitinous covering of the body attains increasing firmness, and the colour of the exterior deepens to a greyish brown.

At length, in periods varying in the three classes of inmates of the hive, maturity is reached. In the case of queens, sixteen days suffice for complete metamorphosis from the egg to the full-grown insect. Drones require twenty-four days, and workers from nineteen to twenty-two days, according to the warmth of the weather, to go through all their changes.

Fig. 5.—Worker Larva and Pupa in Comb.

When ready to emerge from the cell, the young bee nibbles round the lid of its abode, and bursting its cocoon along the back, it crawls forth in its imago or perfect condition. Forthwith the busy nurses clean it from any remains of its silken covering; brush its legs and antennæ; pull its wings and fuss about it, as if to urge it to action and to arouse it to a due sense of its newly acquired powers. Speedily awakened to its responsibilities, the young bee assumes, as its earliest duties, the tending of the brood-cells, the feeding of the larvæ, and the various offices so recently performed for itself by its slightly older sisters. Then, as strength increases, the wings are tried in flight; the locality of its home is reconnoitred, and in two or three days after its emergence into its complete condition it issues forth on journeys, nearer or more remote, in search of stores for the perpetually recurring wants of the succession of children continually being reared in the hive.

Each complete community of bees consists of three classes; first, the queen, who is the parent of all the offspring; second, the drones, or males; and third, the workers, which are really undeveloped females.

CHAPTER III.
THE QUEEN-BEE

Early Errors as to Sex—The "Mother Bee"—Distinguishing Characteristics—Functions—Attentions paid her—Effects of Loss; how Repaired by Bees—Enmity to Rivals—Length of Life—Egg-laying.

One of the earliest facts ascertained in the study of bees was that there existed in each colony one individual differing considerably from all the rest in appearance and in functions. Early observers, it is true, mistook even the sex of the one so distinguished. Vergil says:

"Et circa regem atque ipsa ad prætoria densæ

Miscentur."

And, again,

"Rege incolumi mens omnibus una est."

Shakespeare, in the passage quoted in a previous chapter, talks of "a king," and other writers were equally ignorant of the true state of the case. The headship of the hive is, in fact, held by a solitary female, to whom the name of "queen" has been given, both on account of the respect she receives, and the controlling influence she appears to exercise over the other inmates of her domain. The Germans, on perfectly safe grounds, call her "the mother-bee"; and it is, doubtless, owing to the all-important circumstance of the continued existence of the race depending upon her, that she is the object of such intense affection, attention, and devotion.

This is corroborated by the circumstance that it is only after she has been fertilised, and begins to lay, that she is much honoured. As princess merely, not the slightest respect is paid to her. She is not even fed by the workers, but has to help herself, and in doing so must scramble over the busy crowd in her way, not one of whom will trouble to move out of her path.

Two or three prominent characteristics serve readily to distinguish the queen from the rest of the bees. In the first place, her body is much longer and more tapering towards its lower extremity. Her wings are shorter in comparison with her length. The upper surface of her body is of a darker and more glossy hue than that of her subjects. Her movements are slower and less anxious in appearance than those of the workers, except at swarming time, when excitement quickens her steps, and gives' her an air of purposeless solicitude; though, in reality, her anxiety is caused by the desire to slay a royal and rival daughter, whose co-existence in the hive she cannot tolerate.

A closer examination reveals several other points of difference. In our English species, of which we are now especially speaking, her colour is yellowish underneath; her head is rounder, her legs are longer, her tongue is more slender and not so extensile as that of the other bees; and her sting is curved instead of being straight, like the formidable weapon of the workers. It is asserted by some writers that she has a peculiar odour readily distinguishable, and so powerfully attractive to her people, that they will alight on the finger of any one who has been handling their queen.

Fig. 6.—The Queen of the Hive.

Several characteristics of a negative kind may also be noted. Her proboscis is not fitted for extracting the nectar of flowers, and she can only lap food, or take it from the tongues of her attendants. She, moreover has no expansion of the gullet for a honey-bag, since she never requires to collect and carry home the sweet liquid. She possesses no cysts for the elaboration of wax, as she takes no part in contributing to the materials of her dwelling. The last pair of legs are convex on the outside, containing no pocket for carrying pollen or propolis; and the other legs are without the brushes of the workers, which enable them to clear their bodies of the powdery discharge of the anthers of flowers, for she never visits plants. All her wants in the way of nourishment are supplied by her subjects.

Fig. 7.—Queen Surrounded by Attendants.
The Queen, or Mother-Bee, as in nature, surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting, and exhibited in a glass hive to the royal visitors at the British Bee-Keepers' Association Show at Kilburn, 1879, by Abbott Bros., Southall.

She mates once in her life, when she is a few days old, with a single drone, and on the wing. That is the only occasion of her leaving the hive, except when she leads forth a swarm. Her grand function is to lay eggs, and every part of her structure and every power she has is more or less related to this all-important duty. She is, as we have implied, freed from every other office. The hatching, the tending, the rearing, the instruction of her progeny, are entirely taken out of her hands, and it is doubtful whether she has any affection for her children. She is constantly attended by a retinue of ten or twelve "maids of honour," who all keep their heads turned towards her, clear the way for her, prevent all crowding round her, and supply her with the most nutritious food, previously half digested by themselves. They caress her with their antennæ, and seem to find a real joy in mere proximity to their monarch. Should she, by more rapid movements than usual, outstrip her retiring attendants, the bees with whom she thus unexpectedly comes in contact appear excited and alarmed, and move hastily from her path. So long as she remains sound and well in the hive, all the varied works go on peacefully and incessantly. Should she die or be removed, immediate consternation is manifested. Her subjects rush about in excitement and distress. They buzz around the neighbourhood of the hive, but all active and productive work ceases. They know that unless the disastrous loss can be repaired, their community must perish for lack of new progeny, and when despair seizes them, they seem to act upon the motto, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die."

But the skilled bee-keeper comes to the rescue when he has ascertained the death or loss of a queen, and introduces another monarch to the distressed community. Care and caution, however, have to be exercised in this operation; for, until convinced that there is no hope of the restoration of their rightful sovereign, the workers will not tolerate a substitute for her. Even when their hopes are extinguished, it is much safer to cage the new queen, for thirty-six or forty-eight hours, on a comb, so that a gradual acquaintance with one another may be formed before free intercourse is allowed. Otherwise, it will frequently happen that the introduced mother-bee will come to grief by stings or by suffocation. Cases, indeed, have occurred in which it has been found impossible to induce a hive to receive a stranger queen, and it has become necessary to amalgamate such a community with another already possessed of a monarch.

But, under certain circumstances, the bees will, in a marvellous way, provide themselves with a sovereign. If at the time of discovering their loss there are worker-eggs in the hive, and these are only two or three days old, a cell containing one such egg is selected, and enlarged by breaking down the surrounding partitions. The shape and direction of the cell are also altered, being made pyriform, or like a pear, and with its open end downwards. The royal cradle, in fact, is made to look like a small acorn-cup inverted. In this abode is deposited a certain amount of so-called "royal jelly," a more pungent and stimulating food than that supplied to other larvæ, and consisting of a mixture of honey and partially digested pollen. Under the influence of this nourishment, the grub, instead of becoming a worker-bee, as it would have done in the usual course of events, undergoes all those important modifications which distinguish the queen from her ordinary offspring; and, moreover, the necessary transformations from the larval to the perfect condition of the insect are so expedited as to take only sixteen, instead of twenty-one, days. We have said that, if newly-laid eggs exist, these are preferred by the workers for their purpose of queen manufacture; but they will, if shut up to the necessity, thus transform worker-larvæ, if not more than two or three days old. Usually, when prompted in this way to provide themselves with a hive-mother, they begin, not one only, but several, apparently to secure themselves against all danger of failure. But the first which comes to maturity assumes the sovereignty, and, unless the condition of the stock requires the speedy emission of a swarm, she will be allowed to gratify her instinctive enmity to rivals, and will destroy them as they are ready to emerge from their cells.

This hatred of equals is an extraordinary fact, when we consider that the queen knowingly lays eggs under conditions in which they will, in the ordinary course of events, become princesses. Then another circumstance of peculiar significance, and very marvellous, is that, notwithstanding the absolute authority possessed by the queen under other conditions, and in spite of the usual subjection and subservience of the workers, they will not allow their monarch complete liberty in the destruction of her royal progeny. If the crowded state of their dwelling makes it evident that the emission of a colony is necessary, the workers-in-waiting forcibly restrain their sovereign from indulging in her strong desire to slay her fully-developed daughters. She resents the interference, but no assumption of her dignity and authority will avail, and her absolutism is in this direction distinctly limited. Incensed at length beyond endurance, she quits the hive at the head of a swarm of her faithful subjects, and establishes a community where again she will have sole sway. If, on the other hand, circumstances do not necessitate a division of the population, the old queen is allowed to destroy the young ones as they issue from the pupa state.

It is said that the only other condition in which the workers rebel against their monarch is when she is growing worn out with age, and seems likely to fail in power of egg-laying. Then she is believed, in some instances, to be supplanted; but it is not known with certainty whether natural death may not account for her removal, or whether she is slain by her subjects, or by a young queen preserved by their intervention.

Should the loss of the queen take place when there is no brood-comb in the hive, from the season of the year, or from other circumstances, such as the cessation of egg-laying, the bees often manifest a series of almost frantic efforts to repair their loss. Sometimes they will try to develop a female from drone eggs. They have been known even to take a lump of pollen and surround it with a queen cell, in the absurd hope of getting a monarch so. It sometimes happens that one of the workers develops the power of laying eggs, all of which turn to drones—a marvellous fact in parthenogenesis—and the workers treat some of these to a royal abode and royal jelly, in the futile hope of thus raising a sovereign. In fact, as has been wittily but truly said, "when bees have lost their queen they lose their head." This close connection of queen and people is reciprocal, for the sovereign who is forcibly separated from her subjects refuses food, pines away, and speedily dies.

It is only in very rare instances (such as those we have mentioned when speaking of the introduction of a stranger-queen) that the workers attack and kill royalty. Queens, on the other hand, are never known to use their stings against their subjects. They reserve them for combats with their equals, thus realising the salutary arrangement, which might have such practically important political consequences if adopted in human affairs, "Let those who make the quarrels be the only ones to fight."

The queen, though developed more rapidly than the drones and the workers, enjoys a much longer life than her subjects. In some instances this period has been known to extend to five or even six years; but her fecundity is said to diminish after her second year, or, if it continues, she will in her old age lay a majority of drone eggs, to the serious weakening of the community. The skilled apiarian, therefore, takes care that every hive shall have a queen of an age when her fertility is greatest.

The process of egg-laying begins from two to four days after the flight for mating, depending somewhat on the preparation of cells for that purpose. The queen, on finding comb adapted to her needs, thrusts her head into a cell, apparently to ascertain if it is empty, and of the right depth and size for one of the two different kinds of eggs—those for workers, and those to become drones. Satisfied on these points, she withdraws her head, and, curving herself downwards, inserts her abdomen, and giving the lower part of her body a half-turn towards the thorax, she expels an egg from her oviduct, and then retires in search of other cells in which to make similar deposits. She rarely, and only by mistake, lays more than one egg in a cell. If she falls into the error, the worker-bees immediately remove all but one.

The examination of each cell by the queen to ascertain its fitness for the two kinds of eggs is an essential point; for, in the first place, the nature of drone-eggs is radically different from that of those which will produce workers; and the size of the cells in which the former are hatched is considerably greater than that in which the latter will be developed, nineteen ends of the larger covering a square inch of surface, while twenty-seven of the smaller will occupy the same space.

It seems an indisputable fact that the queen has the power of laying which of the two kinds of eggs she pleases. The essential difference between the two seems to be, that those which will become drones are not fertilised by spermatozoa just previous to leaving the oviduct, while the worker-eggs are thus specially vivified, and the operation appears to be under volitional control.

A further remarkable circumstance is that the rate of egg-laying is also a matter of determination, and not of necessity, on the part of the queen; for when a transfer has been made from a weak to a strong hive, the number of eggs deposited has been known to vary, within two days, from none to two thousand in twenty-four hours. In the one case the mother-bee knew her colony was not strong enough to keep up the requisite warmth for hatching and developing her progeny; in the other, she proceeded vigorously with her functions, the further progress of the young being secured by the abundance of the population sufficing to keep up the proper temperature, and to render all needed attention to the larvæ in their further development.

The ordinary rate of laying, under favourable conditions, varies from 600 to 800 eggs a day; but, under pressure of specially suitable conditions, from i,000 to 1,200 are not unfrequently deposited. Langstroth and Von Berlepsch have seen six laid in a minute; and the latter observer, on supplying a queen with some new empty comb, found after twenty-four hours more than 3,000 eggs had been laid. If this queen on the average got rid of five eggs per minute, the total number just mentioned would have been deposited in ten hours, so that she would have had fourteen hours for rest. The queen kept up her rate for twenty days, in which time she had filled 57,000 cells, and, what is very remarkable, her fecundity is said to have continued for five years, during which period she must have laid nearly a million and a-half of eggs. Dzierzon says, "Most queens, in spacious hives, and in a favourable season, lay 60,000 in a month, and a specially fertile queen, in the four years which she on an average lives, lays over a million eggs." These numbers will give some idea of the immense expenditure of life that is continually going on.

To keep up these very great productive energies, it is evident that large quantities of food must be consumed by the mother-bee, and, as we should expect, the amount taken varies in the ratio of the vigour of egg-laying.

It sometimes happens that, in the very height of her duties, sufficient cells are not forthcoming as places of deposit for eggs; and, in that case, the queen leaves some on the combs, or at the bottom of the hive. Strange to say, the worker-bees greedily devour such waifs and strays. In this respect we observe a great difference between ants and bees. Among the latter we do not find that passionate love and care for the eggs and larvæ which so strongly mark the former. Other circumstances of a similar kind, to be noted later on, show, on the part of bees, an intense regard for stores rather than progeny, notwithstanding their affection and devotion to the mother-bee, whose functions they thus acknowledge as all-important to the race.

The egg-laying of the queen goes on more or less for nine or ten months of the year, under favouring conditions; but the season of greatest activity is during April, May, and June. Various circumstances after that time cause a diminution of the number of eggs, till in November, December, and January, as a rule, the queen ceases her motherly functions.

CHAPTER IV.
THE DRONES.

Distinguishing Characteristics—Time of Hatching—Numbers—Purposes served by them—Destruction by Workers or other means—Unusual Survival.

Fig. 8.—A Drone.

The drones are the male population of the bee-community. In general form they are more cylindrical than the queens or workers. They are shorter than the former, but larger and more robust than the latter. Their colour is of a deeper brown, and they are much more hairy, especially at the lower extremity. Their wings are strong, and greater in proportion to the length of their bodies than those of the females or neuters, reaching, indeed, to the full extent of their abdomen. The posterior expansion of the lower pair gives a broad backward sweep, and enables the heavy body of the drone to fly with great rapidity, and to rise very freely in the air. Another peculiarity of structure is the vertical enlargement of the compound eyes. By the meeting of these eyes over the brow, the drone is able more readily to see the virgin queen when she issues for her one bridal excursion. Drones have a strong odour, which becomes very perceptible when several are confined together in a box. Their proboscis is not fit for the collection of honey; moreover they have no receptacle for carrying the liquid, and, in fact, show no inclination even to feed themselves from flowers. They take their nourishment from what is stored in the cells. As Evans accurately and concisely says of them, they

"wheel around

On heavier wing, and hum a deeper sound.

No sharpened sting they boast; yet, buzzing loud,

Before the hive, in threatening circles, crowd

The unwieldy drones. Their short proboscis sips

No luscious nectar from the wild thyme's lips;

From the lime's leaf no amber drops they steal,

Nor bear their grooveless thighs the foodful meal;

On others' toils, in pampered leisure, thrive

The lazy fathers of the industrious hive."

This inability to feed themselves from Nature's sources makes them almost unique among the fully developed creatures of the animal world. Their consumption of the stores of the hive is not resented by the workers till the swarming season is over, and what is further remarkable is, that they are permitted to enter without molestation communities other than that in which they were bred, though strange workers would be strictly prohibited from such trespassing.

The first drones of the season appear generally about the middle of April, but they are most numerously hatched in May and June. The actual number in a hive varies from 500 to 2,000. Only one or two of these will become the mates of as many young queens, and the question is often asked, What can be the use of such an immense superfluity of males? The best answer that can be given is, that it is extremely important, considering the dangers to which a virgin queen is exposed in her flight from the hive, that there should be no difficulty for her in meeting with a spouse. When drones are scarce, and a very early swarm has issued from a hive, it happens sometimes that the young queen remaining at the head of the stock has to make several flights before finding a mate. As she is liable to be snapped up by birds, or driven away by gusts of wind, or lost through not knowing her own hive, it is manifestly far safer for the supply of drones to be large enough to insure a meeting on the first occasion of her flying.

It has been suggested by some bee-keepers that the eggs are fertilised in the cells by the drones, after the manner of the ova of fishes; but this theory is utterly untenable in view of the fact that much brood is found in the hives at seasons when, as a rule, no drones exist, i.e. in the early spring and late autumn.

From a reference to drones in the Troades of Euripides (lines 191-195), it would almost seem that the ancient Greeks, five centuries before Christ, had an idea that the male bees were the door-keepers of the hives, and the guardians of the young. We know, however, that this is not the case.

Again, certain Polish writers have asserted that the drones are the water-carriers of the community; but this notion is as fanciful and groundless as the preceding idea.

A more sensible supposition is that by their numbers the warmth of the hive necessary for the hatching and development of the larvæ is promoted, and that, in consequence, more of the workers are freed for honey-getting and pollen-gathering. One objection to this theory has been made on the score that, when there is most need for the heat of the hive to be maintained, viz., in the winter, all the drones are dead; but the reply to this is, that at that season there are no stores to be collected, and therefore no need for the workers to be liberated from indoor duties.

It is certain that bee-keepers who have taken the trouble to catch or to destroy hundreds of drones from their hives, have not found themselves rewarded by a greater amount of produce or by stronger stocks through saving what the murdered drones would have eaten. At the same time, where a honey-harvest is desired, there is little doubt it is well for some control to be exercised over the number of drones hatched in the hive. This can be governed, to a considerable extent, by furnishing the bees with "foundation comb," the rudimentary cells of which are of the size adapted only for workers. Still, there is no doubt of the practical importance of having a good supply of males in the hives during the swarming time. When they are no longer of use, the workers expel them. By many it has been asserted that the drones are stung to death; but any one who takes the trouble to watch what goes on in July and August, will see that, for the most part, the neuters seize their brethren by the wing, and drag them from the entrance of the home. If much resistance is made, they will persevere in trying to keep them away; but, at last, when patience is exhausted, they will bite the wings underneath, and so render them almost powerless. Harassed in these ways, and prevented from taking food from the cells, the drones die of starvation in large numbers. A few may be stung to death. Many will creep to unfrequented parts of the comb, in hope of escaping notice; and if a side box, or unoccupied back of a wooden hive, be opened for them, they will congregate there. Mr. Henry Taylor mentions in his Bee-Keepers Manual, that, on one occasion, he found as many as 2,200 which had thus clustered in an empty side box. He took them away, and the other bees went to work with more vigour after having been thus relieved of their useless population, as if they were glad to be rid of those who were consumers, but non-producers.

In many instances, especially when food-supplies are running short, and are not easily replaceable, the workers will drag out the just emerging drones from their cells, together with pupæ and larvæ, and will cast them forth to die.

If no necessity for swarming occurs, through there being plenty of room in the hive for the extension of the colony, or for any other reason, either no royal cells will be made, or the young princesses will be destroyed as they approach maturity. In this case, an unusually early destruction of the males will occur, as the workers instinctively know there is little use in permitting them to continue alive. Still, some will be allowed to exist, for the sake of other communities, as it is now maintained, with much show of reason, that a young queen selects for her consort a drone not belonging to her own hive. The importance of this crossing of breed, for keeping up the vigour of the race, is one of the best ascertained facts in natural history. While, then, we cannot suppose the bees to be aware of the benefits to be derived from this "selection before marriage," we see in it one more circumstance indicating the marvellous capabilities of so-called "instinct"—we would prefer very much to say one more proof of the all-pervading superintendence of a Divine Mind, which works throughout what we call Nature. We might, indeed, expect that He, without whose supervision not a sparrow alights on the ground in search of its food, would show to our intelligent inquiries equally plain evidence of His universal working, and of His infinitely wise determination of all that has to do with the welfare and the permanence of the various classes of the animal and vegetable worlds.

CHAPTER V.
THE WORKERS.

Distinguishing Characteristics—Supposed Differences of Function among them—Sir John Lubbock's Experiments—Fertile Workers—Length of Life—"Black Bees"—Duties of Workers.

Fig. 9.—A Worker Bee.
a. Natural size. b. Magnified.

The workers are by far the most numerous, and, in some sense, the most important party in the commonwealth of bees. They are smaller in size than either queens or drones. Microscopic examination, and the fact of their occasionally developing the power of laying eggs, prove that they are really undeveloped females. It is hardly correct, therefore, to call them, as has been so often done, neuters. The chief structural differences to be noted in them, as compared with the other two classes in the hive, are, the possession of a long proboscis for gathering honey, of receptacles for carrying pollen, of a very formidable straight and barbed sting, and brushes on the legs for clearing different parts of the body from the farina of flowers or from dust.

The worker-eggs are deposited by the queen in the smaller-sized cells of the combs, and are the first laid in a new colony, or in the spring of the year.

Certain observers have thought they noticed differences in the size of the full-grown workers, and supposed that these variations were connected with diversity of occupations and duties. But as all have their several organs and their whole structure precisely alike, and as little direct evidence of special functions has been adduced, it is tolerably certain that any peculiarities in regard to size must be otherwise explained. Nor is it difficult to discover how these may have been brought about. For, since each pupa leaves behind it some portion of the silken cocoon it had spun, it is clear that after a succession of young bees from the same cells, these must become sensibly contracted in extent, so that the later progeny will not have had as much space in which to grow as their elder-born sisters had, and hence are, at least when they emerge, smaller in size.

Huber, without reference to the above-mentioned fact, supposed that separate duties were undertaken by special bees, at least so far as the gathering of stores and the care of the young were concerned. Subsequent observations, however, tend to show that the latter office is undertaken by the most recently born young, till they themselves have become strong enough to fly abroad in search of honey and pollen. It is said they also see to the making of wax, the building of comb, and the cleansing of the hive, during the first two or three weeks of their life. Some corroboration of this idea is given by the circumstance that, if there be not sufficient room for the extension of a very strong population in their abode, and the conditions for swarming are not satisfactory, the older bees will remain idle in clusters, often outside the hive, leaving to the younger ones the execution of the internal work.

Sir John Lubbock has recorded a series of observations which seem to indicate that certain individuals are stationed near the entrances as sentinels. In his most interesting work on Ants, Bees, and Wasps, he says:—

"On October 5th I called out the bees by placing some eau-de-Cologne in the entrance, and marked the first three bees that came out. At 5 P.M. I called them out again. About twenty came, including the three marked ones. I marked three more.

"October 6. Called them out again. Out of the first twelve, five were marked ones. I marked three more.

"October 7. Called them out at 7.30 A.M. as before. Out of the first nine seven were marked ones. At 5.30 P.M. called them out again. Out of six, five were marked ones.

"Octobers. Called them out at 7.15. Six came out, all marked ones.

"October 9. Called them out at 6.40. Out of the first ten, eight were marked ones. Called them out at 11.30 A.M. Out of six, three were marked. I marked other three. Called them out at 1.30 P.M. Out of ten, six were marked. Called them out at 4.30. Out often, seven were marked.

"October 10. Called them out at 6.5 A.M. Out of six, five were marked. Shortly afterwards I did the same again, when out of eleven, seven were marked ones. 5.30 P.M. called them out again. Out of seven, five were marked.

"October 11. 6.30 A.M. called them out again. Out of nine, seven were marked. 5 P.M. called them out again. Out of seven, five were marked. After this they took hardly any notice of the scents.

"Thus in these nine experiments, out of the ninety-seven bees which came out first, no less than seventy-one were marked ones."

Many interesting questions connected with the workers remain for future investigation: such, for instance, as whether the same bee returns to the same part of the hive after each foraging expedition; whether the same bees go out in search of stores day after day, or sometimes take holidays or rest from out-door fatigues, by applying themselves to some of the internal labours of the hive; whether those who become more or less exhausted from long-continued flights die, for the most part, on their journeys, or come back home to end their lives.

One point not known to general readers is, that a bee on each separate going out for stores confines herself to one particular kind of flower for that expedition. That is to say, a worker who begins on violets, will not visit any other flowers than violets before returning to the hive. If lime-blossoms are chosen, they will be adhered to. If a bee searching white-clover heads be watched, she will be seen to go only to similar sources of supply. This fact may be verified by any one who will take the trouble to notice in field or garden the customs of the hive-bee. It does not seem to be the habit of wild bees thus to confine themselves to particular flowers for each journey they make. The importance of this circumstance in the case of our domesticated species, and its influence on the vegetable world, will be noted in a later chapter, when we discuss the relation of bees to flowers.

We have before alluded to the very remarkable phenomenon occasionally occurring to the great annoyance of the bee-keeper, namely, the development in a worker of the power of laying eggs, which eggs will produce nothing but drones, so that the population of the hive dwindles, and becomes extinct. Various suggestions have been made as to the reason of this faculty appearing. A very plausible idea is that some of the "royal jelly" is occasionally, and possibly by mistake, given to a larva in the neighbourhood of a queen-cell, and this stimulating food produces a partial development of laying power. A second possibility is that sometimes a worker-larva in too forward a condition is transferred to a queen-cell, and owing to the difference of treatment not having been begun early enough, an imperfect and nondescript kind of bee results. Some corroboration of this may perhaps be found in a curious fact, which has been several times noted, and published in the British Bee-Journal, viz., the finding of workers hatched in queen-cells. It would be difficult to imagine such an abnormal event, unless unusual circumstances had occurred to the young larva.

The birth of a fertile worker in a hive is a great misfortune; for, not merely will the population diminish, and at length altogether fail, from the production of drone-brood only, but, as it is impossible to distinguish the offending worker, it is difficult to get rid of her. It has been recommended, on the discovery that she exists, to amalgamate the stock with another having a queen. This may answer, but there is a danger that when the battle comes to be fought between the actual sovereign and the fertile worker, who will try to maintain her prerogative, the latter, as the more active, and as possessed of a more formidable sting, may prove victorious. A safer plan, therefore, is to turn out the whole stock from their hive, comb by comb, if the bar-frame system is used, and allow them to return to the old place where the cleared combs may be put to receive them. The fertile worker, never having left the colony, will not know her way back, and so will be happily got rid of, and will probably perish. Her place must, of course, be supplied by an introduced queen, or the stock must be united with another.

The age to which the workers live varies according to the amount of labour they undergo. During the winter and the early spring, when little or no work is done, there is small drain on their vital force, and they may live for six or seven months. In the height of summer, when long days and abundant supplies invite them to many hours of continuous toil, the industrious insects are believed to exhaust themselves very rapidly, and to perish, as if prematurely old, in about five or six weeks. It is quite evident that the mortality during the middle of the year must be very great, seeing that egg-laying and hatching go on at the rate of several hundreds a day, and during weeks and months in succession: and yet it frequently happens, where room sufficient for the growing stores is provided, no swarm will be thrown off, from which we infer that a period is reached when the birth-rate and death-rate pretty closely approach each other.

The older workers are distinguishable from the younger by their deeper and more glossy colour. The grey bloom of youth has been worn off, and frequently their wings, notched or broken in places, betray the veterans in the battle of life, who, amidst rains, hail, and wind, have suffered more or less severely.

Some observers have called attention to certain individuals in the community, which have been spoken of as "black bees,"[1] and which have been supposed to possess special functions. Von Berlepsch ascertained from his countryman Leuckart that no anatomical differences existed between these and ordinary workers; and, from subsequent experiments, came to the conclusion that the difference in colour was due to the accidental absence or the loss of the hairs or down with which bees are ordinarily covered. This loss may have occurred through getting smeared with honey, or from stifling, or fright, or creeping constantly through apertures too small to admit their bodies readily. Dzierzon, another great authority, corroborates the above explanation, and further adds, "as a rule, the glossy black bees are robbers, which have been pursuing their trade for some time."

[1] This term is also used for all English bees, in distinction from the Ligurian, Cyprian, and other varieties with yellow bands.

A similar difference in size and colour has been often noticed in the case of drones; and the explanation of their occurrence seems to be that such smaller individuals have been hatched in the cells intermediate between the normal drone and worker varieties, a tier or two of such intermediate cells being frequently made, to shade off the difference of size between the two kinds.