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THE HONEY-BEE.

* \Vhat well appointed commonwealths ! where each
Adds to the stock of happiness for all ;
Wisdom's own forums ! where professors teach
Eloquent lessons in their vaulted hall !
Galleries of art ! and schools of industry!
Stores of rich fragrance! Orchestras of song !
"What marvellous seats of hidden alchymy !
How oft when wandering far and erring long,
Man might learn truth and virtue from the BEE!"— Eowring.

THE

HONEY-BEE.

THE

HONEY-BEE;

ITS

NATURAL HISTORY, PHYSIOLOGY
AND MANAGEMENT,

BY

EDWARD BEVAN, M.D.

" A* bee amongst the flowers in spring, is one of the
cheerfullest objects that can be looked upon. Its life
appears to be all enjoyment : so busy and so pleased."

PALEY.

LONDON:
BALDWIN, CRADOCK AND JOY.

1827.

^

PRINTED BY 1UCHARD TAYLOR,
SHOE-LANE, LONDON.

TO

THE REV. RICHARD WALOND,

RECTOR OF WESTON UNDER PENYARD AND

TREASURER OF THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH

OF HEREFORD.

DEAR SIR,

J. o whom can I with so much
propriety dedicate the following sheets as to
you, who, in the elegant retirement of private
life, have occupied so many of your leisure
hours in studying the ceconomy and manage-
ment of Bees, and to whom, by the aid and
encouragement you have afforded me, is mainly
b2

vili DEDICATION.

to be attributed the commencement^ progress,
and completion of the work ?

I know of no one; and have therefore to re-
quest that you will allow me to offer you this
public testimony of my gratitude and respect ;
and believe me to be

Your faithful and obliged friend,

EDWARD SEVAN.

Woodland Cottage,
April 5th, 1827.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE work which is now submitted to the judge-
ment of the public, in addition to other faults with
which it will no doubt be justly chargeable, may
be thought by many to be defective in arrange-
ment; and if the author had aimed to produce a
purely scientific work, he would consider such
charge as being well founded : but in making a
humble attempt to afford a popular view of the
present state of apiarian knowledge, historical,
physiological and practical, he conceived that he
should most effectually attain his object by min-
gling the different departments together, particu-
larly where the two former would serve to illus-
trate or explain the rationale of the latter. More-
over, his first intention was not to offer much more
to the public than is contained in Part I. of the
work ; but the materials grew upon his hands,
and consequently after that part was modelled, he
was induced by the very great interest which was

X ADVERTISEMENT.

excited in his mind by the prosecution of his in-
quiries, to exceed the limits which bounded his
original plan : — the result will be found in Part II.
The subject would have admitted of still further
extension ; but to have increased the volume be-
yond its present size would have been to defeat
one of the objects of the author, which was so
to compress his matter as to place his book
within the reach of as many as possible of those
to whom he flatters himself it may prove practi-
cally useful. Should the public, however, require
a second edition, and sufficing reasons urge hirr
to place this series of bee-knowledge under dis-
tinct heads, he will endeavour to re-model it, as
well as otherwise to improve it, by such altera-
tions as ingenuous criticism may suggest.

INTRODUCTION.

ALTHOUGH the great addition which has of
late been made to our knowledge of the honey-
bee, may seem to render a reference to an-
cient writers comparatively unimportant ; yet
a few prefatory observations, upon the rise
and progress of apiarian science, may not be
out of season.

The natural history and management of
bees would probably occupy the attention of
man at an early period. Surrounded by
a boundless variety of living creatures, he
would naturally be led to notice their habits
and ceconomy ; and no part of the animal
world, or at any rate no part of the world of
insects, would be more likely to engage his
consideration than the honey-bee. Honey
would, in all probability, constitute one of
his earliest luxuries ; and as he advanced in
civilization, he would, as a matter of course,

XII INTRODUCTION.

avail himself of the industry of its collectors,
by bringing them as much as possible within
his reach ; and by this means he would take
an important step towards an acquaintance
with entomology. But the progress made by
our earliest progenitors, in this or any other
science, is involved in the obscurity and un-
certainty necessarily appertaining to the in-
fancy of society.

The first indications of attention to natural
history are contained in the Old Testament.
The interest which it excited in the mind of
SOLOMON, evinces how highly it was esteemed
in his time. The records of its first pro-
gression are however entirely lost, and no
regular history of this science exists prior to
the days of ARISTOTLE, who under the au-
spices and through the munificence of his
pupil Alexander the Great, was enabled to
prosecute with the greatest advantage, for
the time in which he lived, his experiments
and inquiries into every department of na-
tural history. Alexander felt so strong a
desire to promote this object, that he placed
at the disposal of Aristotle a very large sum
of money, and in his Asiatic expedition

INTRODUCTION. Xlll

employed above a thousand persons in col-
lecting and transmitting to him specimens
from every part of the animal kingdom.
ARISTOTLE is therefore to be regarded as
having laid the first foundation of our know-
ledge of that kingdom. He must likewise
have derived great advantages from the dis-
coveries and observations of preceding wri-
ters, to whose works he would probably have
easy access. No individual naturalist could,
without such assistance, have produced so
valuable and extensive a work on natural sci-
ence as that which Aristotle has bequeathed
to posterity. And though the opinions of
himself and his contemporaries have been
transmitted to us in an imperfect manner,
and abound in errors, still he and his editor
THEOPHRASTUS may be regarded as the only
philosophical naturalists of antiquity, whose
labours and discoverie spresent us with any
portion of satisfactory knowledge.

The observations of Aristotle on the subject
of the honey-bee were afterwards " embel-
lished and invested with a species of divinity,
by the matchless pen of VIRGIL," in his
fourth Georgic; and it excites feelings of
b5

XIV INTRODUCTION.

regret, that poetry which for its beauty and
elegance is so universally admired, should be
the vehicle of opinions that are founded in
error.

ARISTOMACHUS of Soli in Cilicia had his
contemplations for nearly sixty years almost
solely occupied by bees ; and PHILISCUS the
Thracian spent a great portion of his time in
the woods, that he might investigate their
manners and habits without interruption;
whence he acquired the name of Agrius.
However small their contribution of know-
ledge may appear to this enlightened age,
these ancient worthies must have aided the
early progress of their favourite science, and
are at all events evidences of the zeal with
which it was prosecuted in their day.

About the commencement of the Christian
aera, COLUMELLA, who was a very accurate
observer and exhibited considerable genius
as a naturalist, made some curious and use-
ful remarks upon bees in his Treatise De Re
Rusticd : but Columella, like Virgil, appears
to have acquiesced in and copied the errors
of his predecessors.

After him the elder PLINY gave a sanction

INTRODUCTION. XV

to the opinions which he found prevalent,
and added to them others of his own. But
Pliny, though a laborious compiler, occupied
himself with too great a variety of pursuits
to attain excellence in any. As a naturalist,
however, he is happy in some of his descrip-
tions. To him we are indebted for the trans-
mission to us of all that was actually known,
or supposed to be known, of natural history
in his day. I say — supposed to be known, for
many of the opinions and conjectures which
he has put forth, have been shown by modern
investigators to be ill-founded.

The notions of the ancients respecting
natural philosophy rested on no rational
foundation ; ideas of charms and of planetary
influence directed their most important pur-
suits, and led to the formation of very absurd
theories. When the writer last named re-
commends that the dust in which a mule has
rolled should be sprinkled on persons who
are violently in love, as a sovereign remedy
for amatory ardour, and gravely tells us that
snakes are sometimes produced from the
human medulla, — with much nonsensical stuff
of the like kind ; we may safely pronounce

XVI INTRODUCTION.

that he or his contemporaries or both were
very credulous, and that the science of ex-
perimental philosophy was scarcely cultivated
among them.

After the compilation of Pliny's vast Com-
pendium, nearly fourteen hundred years rolled
away without anything being done for ento-
mology or for natural history in general.
THE ARABIANS, who alone preserved a glim-
mer of science during those dark ages that
succeeded the fall of the Roman empire,
cultivated natural history only as a branch of
medicine, and from their writings little can
be gleaned in furtherance of our present
object.

On the revival of learning in the fifteenth
century, and after the discovery of the art of
printing, various editions were published of
the works on natural history, written by the fa-
thers of that science. SIR EDWARD WOTTON,
CONRADE GESNER,and others, produced con-
jointly a work on insects, the manuscripts of
which came into the possession of DR. THOMAS
PENRY, an eminent physician and botanist
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. After de-
voting fifteen years to the improvement of the

INTRODUCTION. XVU

work, the Doctor died, and the unfinished
manuscripts were purchased at a considerable
price by MOUFFET, a contemporary English
physician of singular learning, who with
great labour and at great expense arranged,
enlarged, and completed the work. When
nearly ready for the press, he also died; and
the papers, after lying buried in dust and
obscurity for several years, at last fell into the
hands of SIR THEODORE MAYERNE (Baron
(FAubone\ a court physician in the time of
Charles the First, who gave them to the world
in 1634?. The arrangement of this work is
defective ; but for the period in which it was
written, it is a very complete and respectable
Treatise on Entomology. It was highly re-
commended by Haller; and as a storehouse
of ancient entomological lore it has not yet
lost its utility. Its pages are embellished
with nearly 500 wood-cuts. An English
translation of it was published in 1658.

According to Fabius Columma, PRINCE
FREDERIC CESI, president of the Roman
Academy of Sciences, wrote a treatise upon
bees ; but the work has not been preserved,
and we are unacquainted with its merits.

XV111 INTRODUCTION.

These authors were succeeded by Goedart,
Swammerdam, Maraldi, Ray, Willughby
and Lister, who by their indefatigable ex-
ertions, towards the close of the 17th century
threw very considerable light upon every
branch of natural knowledge. GOEDART
spent forty years of his life in attending to
the proceedings of insects, "daily conversing
with insects," as he expresses it, and published
in 1662 a work on their natural history; but
the plates with which it is embellished form
the best part of it. SWAMMERDAM published
his celebrated work, "A General History of
Insects," in 4to, in 1669: a more enlarged
edition in two volumes folio, containing the
history of bees, was afterwards published
in 1737, under the auspices of Boerhaave,
from the manuscript of Swammerdam. Those
readers who have patience to wade through
these tedious volumes, will find it rewarded
by the attainment of much curious information.
MARALDI published in the Memoirs of the
Royal Academy of Sciences for 1712, his
account of the manners, genius, and labours
of the bee. He is said to have been the in-
ventor of glass hives, and to that invention

INTRODUCTION. XIX

may be attributed the success of his inquiries.
Swammerdam founded his system upon what
has been called the metamorphotic basis ; and
RAY, in conjunction with his friend WIL-
LUGHBY, whom he calls the profoundest of
naturalists and the most amiable and vir-
tuous of men, erected his superstructure on
the same basis. In the Historia Insectorum
of Ray, evidently the joint production of him-
self and WILLUGHBY, especial attention is
paid to the Hymenoptera : it contains vari-
ous interesting observations on their manners
and characters; and the descriptions, in which
he was assisted by the use of very powerful
microscopes, are concise and well drawn.
DR. MARTIN LISTER, in an appendix to
Ray's work, and in various other writings
also, contributed materially to elucidate the
science of entomology. MADAME MERIAN
likewise deserves well, for her industrious
pursuit of this subject, particularly for her
beautiful illustration of the metamorphoses of
insects in Surinam.

The French natural historian REAUMUR
stands prominent among the students of en-
tomology, for the unsurpassed enthusiasm and

XX INTRODUCTION.

accuracy with which he has investigated some
of its most intricate parts. To him the genus
Apis is under greater obligations perhaps
than to any entomologist either of ancient or
modern times. See his immortal work,
" Memoires pour servir a PHistoire des In-
sectes," in 6 vols. 4 to. 1732 — 1744.

About this period also flourished the great,
the illustrious LINNAEUS, whose labours dif-
fused light over every department of natural
science, and have justly caused him to be re-
garded as one of its brightest ornaments. He
has generally been considered as the founder
of the artificial system of arrangement; but a
very near approach to it was made by that
brilliant constellation of naturalists whom I
have enumerated as having flourished at the
close of the 17th century, and who may pro-
bably be regarded as having paved the way,
and prepared materials, for the formation of
his more perfect system,

Afterwards appeared the works of the ce-
lebrated BONNET of Geneva, the admiring
correspondent of Reaumur, and the patron
and friend of Huber. This great physiolo-
gist became addicted to the study of entomo-

INTRODUCTION. XXI

logy before he was seventeen years of age,
from reading Spectacle de la Nature ; and his
decisive experiments upon Aphides do him the
highest credit. His works are universally
admired for their candour and ingenuity, as
well as for their manifest tendency to pro-
mote the happiness of man, by exciting in him
the love of knowledge and virtue.

We now come to the physiological disco-
veries of SCHIRACH, HUNTER and HUBER,
men who have wonderfully advanced the sci-
ence of entomology, by a series of experi-
ments most ably conducted, by the most
patient investigation, and the most accurate
and enlightened observation, and placed it
upon the solid foundation of rational induc-
tion.

Several other writers also, both in syste-
matic works and in periodical publications,
have contributed to throw much light upon
the oeconomy and habits of the bee. Of the
latter description in our own country may be
enumerated ARTHUR DOBBS, Esq. ; THOMAS
ANDREW KNIGHT, Esq.; Sir C. S.MACKENZIE,
and the REV. W. DUNBAR.

Hitherto I have referred to the writers on

XX11 INTRODUCTION.

natural history in general, or to the natural
historians of bees in particular : many writers,
however, have paid great attention to the do-
mestic management of these insects. Their
culture is indeed an object highly deserving
the attention of the agriculturist as well as
of the natural philosopher. In the hands
of a judicious and moderately attentive api-
arian, they may become a profitable branch
of rural ceconomy : even the most humble
cottager may be made to participate in the
benefit of an improved mode of managing
them : and as there is so much to admire in
their general ceconomy and peculiar habits,
the man of leisure may secure to himself a
source of pleasing and rational amusement
in the possession of an Apiary ; for the pur-
suit of apiarian science, in common with the
study of other branches of natural history,
leads to a salutary exercise of the mental fa-
culties, induces a habit of observation and
reflection, and may sometimes prove a valu-
able resource for keeping off that ttfdium
vittf, but too frequently attendant upon a
relinquishment of active life. No pleasure
is more easily attainable, nor less alloyed by

INTRODUCTION. XX111

any debasing mixture; it tends to enlarge
and harmonize the mind, and to elevate it to
worthy conceptions of Nature and its Author :

« The men

Whom Nature's works can charm, with God himself
Hold converse ; grow familiar, day by day,
With his conceptions ; act upon his plan,
And form to his the relish of their souls."

AKENSIDE.

In the following Treatise it has been my
endeavour to combine, as much as possible,
the profitable with the instructive and amu-
sing ; in seeking which object, I have endea-
voured to clear the ground before me, of the
wild-flowers of conjecture and hypothesis,
with-which the fecundity of the human ima-
gination has strewed it, and to substitute in
their place the less showy but more useful
products of experiment and rational deduc-
tion, the growth of which it should be the
object of every labourer in the field of science
to promote. Always bearing in mind that
false theories often lead to erroneous prac-
tices, I have carefully abstained from an in-
dulgence in theory of a merely speculative
kind, and confined myself simply to offering

XXIV INTRODUCTION.

such opinions to the attention of my readers,
as have been confirmed by repeated experi-
ment and observation, and to the recommen-
dation of such practices as have been found
useful by myself, or by others on whose re-
ports I can place the fullest reliance.

Among the writers who have improved
the domestic management of bees, may be
enumerated WARDER, WHITE, THORLEY,
WILDMAN, KEYS, BONNER and HUISH, all
of whom have devoted many years of their
lives to this important object. Persevering,
however, as have been the efforts of the be-
fore-named writers to obtain an accurate
knowledge of the physiology of bees, and to
discover the best plan for their management,
there is still much to be learned in both these
departments, before the former can be tho-
roughly understood, or the latter satisfactorily
regulated. I do not presume to imagine that
I can throw much light upon either of these
topics; but, judging from the difficulties which
I have myself encountered in collecting the
scattered materials of apiarian science, I think
that I shall confer a benefit upon future in-
quirers, if I enable them to possess within a

INTRODUCTION. XXV

moderate compass such information as can be
relied on. Strongly impressed by the im-
portance of the subject, I have for several
years devoted much of my time to its consi-
deration ; and independently of the pleasure
I have experienced in the prosecution of it,
as a most interesting branch of natural his-
tory, I have considered that by contributing
to extend and improve the culture of the bee,
I should assist in converting to useful pur-
poses some portions of those products of the
earth which might otherwise be dissipated in
the air, washed away by the rain, or chemi-
cally changed by the action of various sur-
rounding substances, and in either case be
rendered comparatively useless.

Many of the tracts on bees are profes-
sedly written for the perusal of the cottager.
To him I do not so particularly address my-
self, as to the more intelligent members of the
community ; and so far as I am able to suc-
ceed in making an impression upon them, I
shall consider myself as virtually benefiting
the cottager. The latter is generally too
much of a machine to be the first to adopt any
improvement, however important ; he is more

XXVI INTRODUCTION.

likely therefore to obtain bee-knowledge from
the example or viva voce instruction of his
enlightened neighbours, than through the
direct medium of the press.

How far I may have succeeded in the ob-
ject I propose to myself, I must leave to the
decision of my readers. It seems to be ge-
nerally admitted, that a Treatise exhibiting a
concise view of the present state of our know-
ledge of the bee is much wanted; and this re-
sult of an attempt to supply that desideratum
I now offer to the public, with a hope that it
may not be unworthy of its notice.

CORRIGENDA.

Page. Line.

193, 17, for lives read hives.
228, 2, after " higher flavour" add " and in its never

candying, nor even losing its fluidity by

long keeping."

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART I.

Chap. Page.

I. The History and Physiology of the Bee .. 1
II. The Apiary 47

III. The Bee-house 52

IV. Pasturage 55

V. Honey-dew 71

VI. The Purchase of Bees 80

VII. Bee-boxes 83

VIII. Bee-hives 95

IX. Comparative Advantages of Wooden

Boxes and Straw Hives 100

X. Leaf Hives 102

XI. Dividers 107

XII. Storifying 109

XIII. Swarming 115

XIV. Comparative Advantages of Storifying

and Single-hiving 122

XV. Symptoms which precede Swarming.... 127

XVI. Hiving of Swarms 136

XVII. On removing Bees from common Straw

Hives to Storifying Hives or Boxes .. 148
XVIII. Super- and Nadir-hiving by means of

Dividers 151

XIX. Uniting Swarms or Stocks 154

CONTENTS.

Chap. Page.

XX. Proper Periods of Deprivation 162

XXI. Taking Honey by means of Dividers 167

XXII. The Bee-dress 176

XXIII. Feeding 179

XXIV. Diseases of Bees 184

XXV. Enemies of Bees 199

XXVI. Exotic Bees 210

XXVII. Separation of Wax and Honey .... 216

XXVIII. Wax 220

XXIX. Honey 226

XXX. Mead 236

PART II.

XXXI. The Anatomy of Bees 249

XXXII. Senses of Bees 302

XXXIII. Instincts of Bees 318

XXXIV. On the Architecture of Bees. 339

XXXV. An Inquiry into the Source and Na-
ture of Bees-wax 356

XXXVI. Pollen 370

XXXVII. Propolis 375

XXXVIII. Importance of Bees to the Fructifica-
tion of Flowers S80

A GENERAL VIEW

OF THE

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY

OF

THE BEE.

PART I.

CHAPTER I.
HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

1 HE BEE is considered by Naturalists as belong-
ing to what are called perfect societies of insects,
and, in entomological arrangements, is placed in
the order Hymenoptera, genus Apis. Of this
genus there are many species ; Linnaeus has enu-
merated 55 ; in the Dictionnaire des Sciences
Naturelles 70 species are characterized ; and Mr.
Kirby, in his Monographia Apum Angliae, has
described above 220, natives of England. The
species to which I shall principally call the atten-
tion of my readers is the domestic HONEY-BEE.
B

2 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

Every association of bees comprises three de-
scriptions of individuals ; and each description is
distinguished by an appearance and cast of cha-
racter peculiar to itself.

" First of the throng and foremost of the whole,
One * stands confest the sovereign and the soul.' "

This couplet may, to a limited extent, be applied
to other kinds of bees; but it is more peculiarly
applicable to hive-bees, as amongst them there
has never been found, in any single family, more
than one acknowledged regnant chief, usually de-
signated by the name of Queen ; of whom, as
having the highest claim to our attention, I shall
first proceed to speak.

The QUEEN, who is at once the mother and the
mistress of the hive, differs, as Mr. Hunter has
observed, from the royal chiefs of other insects,
such as hornets, wasps and humble-bees ; for the
chiefs of these latter societies seem to work them-
selves into royalty, whereas the queen of the hive-
bees reigns from her very birth. She is distin-
guishable from the rest of the society by her ma-
jestic movements, by the great length of her body,
the proportional shortness of her wings, and her
bent sting. Her body tapers gradually to a point,
her fangs are shorter, her head is rounder, and her
trunk not half so long as that of the working bee.
Her wings extend only half the length of her
body, but are strong and sinewy. Her colours

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 3

also distinguish her as much as her shape ; they
are much more distinct ; the back is of a much
brighter black ; the concentric rings on the under
side of her body are darker, and the lighter inter-
stitial part of the same region appears of a brighter
and more lively hue. The legs also are of a deep
golden yellow colour.

Next in order come the WORKING BEES : these
are, by some, called neuters or mules ; by others,
female non-breeders. From what will be said here-
after, I think that my readers will consider the
latter as the more appropriate title, the workers
being sterile females with undeveloped ovaries.
In a single hive the number of these varies from
12,000 to 20,000 : they are the smallest members
of the community, are furnished with a long flex-
ible proboscis, have a peculiar structure of the
legs and thighs, on the latter of which are small
hollows or baskets, adapted to the reception of
the propolis and farina which they collect, and
they are armed with a straight sting. Upon them
devolves the whole labour of the colony; they
rear the young, guard the entrances, elaborate the
wax, collect and store the provision, and build
the cells in which it is warehoused, as well as
those that contain the brood.

Thirdly, there are the DRONES or MALES, to the
number of perhaps 1500 or 2000. These make
their appearance about the end of April, and are
B 2

4 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

never to be seen after the middle of August, ex-
cepting under very peculiar circumstances which
will be stated hereafter. They are one third
larger than the workers, somewhat thicker and of
a darker colour ; they have a shorter proboscis
and are more blunt at the tail than either the
queen or the workers ; the last ring of the body
is fringed with hairs, extending over the tail and
visible to the naked eye. They make a greater
noise in flying and have no sting ; are rather
shorter than the queen but much larger. Under-
neath the tail two small protuberances of a yellow-
ish colour may be seen, which are regarded as the
distinctive marks of their sex. In some swrarms
no drones are observable : probably these are
first swarms, which, being always led off by old
queens, have no occasion for drones, if there be
any truth in the theory to be hereafter stated.

Worker.
Drone.

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 5

Contrary to what occurs in the human species
and in other parts of the animal creation, among
bees, the females alone exhibit activity, skill, dili-
gence and courage, whilst the males take no part
whatever in the labours of the community, but are
idle, cowardly and inactive, and possess not the
usual offensive weapon of their species. The only
way in which the drones promote the welfare of
the society is a sexual one ; and I shall endeavour
to show, in the course of this chapter, that they
serve no other purpose than that of impregnating
such of the young queens as may lead forth swarms
in the season, or be raised to the sovereignty of
the parent hive. As the drones are " never seen
settling on any kind of flowers, nor laying up
honey in the cells, they most probably feed at
home, and fully answer the description given of
them by the poet :"
" Immunisque sedens aliena ad pabula fucus." VIRGIL.

" 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 pamper'd leisure thrive
The lazy fathers of th' industrious hive."
" Yet oft, we're told, these seeming idlers share
The pleasing duties of parental care,
With fond attention guard each genial cell,
And watch the embryo bursting from its shell." EVANS.*

* The elegant writer from whose unfinished poem, " The
Bees," I have made the above quotations, was for many

6 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

Mr. Morris of Isleworth, in the Transactions
of the Society for the encouragement of Arts, &c.
for 1791, gives it as his opinion that the drones
" sit upon the eggs, as the mother lays them ;" and
says that he has " often seen them sit in a formal
manner on the combs, when the brood is hatching,
while the other bees were very busy at work."
I suspect that Mr. Morris mistook sleeping for
brooding, and that the drones were only taking a
nap. Fabricius says that insects never sit on their
eggs. Messrs. Kirby and Spence, however, have
observed that the female ear-wig does : they also
make one other exception in favour of the field
bug (Cimex griseus), but add that these are the
only ones. De Geer has given a very interesting
account of both these insects, particularly of the
strength of parental affection exhibited by the
females. The female of the former assiduously
sits upon her eggs, as if to hatch them, and after
they are hatched, broods over the young as a hen
over young chickens. And when the eggs of the
latter are hatched, she also, after the manner of a
hen, goes about with the brood, consisting of thirty

years an eminent physician in Shrewsbury, but has now
retired into Wales, where I hope he will find sufficient lei-
sure and encouragement to resume the truly classical theme
which he has so nearly completed. Of the three parts which
have been already published, I shall frequently avail myself
in the course of this treatise, as well as of the highly in-
teresting notes which are appended to them.

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 7

or forty in number and never leaves them : they
cluster round her when she is still, and follow her
closely wherever she moves.

Besides the three essential members of the bee
community, which I have just described, Huber
has called the attention of the Apiarian to a fourth
kind, which appear to be only casual inmates of
the hive, from which however they are soon ex-
pelled by the workers. He has called them black
bees, and says he first noticed them in two of his
hives, in the year 1809, and on several other oc-
casions from that time to the year 1813. They
present a perfect resemblance to the working bees,
excepting in their colour, which, in consequence of
their being less downy, appears darker. On dis-
section, their internal structure also appears to be
the same. Huber regards them as imperfect bees,
but leaves to future naturalists an inquiry into
their nature and origin. Messrs. Kirby and Spence
have thrown out a conjecture that these black bees
may be superannuated bees, that being no longer
capable of contributing towards the labours of the
community, are banished or destroyed by its
younger members. They found their conjecture
upon the usual effect of superannuation in rub-
bing off the hair of insects and thereby giving
them a darker hue.

It is the office of the queen bee to lay eggs,
which she deposits in cells constructed for their

8 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

reception by the working bees. These cells vary
from one another in size, (and in the instance of the
royal cells, they also vary in form), according as
they are intended to be the depositories of eggs
that are to become drones, or of those that are
to become workers. But for a more particular
account of these cells, Vide Part II. " Archi-
tecture of Bees." The Rev. W. Dunbar, minister
of Applegarth, who has recently added some im-
portant particulars to our general stock of know-
ledge respecting bees, states that when the queen
is about to lay, she puts her head into a cell, and
remains in that position for a second or two, pro-
bably to ascertain its fitness for the deposit which
she is about to make. She then withdraws her
head, and curving her body downwards, inserts
her tail into the cell : in a few seconds she turns
half round upon herself and withdraws, leaving an
egg behind her. When she lays a considerable
number, she does it equally on each side of the
comb, those on the one side being as exactly op-
posite to those on the other, as the relative posi-
tion of the cells will admit. The effect of this is
to produce a concentration and oeconomy of heat
for developing the various changes of the brood.
The following sketch is taken from a plate given
by Mr. Dunbar in the Edinburgh Philosophical
Magazine, to represent the comb upon which his
observations were made, and to show that part of

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

it which was occupied by brood, the surrounding
part of the square being full of sealed honey.

The eggs of bees are of a lengthened oval shape,
with a slight curvature, and of a blueish white
colour : they are composed of a thin membrane,
filled with a whitish liquor, and being besmeared,
at the time of laying, with a glutinous substance,
they adhere to the bases of the cells, where they
stand upright, and remain unchanged in figure or
situation for four days ; they are then hatched,
the bottom of each cell presenting to view a small
white worm or maggot, with several ventral rings.
On its growing, so as to touch the opposite angle
of the cell, it coils itself up in the shape of a semi-
circle, and floats in a whitish transparent fluid, by
which it is probably nourished and enlarged in its
dimensions, till the two extremities touch one an-
other and form a ring. In this state it obtains indif-
ferently the name of worm, larva, maggot or grub,
and is fed with farina or bee-bread, to receive the

B5

10 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

welcome morsels of which, it eagerly opens its two
lateral pincers. It is the opinion of Reaumur and
others that farina does not constitute the sole food
of the bee-larvae, but that it consists of a mixture
of farina with a certain proportion of honey and
water, partly digested in the stomachs of the nurs-
ing * bees9 the relative proportions of honey and
farina varying according to the age of the young.
It is insipid whilst they are very young, and be-
comes sweeter and more acescent the nearer they
approach maturity.

Schirach imagined that the semen of the male
was the food of the larvae : Bonnet entertained
the same opinion, founded upon his observation
that the drones, in going across the combs, pass
by those cells that contain no maggots, but stop
at those which do, giving a knock with the tail at
them three times. Upon this Mr. Hunter observes
that three is a famous number ! and we know very
well that the development is complete in hives
that do not contain a single drone.

The larva having derived support in the man-
ner above described, for four, five or six days,
according to the season -)*, continues to increase
during that period, till it occupies the whole

* For an account of these see Part II. "Nature and
Origin of Bees- wax."

•j- Schirach asserts, that in cool weather the development
takes place two days later than in warm.

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 11

breadth and nearly the length of the cell. The
nursing bees now seal up the cell, with a light
brown cover, externally more or less convex, (the
cap of a drone-cell is more convex than that of a
worker,) and thus differing from that of a honey-
cell, which is paler and somewhat concave. It is
no sooner perfectly inclosed than it begins to la-
bour, alternately extending and shortening its
body, whilst it lines the cell by spinning round
itself, after the manner of the silk- worm, a whitish
silky film or cocoon, by which it is encased, as it
were, in a pod or pellicle. " The silken thread
employed in forming this covering, proceeds from
the middle part of the under lip, and is in fact
composed of two threads gummed together as
they issue from the two adjoining orifices of the
spinner *." When it has undergone this change,
it has usually borne the name of nymph or pupa.

It may appear somewhat extraordinary that a
creature which takes its food so voraciously prior
to its assuming the pupa state, should live so long
without food, after that assumption : but a little
consideration will perhaps abate our wonder ; for
when the insect has attained the state of pupa, it
has arrived at its full growth, and probably the
nutriment, taken so greedily, is to serve as a store
for developing the perfect insect.

* Kirby and Spence.

12 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

The bee, when in its pupa state, has been de-
nominated, but improperly, chrysalis and aurelia ;
for these, as the words import, are of a golden
yellow colour and they are crustaceous ; whilst
the bee-nymphs appear of a pale, dull colour, and
readily yield to the touch. The golden splendour,
to which the above names owe their origin, is
peculiar to a certain species only of the papilio or
butterfly tribe. The higher class of entomolo-
gists, following the example of Linnaeus, apply
the term pupa to this state of the embryo bee, a
term which signifies that the insect is enveloped
in swaddling clothes like an infant, a very apt
comparison. Kirby and Spence have remarked
that it exhibits no unapt representation of an
Egyptian mummy. Huber's translator says that
naturalists of the present day incline to use the
name of larva, in all cases where the worm is not
seen under its final aspect.

The working bee-nymph spins its cocoon in
thirty-six hours . After passing a certain period in
this state of preparation for a new existence, it gra-
dually undergoes so great a change, as not to wear
a vestige of its previous form, but becomes armed
with a firmer mail, and with scales of a dark brown
hue, fringed with light hairs. On its belly six
rings become distinguishable, which by slipping
one over another, enable the bee to shorten its
body whenever it has occasion to do so ; its breast

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 13

becomes entirely covered with gray feather-like
hairs, which as the insect advances in age assume
a reddish hue.

When it has reached the twenty-first day of its
existence, counting from the moment the egg is
laid, it quits the exuviae of the pupa state, comes
forth a perfect winged insect, and is termed an
imago. The cocoon or pellicle is left behind and
forms a closely attached and exact lining to the
cell in which it was spun : by this means the breed-
ing cells become smaller, and their partitions
stronger, the oftener they change their tenants ;
and when they have become so much diminished
in size, by this succession of pellicles or linings,
as not to admit of the perfect development of full-
sized bees, they are converted into receptacles for
honey.

Such are the respective stages of the working
bee ; those of the royal bee are as follow. She
passes three days in the egg and is five a worm ;
the workers then close her cell*, and she imme-
diately begins spinning the cocoon, which occupies
her twenty-four hours. On the tenth and eleventh
days, as if exhausted by her labour, she remains in

* Instead of being nearly horizontal like the other brood
cells, those of the queens are perpendicular and considerably
larger ; in form they are oblong spheroids, tapering gradu-
ally downwards; their mouths being always at the bottom.
Vide Part II. " Architecture of Bees."

14 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

complete repose, and even sixteen hours of the
twelfth. Then she passes four days and one third
as a nymph. It is on the sixteenth day therefore
that the perfect state of queen is attained.

The male passes three days in the egg, six and
a half as a worm, and metamorphoses into a fly
on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth day, after the
egg is laid. The great epoch of laying the eggs
of males may be accelerated or retarded by the
state of the atmosphere promoting or impeding
the collections of the bees. The development of
each species likewise proceeds more slowly when
the colonies are weak or the air cool, and when
the weather is very cold it is entirely suspended.
Mr. Hunter has observed that the eggs, maggots
and nymphs, all require a heat above 70° of Fah-
renheit for their evolution. The influence of tem-
perature in developing embryo insects is very
strongly illustrated in the case of the Papilio
Machaon. According to Messrs. Kirby and Spence,
"if the caterpillar of the Papilio Machaon be-
comes a pupa in July, the butterfly will appear in
thirteen days ; if it do not become a pupa till
September, the butterfly will not make its ap-
pearance until the following June." And this is
the case, say they, with a vast number of other
insects. Reaumur proved the influence of tem-
perature, by effecting the regular changes in a
hot-house, during the month of January. He also

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 15

proved it conversely, by having recourse to an
ice-house in summer, which enabled him to retard
the development for a whole year.

" The larvae of bees, though without feet, are
not always without motion. They advance from
their first station at the bottom of the cell, in a
spiral direction : this movement, for the first three
days, is so slow as to be scarcely perceptible ; but
after that it is more easily discerned. The animal
now makes two entire revolutions, in about an
hour and three quarters ; and when the period of
its metamorphosis arrives, it is scarcely more than
two lines from the mouth of the cell. Its attitude,
which is always the same, is a strong curve. This
occasions the inhabitant of a horizontal cell to be
always perpendicular to the horizon, and that of
a vertical one to be parallel with it*."

The young bees break their envelope with their
teeth, and, assisted at first by the working-bees,
proceed to cleanse themselves from the moisture
and exuviae with which they were surrounded :
this operation being completed, they begin to
exercise their intended functions, and in a few mi-
nutes are gathering provision in the fields, loading
"in life's first hour the hollow'd thigh." M. Ma-
raldi assures us that he has "seen bees loaded
with two large balls of wax, returning to the hive,

* Kirby and Spence.

16 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

the same day they became bees." "We have
seen her," says Wildman, " the same day issue
from the cell, and return from the fields loaded
with wax, like the rest." The error of Maraldi
and Wildman in using the term wax instead of
pollen, does not at all affect the accuracy of their
observations. As soon as the young insect has
been licked clean and regaled with a little honey
by its companions, the latter clean out the cell,
preparatory to its being re-occupied by a new
tenant or with honey.

With respect to the cocoons spun by the dif-
ferent larvae, both workers and drones spin com-
plete cocoons, or inclose themselves on every
side : royal larvae construct only imperfect cocoons,
open behind, and enveloping only the head, thorax,
and first ring of the abdomen ; and Huber con-
cludes, without any hesitation, that the final cause
of their forming only incomplete cocoons is that
they may thus be exposed to the mortal sting of
the first hatched queen, whose instinct leads her
instantly to seek the destruction of those who
would soon become her rivals. If the royal larvae
spun complete cocoons, the stings of the queens
regnant might be so entangled in their silken
meshes, as to be with difficulty disengaged from
them. " Such," says Huber, " is the instinctive
enmity of young queens to each other ', that I have
seen one of them, immediately on its emergence

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 17

from the cell, rush to those of its sisters, and tear
to pieces even the imperfect larvae."

A curious circumstance occurs with respect
to the hatching of the queen bee. When the
pupa or nymph is about to change into the
perfect insect, the bees render the cover of the
cell thinner, by gnawing away part of the wax ;
and with so much nicety do they perform this
operation that the cover at last becomes pellucid,
owing to its extreme thinness, thus facilitating
the exit of the fly. After the transformation is
complete, the young queens would, in common
course, immediately emerge from their cells, as
workers and drones do ; but the former always
keep the royal infants prisoners for some days,
supplying them in the mean time with honey for
food, a small hole being made in the door of each
cell, through which the confined bee extends its
proboscis to receive it. The royal prisoners con-
tinually utter a kind of song, the modulations of
which are said to vary. Vide Chapter xv. Huber
heard a young princess in her cell emit a very
distinct sound or clacking, consisting of several
monotonous notes in rapid succession, and he sup-
poses the working bees to ascertain, by the loud-
ness of these tones, the ripeness of their queens.
Huber has suggested that the cause of this tem-
porary imprisonment may possibly be to enable

18 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

the young queens to fly away at the instant they
are liberated.

The queen is a good deal harassed by the other
bees, on her liberation. This has been attributed
to their wishing to impel her to go off with a
swarm as soon as possible, but this notion is
probably erroneous ; it certainly is so if Huber be
correct, in saying that the swarms are always
accompanied by the older queens. The queen
has the power of instantly putting a stop to their
worrying, by uttering a peculiar noise, which has
been called the voice of sovereignty. Bonner how-
ever declares that he never could observe in the
queen anything like an exercise of sovereignty.
But Huber's statement was not founded upon a
solitary instance ; he heard the sound on various
occasions, and witnessed the striking effect which
it always produced. On one occasion, a queen
having escaped the vigilance of her guards and
sprung from the cell, was, on her approach to the
royal embryos, pulled, bitten and chased by the
other bees. But standing with her thorax against
a comb and crossing her wings upon her back,
keeping them in motion, but not unfolding them,
she emitted a particular sound, when the bees
became, as it were, paralysed and remained motion-
less. Taking advantage of this dread, she rushed
to the royal cells ; but the sound having ceased as

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 19

she prepared to ascend, the guardians of the cells
instantly took courage and fairly drove her away.
This voice of sovereignty, as it has been called,
resembles that which is made by young queens
before they are liberated from their cells ; it is a
very distinct kind of clicking, composed of many
notes in the same key, which follow each other
rapidly. The sound accompanied by the attitude
just described, always produces a paralysing effect
upon the bees.

Bees, when deprived of their queen, have the
power of selecting one or more grubs of workers,
and converting them into queens. To effect this,
each of the promoted grubs has a royal cell or
cradle formed for it, by having three contiguous
common cells thrown into one ; two of the three
grubs that occupy those cells are sacrificed, and
the remaining one is liberally fed with royal jelly.
This royal jelly is a pungent food prepared by the
working bees, exclusively for the purpose of feed-
ing such of the larvae as are destined to become
candidates for the honours of royalty, whether it
be their lot to assume them or not. It is more
stimulating than the food of ordinary bees, has not
the same mawkish taste, and is evidently acescent.
The royal larvae are supplied with it rather pro-
fusely, and there is always some of it left in the
cell, after their transformation. Schirach, who
was secretary to the Apiarian Society in Upper

20 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

Lusatia and vicar of Little Bautzen, may be re-
garded as the discoverer, or rather as the pro-
mulgator of this fact ; and his experiments, which
were also frequently repeated by other members
of the Lusatian Society, have been amply con-
firmed by those of Huber and Bonner. Mr. Keys
was a violent sceptic upon this subject (See his
communications to the Bath Society) ; so likewise
was Mr. Hunter (Fide Philosophical Transactions).
But notwithstanding the criticisms and ridicule of
the former, and the sarcastic strictures of the latter,
the sex of workers is now established beyond all
doubt. The fact is said to have been known long
before Schirach wrote : M. Vogel and Signor Mon-
ticelli, a Neapolitan professor, have both asserted
this ; the former states it to have been known up-
wards of fifty years, the latter a much longer
period ; he says that the Greeks and Turks in the
Ionian Islands are well acquainted with it, and that
in the little Sicilian island of Favignana, the art
of producing queens has been known from very
remote antiquity ; he even thinks that it was no
secret to the Greeks and Romans, though, as
Messrs. Kirby and Spence observe, had the prac-
tice been common, it would surely have been noti-
ced by Aristotle or Pliny. The result ofSchirach's
experiments was that all workers were origi-
nally females, but that their organs of generation
were obliterated, merely because the germs of

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 21

them were not developed ; their being fed and
treated in a particular manner, in their infancy
or worm state, being necessary, in his opinion,
to effect that development. Subsequent experi-
ments conducted under the auspices of Huber,
have shown, however, that the organs are not en-
tirely obliterated.

Huber has been regarded as a man of a very
vivid imagination; and as his eye-sight was defec-
tive, he was obliged to rely very much upon the
reports of Francis Burnens, his assistant ; on both
which accounts other apiarian writers have thrown
some distrust upon his statements. Huish may
be reckoned among the number ; he has also made
some observations upon Schirach's theory, and
treated it with much petulance and ridicule. In
answer to him and all other cavillers, I shall detail
an experiment made by Mr. Dunbar, in his mirror
hive. In July, when the hive had become filled
with comb and bees, and well stored with honey ;
and when the queen was very fertile, laying a
hundred eggs a-day, Mr. D. opened the hive and
took her majesty away. The bees laboured for
eighteen hours before they appeared to miss her ;
but no sooner was the loss discovered than all was
agitation and tumult ; and they rushed in crowds
to the door, as if swarming. On the following
morning he observed that they had founded five
queen cells, in the usual wray under such cir-

22 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

cumstances ; and in the course of the same after-
noon, four more were founded, in a part of the
comb where there were only eggs a day or two
old. On the fourteenth day from the old queen's
removal, a young queen emerged and proceeded
towards the other royal cells, evidently with a
murderous intent. She was immediately pulled
away by the workers, with violence, and this con-
duct on their part was repeated as often as the
queen renewed her destructive purpose. At every
repulse she appeared sulky, and cried peep peep,
one of the unhatched queens responding, but in a
somewhat hoarser tone. (This circumstance affords
an explanation of the two different sounds which
are heard, prior to the issuing of second swarms.)
On the afternoon of the same day, a second queen
was hatched ; she immediately buried herself in a
cluster of bees. Next morning Mr. D. observed
a hot pursuit of the younger queen by the elder,
but being called away, on his return half an hour
afterwards, the former was dying on the floor, no
doubt the victim of the other. Huber has stated
that these artificial queens are mute ; but the cir-
cumstance noticed by Mr. Dunbar of the two
queens, just referred to, having answered each
other, disproves that statement. Contrary also to
the experience of Huber, Mr. D. found that the
cells of artificial queens were surrounded by a
guard. I have just adverted to the protection

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 23

which they afforded to the royal cells, when assailed
by the first hatched queen.

That the working bees are females is clear from
the circumstance of their being known occasionally
to lay eggs. This fact was first noticed by Riem,
and was afterwards confirmed by the experiments
of Huber, whose assistant, on one occasion seized
a fertile worker in the very act of laying. It is a
remarkable fact that these fertile workers never lay
any but drones' eggs. This uninterrupted laying
of drones' eggs was noticed by the Lusatian ob-
servers, as well as by the naturalist of the Pala-
tinate. Bonnet, on referring to this fact, supposes
there must have been small queens mixed with the
workers upon which the experiments were made,
whose office it was to lay male eggs in all hives ;
for neither he nor the before-named observers
imagined that the workers were ever fertile, though
from the oft repeated experiments, just alluded to,
they must have regarded them as females. Pro-
bably the fertility of these workers is occasioned
by some royal jelly being casually dropped into
their cells, when grubs, as they uniformly issue
from cells adjoining those inhabited by grubs, that
have been raised from the plebeian to the royal
rank ; of course therefore they are never found in
any hives but those which have had the misfortune
to lose their queen. Fertile workers appear
smaller in the belly and more slender in the body

24 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

than sterile workers, and this is the only external
difference between them.

If any further proof were required to establish
the opinion that working bees are females, the
question has been set at rest for ever, by the dis-
sections of Miss Jurine, daughter of the distin-
guished naturalist of Geneva : what had eluded
the scalpel and the microscope of that penetrating
and indefatigable naturalist Swammerdam, was
reserved for the still finer hand and more dexterous
dissection of a lady. Miss Jurine, by adopting a
particular method of preparing the object to be
examined, brought into view the rudiments of the
ovaria of the common working bee : her examina-
tions were several times repeated, and always with
success : in form, situation and structure, they were
found to be perfectly analogous to those of the queen
bee, excepting that no ova could be distinguished
in them. M. Cuvier, however, thinks that he has
observed minute chaplets in common bees, re-
sembling those in the oviducts of queens ; an ad-
ditional confirmation, if any were wanted, of the
opinion that workers are females whose organiza-
tion is not developed. Miss J urine undertook the
delicate task to which I have just referred, at the
request of M. Huber, who speaks of her as a
young lady who had devoted her time and the
liberal gifts of nature to similar studies, and says
that she already rivalled Lyonnet and Merian ; but

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 25

adds, " we had soon to deplore her loss." The
research was first made to ascertain whether black
bees, which, when they appear in a hive, are much
persecuted, were exposed to this persecution in
consequence of their sex exciting the jealousy of
the queen. The success of the investigation in-
duced this accomplished young lady to extend her
dissection to the common workers, which was
crowned with a result equally gratifying. Parallel
instances have been observed with regard to the
humble-bee, the wasp and the ant, amongst which,
those that have usually been called neuters are
found to be females, and when fertile, they, like
the fertile workers in a bee-hive, produce males
universally.

Having now traced these insects through their
regular stages of egg, larva, nymph, until they
become perfect bees, and having noticed the facts
which show the working bees to be females, I
shall advert to the more intricate and mysterious
business of Impregnation. This is a subject which
was long involved in obscurity, and which indeed
is still clouded by some uncertainty. Schirach
and Bonner stoutly denied the necessity of sexual
intercourse between the queen and the drones,
considering the former as a mother and yet a
virgin, and Swammerdam was of the same opinion ;
he ascribes impregnation to a vivifying seminal
aura, which is exhaled from the drones and pene-
c

26 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

trates the body of the queen. This opinion arose
from his observing a very strong odour to be ex-
haled, at certain times, from the drones ; " Hanc
sententiam ratam habuit, quia organa apum propa-
gini servientia, sexus utriusque, rite dissecta, inter
se ita disparia videbantur, ut congressus ne fieri
quidem ullo pacto posset." His opinion with re-
spect to the vivifying influence of the seminal aura
also accounted satisfactorily, to his own mind,
for there being such a prodigious number of
drones, as, in proportion to their number, would
of course be the intensity of their peculiar
odour. Reaumur very successfully combated
this fanciful doctrine, and Huber has confuted
it by direct experiment. Reaumur inclined to
the opinion that there was a sexual intercourse,
though his experiments left that question unde-
cided. Arthur Dobbs, esq. has given it as his
opinion that the queen's eggs were impregnated
by coition with the drones, andj:hat a renewal of
the intercourse was unnecessary. He however
thought that she had intercourse with several,
instead of with one only, in order that there might
be a sufficient deposition of sperm to impregnate
all her eggs. About the beginning of the last
century, Maraldi broached another hypothesis ;
he imagined that the eggs were fecundated by the
drones, after the queen had deposited them in the
cells, similarly to what takes place in the fecun-

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 27

dation of fish-spawn. In 1777 that ingenious
naturalist Mr. Debraw, who was apothecary to
Addenbroke's Hospital at Cambridge, also adopted
this opinion ; and even so late as the year 1817
Huish has supported the same doctrine, and I
believe does so at the present time. Debraw
thought he had discovered the prolific fluid of the
drones, in the brood cells, which fertilizing the
eggs caused them to produce larvae. Huber re-
peated the experiments of Debraw, and at first
gave him credit for the reality of the discovery ;
but further and more minute observation con-
vinced him that it was illusory, and that what he,
as well as Debraw had taken for seminal fluid,
was nothing more than light reflected from the
bottoms of the cells, when illuminated by the sun's
rays. Moreover, it did not escape the acute mind
of Huber, that eggs were laid and larvae hatched,
when 'there were no drones in existence, viz.
between the months of September and April. The
two hypotheses just mentioned, accounted satis-
factorily, to their supporters, for the prodigious dis-
proportion in the number of the sexes. But Huber
made the experiment of confining the queen and
rigidly excluding every male from a hive ; nay more,
he carefully examined every comb, and satisfied
himself that there was neither male nymph nor
worm present ; and lest it should be supposed that
the fertilizing fluid might be imported from other

28 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

hives, he totally confined the bees, on two oc-
casions, and still the eggs were prolific ; which
proves clearly that their fertility must have de-
pended upon the previous impregnation of the
queen. The analogy of wasps is indeed admitted,
by Huish, to discountenance the opinion which he
entertains in common with Maraldi and Debraw.
The queen wasp alone, survives the winter, and
deposits her first eggs in the ensuing spring in
combs of her own construction. Here then im-
pregnation must have taken place in the preceding
autumn, whilst the eggs were in the ovaria. It
was the opinion of Hattorf, Schirach, and probably
also of Bonner, that the queen-bee impregnated
herself ; but this opinion is too extravagant to re-
quire serious refutation : it arose probably, from
their making experiments upon queens taken in-
discriminately from the hives, and which had
previously been impregnated. This no doubt
misled Debraw, who, without knowing it, had
chosen for experiment some queens that had had
commerce with the males. The experiments of
Huber were made upon virgin-queens, with whose
history he was acquainted from the moment of
their leaving their cells. In the course of his
experiments he found that the queens were never
impregnated, so long as they remained in the
interior of the hive ; but that impregnation always
takes place in the open air, at a time when the

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 29

heat has induced the drones to issue from the
hive ; on which occasions, the queen soars high in
the air, love being the motive for the only distant
journey she ever takes. " The rencontre and
copulation of the queen with the drone take place
exterior to the hive," says Lombard, " and whilst
they are on the wing." They are similarly con-
stituted with the whole family of flies. A cor-
responding circumstance may also be noted with
respect to the queen-ant ; and Bonnet, in his Cow-
templations de la Nature, has observed that she is
always impregnated whilst she is on the wing.
The dragon-flies copulate as they fly through the
air, in which state they have the appearance of a
double animal.

" When noon-tide Sirius glares on high,

Young Love ascends the glowing sky,

From vein to vein swift shoots prolific fire,
-And thrills each insect fibre with desire.
Thence, Nature, to fulfil thy prime decree,
Wheels round, in wanton rings, the courtier bee ;
Now shyly distant, now with bolden'd air,
He woos and wins the all-complying fair :
Through fields of ether, veil'd in vap'ry gloom,
They seek, with amorous haste, the nuptial room ;
As erst th' immortal pair, on Ida's height,
Wreath'd round their noon of joy, ambrosial night."

EVANS.

The males and the fertile females, among ants,
are winged insects ; the former, as in the case of
drone bees, perish a short time after their amours ;

30 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

and the females, having alighted upon a spot suit-
able for the formation of a colony, cut off their
own wings, as being no longer of any use to them.
(Linnaeus had observed that the females lost their
wings a certain period after impregnation.) A
domino Hunter clidici, se bombinatrices sub ocu-
los in coitu junctos, ut apud muscas mos est, vi-
disse. " Aculeus," inquit, " articulo temporis eji-
citur, et inter gemina insecta, dorso feminae im-
ponitur. Hoc situ aliquandiu manent." In the
hornet it is the same.

If the queen-bee be confined, though amid a
seraglio of males, she continues barren. Prior to
her flight, (which is preceded by the flight of the
drones,) she reconnoitres the exterior of the hive,
apparently for the purpose of recognition, and
sometimes, after flying a few feet from it, returns
to it again : finally she rises aloft in the air, de-
scribing in her flight horizontal circles of consi-
derable diameter, till she is out of sight. She
returns from her aerial excursion in about half
an hour, with the most evident marks of fecunda-
tion. Excursions are sometimes made for a shorter
period, but then she exhibits no sign of having been
impregnated. It is curious that Bonner should have
remarked those aerial excursions, without suspect-
ing their object. " I have often," says he, " seen
the young qvieens taking an airing upon the se-
cond or third day of their age.'5 Yet Huish says,

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 31

" It is an acknowledged fact that the queen-bee
never leaves the hive, on any account whatsoever.' *
Perhaps Huish's observations were made upon
first swarms ; and these, according to Huber, are
uniformly conducted by old queens. Swammer-
dam also made the same observation as to jirst
swarms being always led off by old queens. Old
queens have not the same occasion to quit the
hives that young ones have, — viz. to have inter-
course with the drones ; for, according to Huber,
one impregnation is sufficient to fertilize all the
eggs that are laid for two years afterwards, at least.
He thinks it is sufficient to fertilize all that she
lays during her whole life. This may appear, to
some, an incredible period ; and Huish inquires,
admitting that a single act of coition be sufficient
to fecundate all the eggs existing in the ovaria at
the time, how those are fecundated which did not
exist there ? But when we consider that in the
common spider, according to Audebert, the ferti-
lizing effect continues for many years ; and that
the fecundation of the eggs of the female aphides
or green lice, by the males of one generation, will
continue for a year, passing, during that period,
through nine or ten successive generations of fe-
males, the causes for doubt will, I think, be greatly
diminished : at any rate we are not at liberty to
reject the evidence of facts, because we cannot
understand their modus operandi. With respect

32 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

to the aphis, Bonnet says the influence of the male
continues through Jive generations, but Lyonnet
carried his experiments to a more extended pe-
riod ; and according to Messrs, Kirby and Spence,
who give it " upon the authority of Mr. Wol-
nough of Hollesley (late of Boyton) in Suffolk, an
intelligent agriculturist, and a most acute and ac-
curate observer of nature, there may be twenty
generations in a year." Reaumur has proved that
in Jive generations one aphis may be the progeni-
tor of 5,904,900,000 descendants. It may be ob-
jected to me here, that the aphis is a viviparous
insect, and that the experiments which prove what
I have referred to, do not therefore bear upon
the question. It has been ascertained, however,
that they are strictly oviparous at the close of the
year (one species is at all times so), at other times
ovo-viviparous ; and in either case the penetra-
ting influence of the male sperm is surely still more
remarkable where there has been no immediate
commerce with the male, than in the direct case
of the oviparous bee ! It has been observed, how-
ever, that the further the female aphides are re-
moved from the first mother, or that which had
known the male, the less prolific do they become.
In order to put my readers in possession of Dr*
Fleming's opinion upon this subject, I will quote
what he has said in his Philosophy of Zoology.
" Impregnation, in insects, appears to take place

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. S3

while the eggs pass a reservoir containing the
sperm, situated near the termination of the ovi-
duct in the vulva. In dissecting the female parts,
in the silk-moth, says Mr. Hunter, I discovered
a bag, lying on what may be called the vagina or
common oviduct, whose mouth or opening was
external, but it had a canal of communication be-
twixt it and the common oviduct. In dissecting
these parts, before copulation, I found this bag
empty ; and when I dissected them afterwards, I
found it full. (Phil. Trans. 1792. p. 186.) By
the most decisive experiments, such as covering
the ova of the unimpregnated moth, after exclu-
sion, with the liquor taken from this bag, in those
which had had sexual intercourse, and rendering
them fertile, he demonstrated that this bag wras a
reservoir for the spermatic fluid, to impregnate
the eggs, as they were ready for exclusion, and
that coition and impregnation were not simulta-
neous." Linnaeus thought that there was a sexual
intercourse between the queens and the drones,
and he even suspected that it proved fatal to the
latter. His opinion, on both these points, seems
to be confirmed by the experiments of Huber ;
who ascertained by repeated observations on
newly impregnated queens, " Fuci organum, post
congressum, in corpore feminae haesisse, unde exi-
tus fatalis expectaridus est ; ita autem accidere re
vera non liquet." " Apum regina et mater," says Mr.
c 5

34 HISTORY ANB PHYSIOLOGY.

Kirby, " in sublime fertur maritum infelicem pe-
tens, qui voluptatem brevem vita emat." Reaumur
thought sexual union necessary to impregnation,
and tried many experiments to ascertain the fact ;
such as confining a queen under a glass in com-
pany with drones : and these experiments were
repeated by Huber. Both these naturalists wit-
nessed the solicitations and advances of the queens
towards the drones, " nihilommus, coeuntia tempore
quovis conspicere non possent." Reaumur fancied
he saw it ; there is, however, very great reason to
believe that he was mistaken : the queens so exposed
all proved barren. Swammerdam asserted that
clipping the wings of queens rendered them sterile,
a fact which militates very much against his own
theory of impregnation being produced by a se-
minal aura, but strongly confirms the theory of
Huber ; as in all probability the mutilating expe-
riments of Swammerdam were made upon virgin
queens, which thereby lost the power of quitting
the hives. Huber found that clipping the wings
of impregnated queens produced no effect upon
them ; it neither diminished the respectful atten-
tions of the workers, nor interfered with their
laying of eggs. Why impregnation can only take
place in the open air and when the insects are on
the wing, at present remains a mystery.

The young virgin queens, generally, set out in
quest of the males, the day after they are settled

HISTOEY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 35

in their new abode, which is usually the fifth day
of their existence as queens, two or three days
being passed in captivity, one in the native hive
after their liberation, and the fifth in the new
dwelling. The ancients seem to have been very
solicitous to establish for the bees a character of
inviolable chastity : Pliny observes, " Apium enim
coitus visus nunquam." And Virgil endeavours
to support the same opinion :

" But of all customs which the bees can boast,
'Tis this that claims our admiration most;
That none will Hymen's softer joys approve,
Nor waste their spirits in luxurious love :
But all a long virginity maintain,
And bring forth young without a mother's pain."

It was the opinion of most ancient philosophers
that bees derived their origin from the putrid car-
cases of animals. Fide Chap. II. Some also have
supposed them to proceed from the parts of fruc-
tification in flowers. Virgil, borrowing as usual
from Aristotle, among the rest:

" Well might the Bard, on fancy's frolic wing,
Bid, from fresh flowers, enascent myriads spring,
Raise genial ferment in the slaughter'd steer,
And people thence his insect- teeming year ;
A fabled race, whom no soft passions move,
The smile of duty nor the glance of love." EVANS.

" To vindicate, in some measure, the character
of the insect queen, Mr. Wildman boldly dared

36 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

to stem the torrent, and revive the long forgotten
idea suggested by Mr. Butler in his Feminine
Monarchy, that queens produce queens only, and
that the common bees are the mothers of common
bees." But all these fanciful notions must yield
to the clear and decisive experiments of Huber,
who has satisfactorily shown that the queen is the
general mother of all ; he has also resolved the
causes of former mistaken opinions. Many api-
arians have found a difficulty in admitting the
theory of Huber, in consequence of the very great
disproportion in the number of the sexes, there
being only one female to several hundred males,
and one impregnation being, in his opinion, all
that is required to fertilize myriads of eggs. The
number of drones may be considered as in ac-
cordance, in some degree, with the general pro-
fusion of nature : we find her abounding with
supernumeraries in a great variety of instances, in
the blossoms of trees and flowers, as well as in the
relative number of one sex to the other among
animals. Huber conceives that it was necessary
there should be a great number of drones, that
the queen might be sure of finding one, in her ex-
cursion through the expanse of the atmosphere,
and run no risk of sterility.

In page 26 I have stated the opinion of Mr.
Dobbs, that a queen has intercourse with several
drones ; and what I have also stated upon the au-

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 37

thority of Mr. Hunter, in page 34-, with respect
to the silk -moth and other insects, gives counte-
nance to that opinion : nor do I see its inconsis-
tency with the discovery made by Huber. Though
there is reason to believe that the act proves fatal
to one devoted drone, yet those that are so fortu-
nate as to obtain the first favours of her majesty,
may escape uninjured. If the conjecture which I
have thus hazarded be correct, it will appear less
surprising that so many drones should be brought
into existence.

The queen begins to lay her eggs as soon as a
few portions of comb are completely formed. By
the time that combs five or six inches square are
constructed, eggs, honey and bee-bread will be
found in them. Huber states that the laying
usually commences forty-six hours after the inter-
course with the male; and that during the eleven
succeeding months, the eggs of workers only are
laid ; after which a considerable and uninterrupted
laying of drones' eggs commences. This period may
be retarded by the temperature of the atmosphere.
Huber relates an instance where, the weather hav-
ing become suddenly cold, after an impregnation
which took place on the 31st of October, that
queen did not lay till the March following. The
effects of retardation will be noticed presently.
Twenty days after the queen has begun to lay the
eggs of drones, "the working bees" says Huber,

38 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

" construct the ROYAL CELLS, in which the queens,
without discontinuing the laying of male eggs, de-
posit, at the interval of one, two or three days, tJwse
eggs from which the queens are successively to
spring" This laying of the eggs of drones, which
is called the great laying, usually happens in May.
There seems to be a secret relation between the
production of these eggs, and the construction of
royal cells : the laying commonly lasts thirty days,
and regularly on the 20th or 21st day, as has been
already observed, royal cells are founded. When
the larvce, hatched from the eggs laid by the queen
in the royal cells, are ready to be transformed to
nymphs, this queen leaves the hive, conducting a
swarm along with her. A swarm is always led off
by a single queen ; and Huber remarks that it was
necessary for instinct to impel the old queen to
lead forth the first swarm ; for, being the strongest,
she wrould never fail to overthrow the younger
competitors for the throne, near which " the jea-
lous Semiramis of the hive will bear no rival."
The queen, having finished her laying of male
eggs and of royal eggs, prior to her quitting the
old hive, is ready to commence, in the new one,
with the laying of workers' eggs, workers being
first needed, in order to secure the continuance
and prosperity of the newly founded common-
wealth. The bees that remain in the old hive
take particular care of the royal cells, and prevent

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 39

the young queens, successively hatched, from
leaving them, except at an interval of several days
from each departure. But I have already adverted
to their mode of proceeding on these occasions.
Vide page 17. The law of primogeniture is always
strictly observed towards these royal insects, the
first-born or princess-royal being always selected to
go off with the second swarm, or to reign over
the parent stock, as the case may be ; and so on
with respect to the third and fourth, or whatever
number may issue. It is remarkable that a queen
seldom, if ever, leads forth a swarm, except there
be sunshine and calm air. Such a ferment oc-
casionally rages in the hives, as soon as the young
queens are hatched, that Huber has often observed
the thermometer placed in the hive, rise suddenly
from about 92° to above 104° Fahrenheit. This
suffocating heat he considers as one of the means
employed by nature for urging the bees to go off
in swarms. In warm weather one strong hive has
been known to send off four swarms in 18 days.
Vide Chap. XIII.

According to Huber, the queen ordinarily lays
about 12,000 eggs in two months, one impregnation
serving, as has been before stated, for the whole
complement of eggs, of every description, which
she lays during two years at least. It is not to
be supposed that she lays at the rate of 12,000
eggs every two months, but she does so at the

40 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY,

principal laying in April and May : there is also
another great laying in August. Early in Novem-
ber the laying usually ceases. Reaumur states
the number of eggs laid by a queen in two months
at double the amount of Huber's calculation ; viz.
200 a day, on an average. This variation may
have arisen from variety of climate, season, or
other circumstances. A moderate swarm has been
calculated to consist of from 12,000 to 20,000,
which is about a two months' laying. Schirach
says that a single queen will lay from 70,000 to
100,000 eggs in a season. This sounds like
a great number; but it is greatly exceeded by
some other insects. The female of the white
ant extrudes not less than 60 eggs in a minute,
which gives 3600 in an hour, 86,400 in a day,
2,419,200 in a lunar month, and the enormous
number of 211,449,600 in a year. Though she
does not lay all the year probably, yet, setting the
period as low as possible, her eggs will exceed
the number produced by any other known animal
in creation.

If the impregnation of a queen be by any means
retarded beyond the 20th or 21st day of her life,
a very extraordinary consequence ensues. Instead
of first laying the eggs of workers, and those of
drones, at the usual period afterwards, she begins
from the 45th hour to lay the latter, and lays no
other kind during her whole life. It should seem

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 41

as if the rudiments of the workers' eggs withered
in the oviducts, but without obstructing the pas-
sage of the drones' eggs. The only known fact
analogous to this is the state of certain vegetable
seeds, which lose the faculty of germination from
age, whatever care may have been taken to pre-
serve them. This retardation seems to have a
singular effect upon the whole animal oeconomy of
the queen. " The bodies of those queens," says
Huber, " whose impregnation has been retarded,
are shorter than common ; the extremities remain
slender, whilst the first two rings, next the thorax,
are uncommoly swollen." Tn consequence of the
shortening of their bodies, their eggs are fre-
quently laid on the sides of the cells, owing pro-
bably to their not being able to reach the bottom ;
the difficulty is also increased by the two swollen
rings. .In these cases of retarded impregnation
and exclusive laying of drones' eggs, the prospe-
rity of the hive soon terminates ; generally before
the end of the queen's laying. The workers re-
ceiving no addition to their number, but on the
contrary, finding themselves overwhelmed with
drones, sacrifice their queen and abandon the hive.
These retarded queens seem to have their instincts
impaired ; for they deposit their eggs indiscrimi-
nately in the cells, whether originally intended for
drones or for workers, — a circumstance which ma-

42 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

terially affects the size of the drones that are
reared in them. There are not wanting instances
of royal cells being occupied by them, and of the
workers being thereby so completely deceived as
to pay the tenants, in all respects, the honours of
royalty. This circumstance appears the more ex-
traordinary, since it has been ascertained that
when eggs have been thus inappropriately depo-
sited, by fertile workers, they are uniformly de-
stroyed a few days afterwards, though for a short
time they receive due attention.

The workers have been supposed by some api-
arians to transport the eggs from place to place ; —
if ever such were the case, this would seem to be
an occasion calling for the practice : on the con-
trary, instead of removing the eggs from the sides
to the bottoms of the cells, for the sake of better
accommodation, this object is accomplished by their
lengthening the cells, and advancing them two
lines beyond the surface of the combs. This pro-
ceeding affords pretty good evidence that the
transportation of eggs forms no part of the workers'
occupation. It is still further proved by their
eating any workers' eggs, that a queen may, at any
time, be forced to deposit in drones' cells, or drop
at random in other parts of the hive ; a circum-
stance which escaped the notice of former natu-
ralists, and misled them in their opinion respect-

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 43

ing transportation. A somewhat similar circum-
stance was noticed by Mr. Dunbar in his mirror
hive. (For an account of this hive see Chap. X.)
Mr. Dunbar observed that whenever the queen
dropped her eggs carelessly, they were eagerly
devoured by the workers. Now if transpor-
tation formed a part of their employment, they
would in these cases, instead of eating the eggs,
have deposited them in their appropriate cells. It
seems very evident therefore that the proper dis-
position of the eggs is left entirely to the instinct
of the queens. The workers having been seen to
run away with the eggs, in order to devour them,
in all probability gave birth to the mistaken notion
that they were removing them to their right cells.
Among humble-bees, there is a disposition, among
the workers, to eat the eggs, which extends even
to those- that are laid in proper cells, where the
queens often have to contend for their preserva-
tion.

After the season of swarming, viz. towards the
end of July, as is well known, a general massa-
cre of the drones takes place. The business of fe-
cundation being now completed, they are regarded
as useless consumers of the fruits of others labour,
"fruges consumere nati ;" love is at once convert-
ed into furious hate, and a general proscription
takes place. The unfortunate victims evidently

44 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

perceive their danger ; for they are never, at this
time, seen resting in one place, but darting in or
out of the hive, with the utmost precipitation, as
if in fear of being seized. Their destruction has
been generally supposed to be effected by the
workers harassing them till they quit the hive :
this was the opinion of Mr. Hunter, who says the
workers pinch them to and fro, without stinging
them, and he considers their death as a natural
rather than an untimely one. In this Bonnet seems
to agree with Mr. Hunter. But Huber has ob-
served that their destruction is effected by the stings
of the workers : he ascertained this by placing his
hives upon a glass table, as will be stated under
• the anatomy of the bee, article " Sting." Reaumur
seems to have been aware of this, for he has re-
marked that " notwithstanding the superiority
which the drones seem to have from their bulk,
they cannot hold out against the workers, who are
armed with a poniard which conveys poison into
the wounds it makes." The moment this formida-
ble weapon has entered their bodies, they expand
their wings and expire. This sacrifice is not the
consequence of a blind indis criminating instinct,
for if a hive be deprived of its queen, no massacre
takes place, though the hottest persecution rage
in all the surrounding hives. This fact was ob-
served by Bonner, who supposed the drones to be

HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 45

preserved for the sake of the additional heat which
they would generate in the hive during winter ;
but according to Huber's theory, they are pre-
served for the purpose of impregnating a new
queen. The lives of the drones are also spared
in hives which possess fertile workers only, but
no proper queen, and likewise in hives governed
by a queen whose impregnation has been retard-
ed ; but under any other circumstances the drones
all disappear before winter. Not only all that
have undergone their full transformations, but
every embryo, in whatever period of its existence,
shares the same fate. The workers drag them
forth from the cells, and after sucking the fluid
from their bodies, cast them out of the hive. In
all these respects the hive-bees resemble wasps,
but with this difference ; among the latter, not
only are the males and the male larvae destroyed,
but all the workers and their larvae, (and the very
combs themselves,) are involved in one indiscrimi-
nate ruin, none remaining alive during the winter
but the queens, which lie dormant in various holes
and corners till the ensuing spring, — of course
without food, for they store none. The import-
ance of destroying these mother wasps in the
spring will be noticed in another place.

Morier in his second journey through Persia
(page 100) has recorded a fact, which, though it

46 HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY.

did not come under his own immediate observa-
tion, was related to him by a person on whose au-
thority he could place full reliance, and which is
directly the reverse of what I have stated respect-
ing bees. It is, that among the locusts, when the
female has done laying, she is surrounded and
killed by the males.

THE APIARY. 47

CHAPTER II.

THE APIARY.

THE first object of consideration, in the esta-
blishment of an apiary, is situation.

The aspect has, in general, been regarded as of
prime importance, but I think there are other
points of still greater importance.

An apiary would not be well situated near a
great river, nor in the neighbourhood of the
sea, as windy weather might whirl the bees into
the water and destroy them.

It was the opinion of the ancients that bees, in
windy weather, carried weights, to prevent them
from being whiffled about, in their progress
through the air : Virgil has observed that

66 They with light pebbles, like a balanc'd boat,
Pois'd, through the air on even pinions float."

SOTHEBY'S GEORGICS.

This assertion, which was probably borrowed
by the poet from his predecessor Aristotle, and
which has since been repeated by Pliny, is now
ascertained to be erroneous. The error has been
noticed by both Swammerdamand Reaumur, and
ascribed by them to preceding observers having
mistaken the mason bee for a hive bee. The for-
mer builds its nest against a wall, with a composi-

48 THE APIARY.

tion of gravel, sand and its own saliva, and when
freighted with the former article, may easily have
led a careless observer into the erroneous opinion
above alluded to.

From a similar inaccuracy of observation, it is
probable that flies were confounded with bees by
ancient naturalists, and that from thence arose
the absurd notion, of the latter being gene-
rated in putrid carcases, as we know the former
to be ; and this error was most likely confirmed
by their having found both honey and bees in the
carcases of dead animals, as recorded in the case
of Samson.

Though, for the reasons above stated, an apiary
would not be well situated near a large river, yet
it should not be far from a rivulet or spring :
small ones, that glide gently over pebbles, are the
most desirable, as affording a variety of resting
places for the bees to alight upon. If neither
spring nor streamlet be near, a broad dish of
water should be placed for the bees, the bottom
being covered with small stones or duckweed, to
facilitate their drinking and prevent drowning.

This, in a hot dry season, is of considerable
importance, as it will save that time, which must
otherwise be spent, in fetching water from a di-
stance ; for without water, as will be noticed here-
after, no wax can be formed.

It is of course of the greatest importance that

THE APIARY. 49

the apiary be situated near to good pasturage,
such as clover, saintfoin, buckwheat, &c. — better
still if in a garden well stocked with suitable
plants.

It should be near the residence of the proprie-
tor, as well for the purpose of rendering the bees
tractable and well acquainted with the family, as
for affording a good view of their general proceed-
ings ; if it be so situated that its front may form
a right angle with the window of the family sit-
ting-room, an easy opportunity will be afforded
to watch the bustle of swarming.

An out-door apiary should admit of being ap-
proached at the back part, to give an opportunity
of making observations on the proceedings of the
bees, or to perform any requisite operation upon
them.

The hives should be placed upon separate
stands, supported by single posts or pedestals, be
raised from sixteen inches to two feet above the
ground, and be three or four feet from each other ;
and they should stand quite clear of any wall or
fence.

The resting boards should project several
inches in front of the hives, that the bees may
have plenty of room to alight, when they return
home loaded from the fields, and should be screw-
ed down firmly to the tops of the stands, that the
D

50 THE APIARY.

hives may not be overturned by high winds or
other accidents.

They should be free from the droppings of
trees, from noisome smells and disagreeable
noises ; and be guarded as much as possible from
the extremes of heat and cold.

Most apiarians are agreed that the aspect of
the apiary should, in this country, be more or less
southerly, and that it should be well secured from
the north and south-west, by trees, high hedges,
or other fences ; this is the opinion of Wildman,
Keys, and Huish ; Bonner, however, prefers an
easterly aspect; Huish recommends two points
to the east and one to the south. Wildman pre-
ferred a south-west aspect, as not tempting the
labourers to emerge too early, and as affording a
later light for their return home in the evening.

" Skreen'd from the east ; where no delusive dawn
Chills, while it tempts them o'er the dew damp lawn,
But, as on loaded wing, the labourers roam,
Sol's last bright glories light them to their home."

EVANS.

Milton says : " It is not material in what aspect
the stock stands, provided the sun shines on the
hive once in the course of the day, for that well-
peopled hives, kept dry, will thrive in most situa-
tions." And provided due attention be paid to

THE APIARY. 51

other circumstances calculated to promote their
prosperity, I coincide in opinion with Milton.

Some recommend a valley or hollow glen, for
the convenience of the bees returning home with
their loads. At any rate care should be taken
that no walls, trees, houses, nor any thing else,
impede the issuing forth of the bees to their pas-
turage, nor obstruct their return in right lines to
the hives. They should be able to fly off from
the resting boards at an angle of about forty de-
grees with the plane of the horizon.

To those who, residing in towns, may consider
it as indispensable to the success of an apiary,
that it should be in the immediate vicinity of
good pasturage, and be thereby deterred from
benefiting and amusing themselves by keeping
bees ; it may be satisfactory to learn, that the
apiary of the celebrated Bonner was situated in a
garret, in the centre of Glasgow, where it flou-
rished for several years, and furnished him with
the means of making many interesting and valu-
able observations, which he gave to the world
about thirty years ago.

52 THE BEE-HOUSE.

CHAPTER III.
THE BEE-HOUSE.

No one that could afford to purchase bee-boxes,
and to construct a bee-house, or to convert to that
use some building already constructed, would
hesitate, I should think, to give them the prefe-
rence over common straw hives and an out-
door apiary, whether he looked to ultimate profit
or to present convenience and security.

Perhaps I cannot give a better notion of what
I consider as the most eligible plan of a bee-
house, than by describing the construction of my
own. The whole building, besides answering the
purpose of an apiary, may be made subservient to
other uses ; — my own serves for storing potatoes.
The potatoe-cellar is sunk two thirds of its depth
in the earth, and the bee-house is raised upon it,
having a couple of steps up to the door. The di-
mensions of both are seven feet six inches by six
feet clear within, which affords room for five co-
lonies.

The piles or stories of bee-boxes are placed in
the bee-house at somewhat less than two feet
apart, so as to make the external entrance to each
pile respectively, about a yard asunder. — See the
plate which forms the frontispiece of this work.

THE BEE-HOUSE. 53

On the inside of the bee-house, the boxes in
the upper row stand about table height, those in
the lower row, about six inches above the floor.
On the outside, the entrances to the upper row
are about five feet, the entrances to the lower row
about three feet from the ground. The entrances
through the wall may be cut in stone, bricks or
wood, and should be chamfered away on the out-
side, leaving the wall at those parts as thin as
practicable, and letting the opening correspond in
size with the outlets that are sunk in the floor
boards to be hereafter described. The potatoe-
cellar is built with bricks, the bee-house of timber,
lathed and plastered within, and thatched on the
outside.

Where the bees enter the boxes, two wooden
shelves or resting boards are fixed, two or three
inches thick, to prevent warping ; they extend the
whole length of the building, are about a foot
wide, and rest on cross pieces, nailed fast to the
uprights with which the bee-house is built : these
cross pieces extend also about fifteen inches into
the bee-house, where they serve as supporters for
the shelves on which the bee-boxes are placed.
The resting boards on the outside are divided, by
bricks on the edge, into several compartments, as
shown in the frontispiece; the bricks extend
the full width of the resting board, and all the
compartments are slated over. By this means the

54 THE BEE-HOUSE.

entrances are well sheltered, and accommodation
is afforded for the bees, when they are at any time
driven home, by stress of weather, in greater
numbers than can readily pass through the en-
trances into the boxes ; for on the approach of a
storm, the bees will sometimes return home from
the fields, in such numbers and with such precipi-
tation, as almost to block up the entrances into
the hives.

The building is not only thatched on the top,
but down the sides and ends, as low as the pota-
toe-cellar. On that side where the bees enter the
boxes, the thatch of course terminates at the top
of the compartments, over which it is spread out
so as to conceal the slate coverings. The floor
of the bee-house is boarded and the potatoe-cellar
is ceiled, the space between the ceiling and the
floor above being filled with dry sawdust. The
door may be situated where most convenient ; but
the window or windows should be at one end or at
both ends, that the light may fall sideways on the
bee-boxes, and should be made to open, as in case
of any of the bees accidentally getting into the
bee-house, they may be let out more conveniently.

It is necessary to have an extra entrance, or
rather an extra outlet, for discharging the bees
when the time of deprivation arrives, which will
be hereafter explained. My own outlet is placed
in a line with and between the lower tier of boxes.

PASTURAGE. 55

CHAPTER IV.

PASTURAGE.

IT is of the first importance to the success of an
apiary, that it should be in a neighbourhood
where the bees can be supplied with an abundance
of good pasturage, as upon that will depend the
fecundity of the queen and the harvest of wax and
honey.

If Dutch clover (Trifolium repens) be neither
grown abundantly by the neighbouring farmers, nor
the spontaneous growth of the surrounding country,
the apiarian should, if possible, crop some ground
with it himself, as it is one of the grand sources
from which bees collect their honey in the spring,
and indeed during a considerable portion of the
principal gathering season. From the value of
clover in this respect, one species of it (Trifolium
pratense) has acquired the name of Honey-suckle
clover. Yellow trefoil also (Medicago lupulind),
though not so great a favourite with the bees as
Dutch clover, is nevertheless a valuable pasturage
for them, in consequence of its blossoming earlier
than the clover.

Though I have made Dutch clover take prece-
dence of every other bee pasturage, — a precedence
which in this country at least it is fairly entitled

56 PASTURAGE.

to, — yet it is by no means the first in the order
^of the seasons.

" First the gray willow's glossy pearls they steal,
Or rob the hazel of its golden meal,
While the gay crocus and the violet blue
Yield to the flexile trunk ambrosial dew." EVANS.

The earliest resources of the bee are the willow,
the hazel, the osier, the poplar, the sycamore and
the plane, all which are very important adjuncts to
the neighbourhood of an apiary. The catkins of
several of them afford an abundant supply of
farina, and attract the bees very strongly in early
spring when the weather is fine. Mr. Kirby, in
his Monographia Apum Anglice, considers the
female catkins of the different species of Salix as
affording honey, the male ones, pollen.

To these may be added the snowdrop, the crocus,
white alyssum, laurustinus, &c.

Orange and lemon trees also, and other green-
house plants, afford excellent honey, and might be
advantageously presented to the bees at this
season.

Gooseberry, currant and raspberry trees likewise,
with sweet marjoram, winter savory and peppermint,
should not be far off them. From the early
blossoming of the two first, and from their
yielding an extraordinary quantity of honey, they
form some of the first sources of spring food for

PASTURAGE. 57

the bees, and in all probability furnish them with
the pale green pellets, then seen upon their thighs.

The peachy nectarine, &c. are also valuable, on
account of their blossoming very early.

Apple and pear trees, which in Worcestershire
and Herefordshire, during several weeks of spring,
seem to form

" One boundless blush, one white empurpled shower
Of mingled blossoms,"

and give those counties the appearance of a per-
fect paradise, " may be said to constitute a second
course for the bees, after their earlier spring feast
on the bloom of the currants, gooseberries, and all
the varieties of wall fruit."

Alder buds and flowers are also particularly
grateful to bees ; the former are said to afford
honey for six months together. The maple and
the lime also afford it for a considerable time.

Dickson, in his " Agriculture," states that the
blossoms of the bean, which are highly fragrant,
though affording but a scanty supply of honey,
are nevertheless frequented by crowds of bees.
" Is this," says Dr. Evans, " an instance of mis-
taken instinct ?"

The young spotted leaves of the vetch (Anthyllis

vulneraria) they likewise ply continually for three

months together, as well as its flowers, even though

very distant from their homes. The beans also

D 5

58 PASTURAGE.

which prove most attractive to them are those
with spotted leaves.

From the partiality of these natural chemists
for the spotted leaves of the vetch and bean, I
suspect that the spotting originates from disease,
which causes those leaves to throw out a honeyed
secretion. In this opinion I am strengthened by
what Mr. Hubbard has stated, in a paper pre-
sented to the Society of Arts for 1799, respecting
papilionaceous plants. "It is not," says he, "from
the flower, but a small leaf, with a black spot on
it, which, in warm weather, keeps constantly
oozing, that the bees gather their honey." Mr.
Hubbard also assures us in the same paper that
the tare (Ervum hirsutum et tetraspermuni) is
highly useful to bees ; and that several acres, sown
near his apiary, otherwise badly situated, rendered
it very productive.

Turnips, mustard, and all the cabbage tribe are
also important auxiliaries ; their culture is strongly
recommended by Wildman, as affording spring food
to the bees. In the autumn afield of buckwheat be-
comes a very valuable resource for them, from its
prolonged succession of bloom. Buckwheat flowers
in bunches, which contain ripe seeds in one part,
while blossoms are but just opening in another.
Huber has given his testimony in favour of this
black grain, and Worlidge says that he has known
the bees of a very large apiary fill the combs with

PASTURAGE. 59

honey in a fortnight, in consequence of being
placed near a large field of buckwheat. Bees
indeed like to have every thing upon a large scale ;
whole fields of clover, beans, the brassica tribe
and buckwheat, as has been just observed, attract-
ing them much more strongly than scattered
plants, though affording finer honey, such as
creeping lemon thyme, mignonette, &c.

Some flowers they pass by, though yielding a
considerable quantity of honey : those of the honey-
suckle for instance, though much frequented by
the humble-bee, are never visited by the hive-bee,
the superior length of the proboscis of the former
enabling it to collect what is quite out of the reach
of the latter. Every flower of the trumpet honey-
suckle (Lonicera sempervirens), if separated from
the germen, after it is open, will yield two or
three drops of pure nectar.

In the Transactions of the Society of Arts for
1789, Mr. John. Lane speaks of the fondness of
bees for leek blossoms, and says that he raised
leeks extensively for their use.

" Your bees will rejoice," says Mr. Isaac, " when
they see the neighbourhood variegated by the
blossoms of sunflowers, hollyhocks and Spanish
broom, and even the dandelion, which embellishes
the garden of the sluggard." Dr. Evans observed
that bees not only collect farina from the numerous
asemblage of anthers in the flower of the holly-

60 PASTURAGE.

hock, but a balsamic varnish also, (most likely
propolis,) From the young blossom buds, and says
he has seen a bee rest upon the same bud for ten
minutes at least, moulding the balsam with its fore
feet and transferring it to the hinder legs. An
elegant modern writer, speaking of the fondness
of bees in general for the flowers of the hollyhock,
observes that " it has been held a gross libel upon
animals to say, that a man has made a beast of
himself, when he has drunk to such excess as to
lose his reason ; but we might without injustice
say, that he has made a humble-bee of himself,
for those little debauchees are particularly prone
to intoxication. Round the nectaries of holly-
hocks, you may generally observe a set of deter-
mined topers quaffing as pertinaciously as if they
belonged to Wilkes's club ; and round about the
flower, (to follow up the simile,) several of the
bon-vivants will be found lying on the ground
inebriated and insensible." I have frequently
seen the ground beneath one of my pear-trees
strewed over with hive-bees and wasps, in a
similar state, after they had banqueted upon the
rich juices of the fallen fruit. Mr. Kirby, in his
Monographia Apum Anglice^ observes that the
male humble-bees, when the thistles are in bloom,
are often seen asleep or torpid upon its flowers,
and sometimes acting as if intoxicated with the
sweets they have been imbibing.

PASTURAGE. 61

The holly, the privet, phillyrea, elder and com-
mon bramble, together with sweet fennel, nastur-
tiums and asparagus, are also much frequented by
the bees. They are likewise very partial to the
yellow flowers of the crowfoot, as well as to the
flowers of the dead nettle, especially the white.

The blossoms of the cucumber, gourd and vege-
table marrow also, yield a considerable quantity
both of honey and farina, as do likewise those of
the white lily.

" Apes sestate serena

Floribus insidunt variis, et Candida circum
Lilia funduntur." VIRGIL.

Dr. Evans speaks of the Cacalia or Alpine
coltsfoot as affording a great quantity of honey,
the scent of which is often diffused to a consider-
able distance ; and Dr. Darwin, in a note to his
" Botanic Garden," mentions having counted on
one of those plants, besides bees of various kinds,
upwards of two hundred painted butterflies, which
gave it the appearance of being loaded with
additional flowers.

" When o'er her nectar'd couch papilios crowd,
And bees in clusters hum their plaudits loud." EVANS.

" What is it," says the anonymous writer whom
I lately quoted, " that brings the bees buzzing
round us so busily ? See, it is this tuft of colts-
foot, which they approach with a harmonious

62 PASTURAGE.

chorus, somewhat like the Non nobis, Domine, of
our singers ; and after partaking silently of the luxu-
rious banquet, again setup their tuneful Paeans."

Ornamental flowers, such as roses, ranunculuses,
anemones, pinks and carnations, afford little or no
pabulum for bees, and tulips are probably per-
nicious to them, dead bees being frequently found
in their flowers.

It would be a great acquisition to the bees to
have near them a large plantation of borage, which
affords peculiarly delicate honey, as does also
viper's bugloss. The former continues blooming
for many months, and, bearing a pendant flower,
it is not liable to be washed by rain ; mignonette
too, if sown abundantly, is a plant of consider-
able importance to the apiary, and for a somewhat
similar reason, — its continuing in bloom till the
autumnal frosts set in, and its yielding honey of
peculiar whiteness and delicacy. Instances have
been known, of an abundant crop of these two
flowers affording a large supply of honey to the
apiary, near which they were sown, when, at the
same time, there was a general failure of all the
neighbouring stocks.

Lemon thyme should be planted in every bee-
garden, wherever room can be afforded for it : it
blossoms late, (the beginning of August,) and
affords very fine flavoured honey. It might be
advantageously used as an edging for garden walks

PASTURAGE. 63

and flower-beds, instead of box ; some use thrift
and daisies for the same purpose. Box has the
character of giving honey a bitter flavour, and
Pliny has observed that the Romans, in laying
tribute upon Corsica, exacted from the inhabitants
two hundred pounds of wax, but wholly excepted
honey, on account of its being flavoured by the
box-tree.

The common teasel (Dipsacus sylvestris) should
have a place near every bee -house, as it not only
supplies honey from its rich purple heads, but
yields a seasonable supply of water, in the cups
formed by the leaves at every joint of the stem,
which contain from a spoonful to half a pint of
water. This convenience is still more efficiently
supplied by the large floating leaves of the water
lily, which should if practicable be introduced
near every apiary. As should also the great hairy
willow-herb (Epilobium hirsutum), a very ornamen-
tal though a very common plant, growing by the
sides of rivulets.

Furze, broom, heath and saintfoin, are good
neighbours to an apiary. The blossoms of furze
so abound with honey as to be pervaded strongly
by the scent of it, and the broom has been extolled
ever since the days of Pliny. Mr. Bradley speaks
in the highest terms of its blossoms, as affording
a great quantity of honey ; but he greatly prefers
the Spanish broom, and says that an acre of it

PASTURAGE.

would maintain ten stocks. The culture of saint-
foin as a bee-pasture is also well worthy of the
apiarian's attention in some situations ; for though
it flourishes best in a calcareous soil, it will thrive
in soils which are too poor either for grass or til-
lage. Furze and broom are particularly service-
able on account of their blossoming early and
long, and abounding in farina.

On the other hand, the lateness of its bloom
makes ivy a very valuable resource for the bees.
On a fine day at the end of October, among the
ivy-mantled towers of an old castle, I have heard
their humming noise, so loud as scarcely to be
exceeded by that which they make, among the
trees affected with honey-dew, in summer. I
should however conceive that the ivy blossom is
principally serviceable as affording pollen, which
the bees probably warehouse, for feeding the
young larvae in the ensuing spring. Mr. Hunter
recommends St. John's wort (Hypericum perfora-
tum\ which also comes in late, as a favourite
plant for collecting pollen, for winter's store. This
stored pollen is used for feeding the earliest
hatched larvae, though it is evident that the bees
prefer fresh for the purpose, from their collecting
it as early in the spring as possible, and from the
quantity of stored pollen that is found in every
old hive.

Commons surrounded by moods are well known

PASTURAGE. 65

to make an apiary productive, the commons
abounding with wild thyme and various other
flowers, which the scythe never touches ; and the
trees, in addition to their farina, affording in some
seasons a profusion of honey-dew. The forward-
ness and activity of hives thus situated, may, in
part, be attributed to the sheltering protection of
the woods.

Keys says he never observed bees to be par-
ticularly fond of the wild thyme. In this he is
opposed to almost all the authors who have
written upon the subject. Theophrastus, Pliny,
Varro, Columella, and various other writers, speak
in the highest terms of it. The Abbe Barthelemy
speaks thus of bees. "These insects are ex-
tremely partial to Mount Hymettus, which they
have filled with their colonies, and which is covered
almost every where with wild thyme and other
odoriferous plants ; but it is chiefly from the
excellent thyme the Mount produces, that they
extract those precious sweets, with which they
compose a honey in high estimation throughout
Greece."

" Here their delicious task the fervent Bees,
In swarming millions, tend : around, athwart,
Through the soft air the busy nations fly,
Cling to the bud, and, with inserted tube,
Suck its pure essence, its ethereal soul ;
And oft with bolder wing, they soaring dare

66 PASTURAGE.

The purple heath, or where the wild thyme grows,
And yellow load them with the luscious spoil."

THOMSON.

That flowers impart a portion of their flavour
to honey, seems to be generally admitted, though
probably not so much as some have imagined. It
is not to be supposed that the bee confines it-
self, in this country at least, to a few particular
flowers, — it ranges through a great variety ; ex-
cellent honey has been produced where the bees
had little access to any flowers but those of nettles
and other weeds.

Still however the balm of Pontus, the thyme of
Hymettus, and the rosemary of Narbonne, are ge-
nerally supposed, from their aromatic flowers, to
give its peculiar excellence to the celebrated
honey of those places.

It should seem therefore that rosemary might
prove of importance in the neighbourhood of an
apiary, by improving the quality and increasing
the quantity of honey in certain seasons, viz.
if the weather were very hot and dry, when it
blossomed ; for it never affords much honey in
this country, excepting in such a season. It blos-
soms the earliest of aromatic herbs, and should
of course be planted in a southern aspect.

Having said thus much upon the power which
flowers possess of imparting a peculiar flavour to

PASTURAGE. 67

the honey which is extracted from them, I will
now advert to what has been stated relative to
their impregnating it with deleterious qualities.
During the celebrated retreat of the ten thousand,
as recorded by Xenophon in his Memorabilia, the
soldiers sucked some honey-combs in a place near
Trebizonde, where was a great number of bee-
hives, and in consequence became intoxicated,
and were attacked with vomiting and purging.
He states that they did not recover their senses
for twenty-four hours, nor their strength for three
or four days. Tournefort, when travelling in Asia,
bearing in mind this account of Xenophon, was very
diligent in his endeavours to ascertain its truth,
and had good reason to be satisfied respecting it.
He concluded that the honey had been extracted
from a shrub growing in the neighbourhood of
Trebizonde, which is well known to produce the
before-mentioned effects, and even to disturb the
head by its odour. From his description and
that of others, the plant from which this honey
was extracted, appears to be the Rhododendron
ponticum or A zalea pontica of Linnaeus, both nearly
allied to each other, and growing abundantly in
that part of the country. The smell resembles
honey-suckle, but is much stronger. Father Lam-
berti confirms Xenophon's account, by stating
similar effects to have been produced by the

68 PASTURAGE.

honey of Colchis or Mingrelia, where this shrub
is also common.

Dr. Darwin, in his " Temple of Nature," states
that some plants afford a honey which is intoxi-
cating and poisonous to man, and that what is
afforded by others is so injurious to the bees them-
selves, that sometimes they will not collect it.
And Dr. Barton, in the American Philosophical
Transactions, has stated that, in the autumn and
winter of 1790, the honey collected near Phila-
delphia proved fatal to many, in consequence of
which, a minute inquiry was instituted under the
direction of the American Government, when it
was ascertained satisfactorily, that the fatal honey
had been chiefly extracted from the flowers of the
Kalmia latifolia. Still more recently, two persons
at New York are said to have lost their lives by
eating wild honey, which was supposed to have
been gathered from the flowers of the dwarf laurel,
a thriving shrub in the American woods. I shall
resume this subject in Chap. 24, on Bee-ma-
ladies.

It appears also thst at the time of the inquiry
set on foot by the American Government, similar
fatal consequences were produced among those
who had eaten the common American pheasant,
which, on examination, was found to arise from
the pheasants having fed upon the leaves of the

PASTURAGE. 69

same plant Kalmia latifolia. This led to a public
proclamation prohibiting the use of the pheasant
for food during that season.

As most of the plants here enumerated are
now introduced into our gardens, they might be
supposed to injure the British honey. Most pro-
bably, however, their proportion to the whole of
the flowers in bloom is too small to produce any
such inconvenience ; whereas on their native con-
tinent they exclusively cover whole tracts of
country.

I cannot close this chapter on Bee-Pasturage,
without adverting to what Linnaeus has said of
the Fritillaria imperialis or crown imperial, and of
the Melianthus or honey -flower. Of the former,
he observes that " no plant, melianthus alone ex-
cepted, abounds so much with honey, yet the bees
do not collect it." Of the latter he remarks " that
if it be shaken, whilst in flower, it distils a shower
of nectar." This observation applies more parti-
cularly to the Melianthus major. And with re-
spect to the Fritillaria^ Dr. Evans says, " that the
bees do sometimes visit it ; and he thinks that they
would do so oftener, but for the disagreeable fox-
like smell that emanates from it."

The liquidambar and liriodendrum or tulip-tree,
both which are so ornamental, the former to our
shrubberies and the latter to larger plantations,
have been much extolled, as affording food for

70 PASTURAGE.

bees. The liquidambar bears bright saffron-co-
loured flowers, and highly perfumed and glossy
leaves, and its whole rind exudes a fragrant gum.
The liriodendrum is crowned with large bell-
shaped blossoms, of every rainbow hue, which
give it a very splendid appearance.

HONEY-DEW. 71

CHAPTER V.
HONEY-DEW.

THE term HONEY-DEW is applied to those sweet
clammy drops that glitter on the foliage of many
trees in hot weather. The name of this substance
would seem to import, that it is a deposition from
the atmosphere, and this has been the generally
received opinion respecting it, particularly among
the ancients ; it is an opinion still prevalent among
the husbandmen, who suppose it to fall from the
heavens : VIRGIL speaks of " Aerii mellis coelestia
dona :" and PLINY expresses his doubts, " sive
ille est cceli sudor, sive qusedam siderum saliva,
sive purgantis se ae'ris succus." The Rev. GIL-
BERT WHITE, in his Naturalist's Calendar, regards
honey-dew as the effluvia of flowers, evaporated
and drawn up into the atmosphere by the heat of
the weather, and falling down again in the night
with the dews that entangle them. But if this
were the case, the fall would be indiscriminate,
and we should not have it confined to particular
trees and shrubs, nor would it be found upon
green-house and other covered plants. Some na-
turalists have regarded honey-dew as an exuda-
tion or secretion from the surface of those leaves
upon which it is found, produced by some atmo-

72 HONEY-DEW.

spheric stroke, which has injured their health.
Dr. DARWIN stands in this class. Others have
viewed it as a kind of vegetable perspiration,
which the trees emit for their relief in sultry
weather ; its appearance being never observed in
a cold ungenial summer. Dr. EVANS is of this
opinion, and makes the following comparative re-
mark : " As the glutinous sweat of the negro
enables him to bear the fervours of his native
clime, far better than the lymph-perspiring Euro-
pean ; so the saccharine dew of the orange, and
the fragrant gum of the Cretan cistus, may pre-
serve them amidst the heats even of the torrid
zone." Mr. CURTIS has given it as his opinion
that the honey-dew is an excrementitious matter,
voided by the aphis or vine-fretter, an insect
which he regards as the general cause of what are
called blights. He assures us that he never, in a
single instance, observed the honey-dew unat-
tended with aphids.

I believe it will be found that there are at least
two sorts of honey-dew ; the one a secretion from the
surface of the leaf, occasioned by one of the causes
just alluded to, the other a deposition from the body
of the aphis. Sir J. E. SMITH observes of the
sensible perspiration of plants, that " when watery,
it can be considered only as a condensation of
their insensible evaporation, perhaps from some
sudden change in the atmosphere. Groves of

HONEY-DEW. 73

poplar or willow exhibit this phenomenon, even
in England, in hot calm weather, when drops of
clear water trickle from their leaves, like a slight
shower of rain. Sometimes this secretion is of a
saccharine nature, as DE LA HIRE observed in
orange trees." " It is somewhat glutinous in the
tilia or lime tree, rather resinous in poplars, as
well as in Cistus creticus." " Ovid has made an
elegant use of the resinous exudations of Lom-
bardy poplars, which he supposes to be the tears
of Phaeton's sisters, who were transformed into
those trees. Such exudations must be considered
as effusions of the peculiar secretions ; for it has
been observed that manna may be scraped from
the leaves of Fraxmus ornus, as well as be pro-
cured from its stem by incision. They are often
perhaps a sign of unhealthiness in the plant ; at
least such appears to be the nature of one kind of
honey-dew, found in particular upon the beech,
which, in consequence of an unfavourable wind,
has its leaves often covered with a sweet exuda-
tion, similar in flavour to the liquor obtained from
its trunk. So likewise the hop, according to LIN-
NAEUS, is affected with the honey-dew, and its
flowers are rendered abortive, in consequence of
the attacks of the caterpillar of the Ghost moth
(Phalcena Humuli) upon its roots. In such case
the saccharine exudation must decidedly be of a
morbid nature."

74 HONEY-DEW.

The other kind of honey-dew which is derived
from the aphis, appears to be the favourite food
of ants, and is thus spoken of by Messrs. KIRBY
and S PENCE, in their late valuable Introduction to
Entomology. " The loves of the ants and the
aphides have long been celebrated ; and that there
is a connexion between them you may at any
time in the proper season, convince yourself; for
you will always find the former very busy on
those trees and plants on which the latter abound ;
and if you examine more closely, you will discover
that the object of the ants, in thus attending upon
the aphides, is to obtain the saccharine fluid se-
creted by them, which may well be denominated
their milk. This fluid, which is scarcely inferior
to honey in sweetness, issues in limpid drops from
the abdomen of these insects, not only by the or-
dinary passage, but also by two setiform tubes
placed, one on each side, just above it. Their
sucker being inserted in the tender bark, is with-
out intermission employed in absorbing the sap,
which, after it has passed through the system,
they keep continually discharging by these organs.
When no ants attend them, by a certain jerk of
the body, which takes place at regular intervals,
they ejaculate it to a distance." The power of
ejecting the fluid from their bodies, seems to have
been wisely instituted to preserve cleanliness in
each individual fly, and indeed for the preserva-

HONEY-DEW. 75

tion of the whole family ; for pressing as they do
upon one another, they would otherwise soon be
glued together, and rendered incapable of stirring.
" When the ants are at hand, watching the moment
at which the aphides emit their fluid, they seize
and suck it down immediately: this however is
the least of their talents ; for the ants absolutely
possess the art of making the aphides yield it at
their pleasure ; or in other words of milking them."
The ant ascends the tree, says Linnaeus, that it
may milk its cows the aphides, not kill them.
Huber informs us that the liquor is voluntarily
given out by the aphis, when solicited by the ant,
the latter tapping the aphis gently, but repeatedly
with its antennae, and using the same motions as
when caressing its own young. He thinks, when
the ants are not at hand to receive it, that the
aphis retains the liquor for a longer time, and
yields it freely and apparently without the least
detriment to itself, for even when it has acquired
wings, it shows -no disposition to escape. A single
aphis supplies many ants with a plentiful meal.
The ants occasionally form an establishment for
their aphides, constructing a building in a secure
place, at a distance from their own city, to which,
after fortifying it, they transport those insects, and
confine them under a guard, like cows upon a
dairy farm, to supply the wants of the metropolis.
The aphides are provided with a hollow pointed
E 2

76 HONEY-DEW.

proboscis, folded under the breast, when the in-
sects are not feeding, with which instrument they
puncture the turgid vessels of the leaf, leaf-stalk
or bark, and suck with great avidity their contents,
which are expelled nearly unchanged, so that how-
ever fabulous it may appear, they may literally be
said to void a liquid sugar. On looking steadfastly
at a group of these insects (Aphides Salicis) while
feeding on the bark of the willow, their superior
size enables us to perceive some of them elevating
their bodies and emitting a transparent substance
in the form of a small shower.

" Nor scorn ye now, fond elves, the foliage sear,
When the light aphids, arm'd with puny spear,
Probe each emulgent vein till bright below
Like falling stars, clear drops of nectar glow."

EVANS,

The willow accommodates the bees in a kind of
threefold succession, the farina of the flowers
yielding spring food for their young, — the bark
giving out propolis for sealing the hives of fresh
swarms, — and the leaves shining with honey-dew
in the midst of summer scarcity. But to return
to the aphides. " These insects may also be seen
distinctly, with a strong magnifier, on the leaves
of the hazel, lime, &c. but invariably on the infe-
rior surface, piercing the vessels, and expelling
the honey-dew from their hinder parts with con-
siderable force." " These m'ght easily have es-

HONEY-DEW. 77

caped the observation of the earlier philosophers,
being usually concealed within the curl of the
leaves that are punctured." The drops that are
spurted out, unless intercepted by the surrounding
foliage, or some other interposing body, fall upon
the ground, and the spots may often be observed,
for some time, beneath the trees affected with
honey-dew, till washed away by the rain. When
the leaves of the kidney-bean are affected by
honey-dew, their surface assumes the appearance
of having been sprinkled with soot.

Honey-dew usually appears upon the leaves, as
a viscid, transparent substance, sweet as honey,
sometimes in the form of globules, at others re-
sembling a syrup, and is generally most abundant
from the middle of June to the middle of July.

It is found chiefly upon the oak, the elm, the
maple, the plane, the sycamore, the lime, the hazel
and the blackberry ; occasionally also on the cherry,
currant, and other fruit trees. Sometimes only
one species of trees is affected at a time. The
oak generally affords the largest quantity. At
the season of its greatest abundance, the happy
humming noise of the bees may be heard at a con-
siderable distance from the trees, sometimes nearly
equalling in loudness the united hum of swarming.
Of the plane there are two sorts ; the oriental and
the occidental, both highly ornamental trees, and

78 HONEY-DEW.

much regarded in hot climates for the cooling
shade they afford.

" Jamque ministrantem Platanum potantibus umbram."

VIRGIL.

The ancients so much respected the former that
they used to refresh its roots with wine instead of
water, believing, as Sir William Temple has ob-
served, that " this tree loved that liquor, as well as
those who used to drink under its shade."

" Crevit et affuso latior umbra mero." VIRGIL.

.

The sycamore has been discarded from the situa-
tion it used formerly to hold, near the mansions
of the convivial, owing to the bees crowding to
banquet on its profusion of honey-dew, and occa-
sioning an early fall of its leaves. The lime or
linden tree has been regarded as doubly acceptable
to the bees, on account of its fragrant blossoms
and its honey-dewed leaves appearing both to-
gether, amidst the oppressive heats of the dog-
days ; but it seems doubtful whether the flowers
have any attraction but their fragrance, as they
are said to have no honey-cup.

It is of great importance to apiarians who re-
side in the vicinity of such trees as are apt to be
affected with honey-dew, to keep their bees on
the storifying plan, where additional room can at
all times be provided for them at pleasure, as

HONEY-DEW. 79

during the time of a honey-dew, more honey will
be collected in one week than will be afforded by
flowers in several. So great is the ardour of the
bees on these occasions, and so rapid are their
movements, that it is often dangerous to be placed
betwixt the hives and the dews.

That species of honey-dew which is secreted
from the surface of the leaves, appears to have
been first noticed by the ABBE BOISSIER DE SAU-
VAGES. He observed it upon the old leaves of
the holm-oak and upon those of the blackberry,
but not upon the young leaves of either ; and he
remarked at the same time, that neighbouring
trees of a different sort were exempt from it :
among these latter he noticed the mulberry tree,
"which," says he, "is a very particular circum-
stance, for this juice " (honey-dew) " is a deadly
poison to silk- worms."

Some years do not afford any honey-dew, it
generally occurs pretty extensively once in four
or five years.

80 PURCHASE OF BEES.

CHAPTER VI.
PURCHASE OF BEES.

EVERY one who meditates the establishment of
an apiary, should be able to distinguish a good
from a bad hive of bees, that he may detect impo-
sition, if it should be attempted, when he is pur-
chasing his first swarms or stocks. Bees are
commonly purchased in the spring or in the au-
tumn. The value of a hive of bees, purchased
in the spring, if it be a recent swarm, may be
ascertained by its weight, which should not be
less than four or five pounds, on the day of swarm-
ing. But the weight alone, of a stock hive, is not
a criterion of its worth ; several other circum-
stances are to be considered, — for the worst stock
hives often weigh the heaviest. Still if a stock
hive be a swarm of the current year, which is al-
ways desirable, weight may be regarded in a
great degree, as a criterion of value, its quan-
tity of heterogeneous matters being probably in-
considerable. Such a hive, purchased in the au-
tumn, should not weigh less than from twenty-five
to thirty pounds, and should contain about half a
bushel of bees.

There are surer grounds, however, upon which
its value may be determined.

PURCHASE OF BEES. 81

1st. The combs should be of a pale colour, as
dark ones denote age ; though even in this there
may be deception, for old combs may be length-
ened out and bordered with new wax.

2dly. The combs should be worked down to
the floor of the hive.

Srdly. The interstices of the combs should be
crowded with bees.

All these points may be safely ascertained, by
gently turning up the hive in an evening, when
the bees are at rest. It may be well also to notice
the proceedings of the bees in the day-time. If
when they quit the hive, to range the fields, they
depart in quick succession and without lingering
about ; and if the entrance be well guarded by
sentinels ; these are pretty sure indications of a
prosperous hive.

The hive, when purchased, should be raised
gently from the stool, some hours prior to its re-
moval, and be supported by wedges, that the bees
may not cluster on the floor, as this would be
productive of inconvenience at the time of their
removal. After being wedged up, the hive should
remain undisturbed till night, when, being placed
upon a proper board, it should be carried away
carefully, and placed at once where it is intended
to remain, unless it be a recent swarm which is to
be removed into a box. — The mode of proceeding
in this case will be noticed hereafter.
E 5

82 PURCHASE OF BEES.

The bees of a hive, recently removed, if pur-
chased of a near neighbour, or if the weather be
cold, should be confined for a day or two, or else
many of them, after flying about in quest of pro-
vision, will be lost ; in the one case, by returning
to their old habitation, and in the other, by being
chilled to death, in searching for their new one.

BEE-BOXES. 83

CHAPTER VII.
BEE-BOXES.

THERE has been some difference of opinion as to
the most suitable dimensions of bee-boxes. I pre-
fer those of Keys, which are twelve inches square
and nine inches deep, in the clear. The best wood
for them is red cedar, the fragrance of which is
regarded by some as agreeable to the bees ; but
the chief grounds of preference are its effect in
keeping moths out of the boxes, and its being a
bad conductor of heat, from its lightness and
sponginess. Whatever kind of wood be made
use of, it should be well seasoned ; yellow deal
answers the purpose very well. The sides of the
boxes should be an inch thick, and the bars on
the top three quarters of an inch, about an inch
and half wide, and six in number, which will leave
an interspace between each of about half an inch.
At the back of each box, a pane of glass should
be fixed in a small rabbet, which may be covered
with a half inch door, hung with wire hinges and
fastened by a button.

BEE-BOXES.

The size of the door may be suited to the wishes
of the apiarian : as this door will only give a view
of the centre combs, in case of their being con-
structed in a line with the bars, or of one or more
of the external combs, in case of their being at-
tached at right angles with the bars or diagonally,
it will be desirable to have a pane of glass in each
side also, that the proprietor may be enabled to
judge at any time of the stock of honey contained
in the box. These small glass windows will sel-
dom do more than afford the proprietor an oppor-
tunity of ascertaining the strength of his stock of
bees, and the quantity of honey they have in store ;
if he wish to see more particularly the operations
of the labourers, or to witness the survey which
the queen now and then takes of them, he may
have a large bell-glass, surmounted by a straw-
hive, which latter may be occasionally raised, for
the purpose of inspection.

" By this blest art our ravish'd eyes behold,
The singing Masons build their roofs of gold,

BEE-BOXES. 85

And mingling multitudes perplex the view,

Yet all in order apt their tasks pursue ;

Still happier they, whose favour'd ken hath seen

Pace slow and silent round, the state's fair queen.'*

EVANS.

An opportunity of beholding the proceedings
of the queen is so very rarely afforded, that many
apiarians have passed their lives without enjoying
it ; and Reaumur himself, even with the assistance
of a glass-hive, acknowledges that he was many
years before he had that pleasure. Those who have
been so fortunate, agree in representing her ma-
jesty as being very slow and dignified in her move-
ments, and as being constantly surrounded by a
guard of about a dozen bees, who seem to pay her
great homage, and always to have their faces turned
towards her, like courtiers, in the presence of
royalty.

" But mark, of royal port, and awful mien,

Where moves with measur'd pace the INSECT QUEEN !
Twelve chosen guards, with slow and solemn gait,
Bend at her nod, and round her person wait." EVANS.

Mr. Dunbar's observations, upon the move-
ments of the queen in his mirror hive, do not
correspond altogether with what is here stated.
He says that he did not find her majesty attended
in her progress by a guard, but that wherever she
moved the way was cleared ; that the heads of
the workers whom she passed upon her route wrere
always turned towards her, that they fawned upon

86 BEE-BOXES.

and caressed her, touching her softly with their
antennae ; but that as soon as she moved onwards,
they resumed their labours, whilst all that she
passed in succession paid her the same homage.
This sort of homage is only paid to fertile queens ;
whilst they continue virgins, they are not treated
with much respect.

The queen is very numerously surrounded, when
depositing her first eggs in the cells, her attend-
ants then cling to one another and form a living
curtain before her, so completely impenetrable to
our eyes, as to preclude all observation of her
proceedings ; unless the apiarian use the leaf-hive
of Huber, or the mirror-hive of Dunbar, it is
hardly possible to snatch a sight of her, excepting
when she lays her eggs near the exterior parts of
the combs. The manner in which bees attach
themselves to each other, when forming a curtain,
or when suspending themselves from a bough, or
taking their repose, is, by each bee, with its two
fore claws, taking hold of the two hinder legs of
the one next above it, thus forming as it were a
perfect grape-like cluster or living garland. Even
when thus intertwined with each other, as Swam-
merdam has observed, they can fly off from the
bunch, and perch on it again, or make their way
out from the very centre of the cluster, and rush
into the air. This mode of suspension, so volun-
tarily adopted, must be agreeable to them, though

BEE-BOXES. 87

the uppermost bees evidently bear the weight of
all the rest. Mr. Wildman supposes that they
have a power of distending themselves with air,
like fishes, by which they acquire buoyancy.

Each set of boxes must have one close cover,
which should be an inch thick and well clamped
at each end to prevent warping, as a considerable
quantity of steam arises from the bees at certain
seasons. The top, being intended to take off and
on, should be secured by means of four screws,
each placed about an inch and a half from the
respective corners ; and it should also be fitted
to, and screwed down upon, all the boxes before
any of them are used, that whenever it may be
necessary to remove, or to add a box, the change
may be effected with the utmost promptitude.
Long taper screws, as nearly of the same size as
possible, should be selected for fastening on the
tops, and be dipped in grease before put in, to fa-
cilitate their removal. Each set of boxes must
also have a loose floor, an inch thick and extend-
ing about an inch and half beyond the back and
sides of the boxes. The outlet for the bees is
usually cut in the lower edge of the boxes, but I
have found it much more convenient to have it
formed by sinking the floor half of its thickness
at the centre of its front edge. The width of the
part sunk should be about four inches, and should
gradually diminish in depth till it reach the centre

88

BEE-BOXES.

of the board. The sloping direction thus given
will, in case of beating rain or condensed steam
falling upon it, prevent any wet from lodging with-
in the hive. The floor must also be clamped at
the ends, to prevent warping, though the superin-
cumbent weight renders it less liable to be warped
than the top. Either on the right or left hand
side of the entrance, as may be most convenient, a
groove must be cut half an inch deep and half an
inch wide ; to this groove a slide must be fitted
(made to run easily), for the purpose of closing the
box, and preventing the egress or ingress of the
bees, as occasion may require.

A centre board between each tier of boxes will
likewise be convenient ; it should be of the same
size as the floor, and have an oblong hole about
six inches by four in the middle, to give, liberty to
the bees to pass from box to box. Apiaries should
always have a few supernumerary boards of each
sort, and also some supernumerary boxes.

BEE-BOXES. 89

As the boxes and boards require to be made
with great accuracy, that they may be nicely
adapted to each other, a good joiner should be
employed to construct them ; for if there be any
crevices the bees will, according to their invariable
custom, fill them with propolis, and thereby waste
their valuable time. The square boxes which I
have described are the simplest of any, in their
form : some persous prefer the octagon or hexa-
gon form ; in some situations, if windows be placed
in the three posterior sides, those forms may be
more convenient for exhibiting the operations of
the bees, or the store of honey in the combs ; but
they are more expensive and more cumbrous, if
made as capacious as the square ones ; and these
latter answer the intended purposes so well, as to
satisfy completely those who have used them.
Although I have endeavoured to give a clear de-
scription of the form and mode of constructing a
bee-box and its appendages, probably it may be
more satisfactory to young beginners to obtain a
sight or a model of them, I refer them therefore
to Mr. Hughes, joiner, Ross, Herefordshire, or to
Mr. John Milton, 10, Great Marybone Street.

I cannot dismiss this part of my subject, with-
out saying a few words respecting the hive of
Huish, which is contrived with the view of allow-
ing the removal of the exterior bars, that support
the honey-combs, without disturbing the brood-

90 BEE-BOXES.

combs. The principle of this hive appears to be
very good, but I doubt whether it will come into
general use ; for as bees are not very tractable
creatures, they are not likely to construct their
combs in direct lines, so as to attach one singly to
each of Mr. Huish's bars : the tops of the boxes
which I use are constructed like Huish's, yet I
never saw an instance in which the combs did not
either cross those bars at right angles, or connect
themselves in some way or other with two or
three bars, so as to render it impracticable to re-
move a comb or two from the outsides, in the
manner that Huish proposes. The sole advan-
tage of Huish's hive consists in this undisturb-
ing mode of removal ; and could it be effected,
honey might be extracted without withdrawing
any of the stored pollen or propolis, or molesting
the brood in the centre combs ; an inconvenience
which, it must be admitted, may be charged upon
the storifying system, though I hope I have, in my
chapter or Deprivation, pointed out a method that
will, in a very great degree, if not entirely, re-
medy this inconvenience. Huish, in his instruc-
tions for using his hives, admits the difficulty
which I have here stated, as to the attachment of
a single comb to more than one bar, and gives
particular directions how to proceed on such oc*
casions ; but even under tolerably favourable cir-
cumstances, the recommended operation would

BEE-BOXES. 91

require considerable nicety, and no small portion
of courage ; in some cases the difficulty would
be completely insurmountable. A hive very si-
milar to that of Huish is described in Wheeler's
Travels. He states it to be in use in the neigh-
bourhood of Mount Hymettus. " The hives,"
says he, " in which they keep their bees, are
made of willow or osiers fashioned like our com-
mon dust-baskets, wide at top and narrow at bot-
tom." " These tops are covered with broad flat
sticks, along which the bees fasten their combs,
so that a comb may be taken out whole." We
are informed, by Reaumur and Du Hamel, that
this Greek method of keeping bees and taking
.honey was introduced into France in 1754. If
it had succeeded, either in France or in this coun-
try, I think we should have heard more of it.

The only way in which I conceive that Huish's
idea can be followed up effectually, is, by employ-
ing the experimental hive of Huber ; but the ma-
jority of persons who undertake the management
of bees, will look to them as a source of profit ;
and to these the expense of such a hive would
render it completely unavailable. Huber 's first
experiments were made in single leaf-hives an
inch and a half wide ; his latter trials, on several
of these connected together, each an inch and a
quarter wide, which left the same room for the
passage of the bees as the single hive. See Chap-

92 BEE-BOXES.

ter xi. Reaumur's hives consisted of wooden
frames, with glass windows, but of such a width,
as to allow the bees to construct two combs pa-
rallel to each other. This form is unfavourable,
inasmuch as it conceals from the observer what-
ever passes between them.

Mr. Thorley, who practised the plan of super-
hiving, surmounted his octagon boxes and flat-
topped hives, with a large bell-glass, over which
he placed a common straw hive, to take on and
off. From an extract which I have made from
Dr. Evans's book in the chapter on Instincts, he
appears to have adopted this method.

It was by the aid of similar glasses that Ma-
raldi was enabled to give to the world so accurate
an account of the natural history and labours of
bees.

" Long from the eye of man and face of day,
Involv'd in darkness all their customs lay,
Until a Sage, well vers'd in Nature's lore,
A genius form'd all science to explore,
Hives well contriv'd in crystal frames dispos'd,
And there the busy citizens inclos'd."

MURPHY'S VANIERE.

Wildman also, in addition to his usual mode of
keeping bees, upon the storifying plan, occasion-
ally employed flat-topped hives surmounted by a
large bell-glass ; and at the close of his Treatise
we are informed that he had latterly adopted

BEE-BOXES. 93

another method of super-hiving, which is still
practised by apiarians of the present day. In-
stead of employing one large glass, he made use
of four or Jive small ones> each holding about a
pint ; and those who are fond of using honey fresh
from the hive, will find this a convenient mode of
keeping their bees, though probably not so pro-
fitable a one as the general plan of storifying. A
stock of these hives and glasses, on the most ap-
proved construction, is kept constantly ready
for sale at Mr. John Milton's, 10, Great Mary-
bone Street. The bees, upon this plan, are
hived in the usual way, the top board being kept
closed, till the glasses are placed over it, which
may be done as soon as convenient after the hive
has been put in the situation in which it is intend-
ed to remain. The glasses and top board should
be covered with a common straw hive, to exclude
the light, as bees are found to work best in the
dark. When the glasses are sufficiently filled
with combs and honey, — and this period will very
much depend upon the season, — if the bees still re-
main in them, placing an empty hive under the
full one will generally cause them to descend,
and facilitate the removal of the glasses, which
may take place as often as the harvest of honey
will admit, consistently with the leaving of a
full winter's supply for the bees. See chapter
on Nadir-hiving. The usual mode of taking

94 BEE-BOXES,

the honey in these glasses is, first to cut off
the communication between them and the hive
on which they stand, by loosening the thumb-
screw in the centre, and turning the board so far
round as to close the openings ; then, by means of
a thin spatula, separating the glasses from their
adhesion, and either carrying them, inverted, a
short distance from the hive, into a shady place,
or raising each glass by means of a wedge, and
leaving it thus for about an hour. In either case
the bees will quit the glasses and return to the
family by the usual entrance. To effect the re-
moval, I think it preferable to use two flat pieces
of tin, after the manner of dividers, placing the
tins successively under each glass, carrying it away
upon one, and leaving the other over the opening
till the glass has been emptied and replaced or
another substituted in its room : and where it is
wished to take only one or two glasses, this mode
must always be adopted. The bees will rarely
fill more than one set of glasses,, during the first
year ; though in future years, if the season be fa-
vourable, they may be expected to fill two sets.
The best time for removal is the middle of a fine
day, when the greatest number of bees are roam-
ing the fields. This method of management will
not prevent the bees from swarming, unless it be
combined with storifying, which it very easily
may.

HIVES. 95

CHAPTER VIII.
HIVES.

BEE-HIVES have been formed with various mate-
rials, the selection of which has depended partly
upon the country or district in which they have
been used, and partly upon the fancy of the api-
arian. Osiers, rushes, segs and straw have all
been in requisition for forming hives, and Bon-
ner, an eminent bee-master in Scotland, proposes
to have them made of earthenware. In North
America, according to Brookes, they are formed
out of the hollow trunks of the liquidambar tree,
cut to a proper length and covered with a board
to keep out the rain : for the same purpose the
people in Apulia use the trunk of the giant fennel,
after clearing away its fungous pith. In Egypt,
says Hasselquist, bee-keepers make their hives of
coal dust and clay, which being well blended to-
gether, is formed into hollow cylinders, of a span
diameter, and from six to twelve feet long ; these
being dried in the sun, become so hard as to be
handled at will. " I saw some thousands of these
hives," says our author, "at a village between
Damietta and Mansora ; they composed a wall
round a house, after having become unserviceable
in the use they were first made for." — Voyages

96 HIVES.

and Travels in the Levant, &c. By Fred. Has*
selquist, B.D.

Under the head of Storifying, I have given a
history of the discovery and progressive improve-
ment of boxes and storifying hives, and shall
chiefly confine myself, in this chapter, to the form
and dimensions of hives. The common bell-
shaped straw hives used by the cottagers are too
well known to need remark. Premising, there-
fore, that the Chelmsford and Hertford hives are
considered as the handsomest shaped and best
formed, I shall limit my observations to the straw
hives which may be employed for storifying, as
some persons may prefer straw to wood. These
have been called Moreton hives, on account of
their form only, the material of which they were
made being reeds and not straw. The best straw
for constructing hives is that of unblighted rye,
and unthrashed is preferable to thrashed straw ;
for being smooth and entire, the bees will be
spared a good deal of trouble, as they invariably
nibble away the rough sharp spiculae that they
find on the inner surface of a new hive. The
ears of corn may be dissevered from the straw
by a chaff-cutter, and thrashed with other corn.
The most approved size for a storifying straw
hive is nine inches high by twelve inches wide, in
the clear, the diameter being the same from top
to bottom. The importance of having all bee-

HIVES. 97

boxes made of the same dimensions has been al-
ready dwelt upon, and it is of course of equal im-
portance with respect to straw hives. The upper
and lower edges should be made as smooth as
possible ; which effect will be greatly promoted,
by placing them, soon after making, between two
flat boards with a 561b. weight upon the upper-
most, and leaving them in that position for a day
or two. Within the upper row of straw, a small
hoop should be worked, for the purpose of nailing
a board or some wooden bars to it, and within
the bottom row a piece of wood should also be
worked over the part where the bees are to pass
in and out, to allow of a more easy movement of
the slide in the floor-board. It would be an im-
provement if the hoop were perforated through
its whole course with a wimble bit, that it might
be stitched with willow or bramble splits, to the
upper round of straw, instead of being worked in
with it ; and if a hoop were also stitched in a simi-
lar manner to the lower round of straw, the lower
edge of it could be planed, sufficiently smooth, to
lie on the middle or floor boards, as closely as a
box, which would render the use of mortar or
other luting unnecessary. The stitch holes in
the hoop should be filled with putty, after the
hive has been finished. If bars be made use of,
they should be of the same width, and placed at
the same distances from each other, as recom-

98 HIVES.

mended for the boxes, and the vacancies, that
would otherwise be left between the ends of the
bars, should be made quite level, with bits of
wood, cow-dung, or any other convenient sub-
stance. If a single board be used, that, of course,
must be cut into bars of the proper widths. The
direction of the bars should always be from front
to back.

Middle boards and floors will be equally required
for storifying hives as for boxes ; but the outside
covers should be made of straw, like round mats,
and be wide enough to extend an inch beyond the
edges of the hives, if used in an out-door apiary.
The whole story should be covered with a good
hackel or cap, secured in its place by an iron
hoop or a properly weighted wooden one, to pre-
vent it from being blown down. As clean fresh
rye straw is most suitable for constructing the
hive itself, so it will be the best for forming the
hackel with : the latter should be changed before
it begins to decay, that it may not become offen-
sive to the bees from its odour, nor be selected
by insects as a nidus for their eggs.

The apiarian, if he be desirous of having glass
windows in his straw hives, may accomplish this
object by cutting with a sharp knife through two
of the bands of straw, in two places, about three
inches asunder. The windows are generally cut
opposite the entrance, and about the centre, but

HIVES. 99

may be made at any part of the hive. The ends
of the cut straw-bands may be secured by stitches
of packthread, or, what is better, with softened
mole snap wire, and the panes of glass may be
fastened with putty.

Out-door hives should have a protection not
only of straw caps, but of a shed also, which if
made open in. front only, would afford much shel-
ter against driving rains and high winds ; but the
most complete shed is made with folding or sli-
ding doors at the back, and is closed at the sides,
and in front, with the exception of such openings
as may be necessary for the entrance of the bees
and for their accommodation in bad weather. This
shed renders hackels unnecessary, and is adapted
either to storifying or single hiving. In the an-
nexed plate is a back view of it, with hives ar-
ranged in different ways.

100 COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF WOODEN

CHAPTER IX.

COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF WOODEN
BOXES AND STRAW HIVES.

MOST of the writers who have instituted a com-
parison between hives and boxes, have decided in
favour of the former. But it is to be recollected
that when forming this decision, these writers have
always had in their minds an out-door apiary,
for which situation, on account of their exposure to
the variations of temperature and the alternations
of drought and moisture, straw hives possess ad-
vantages over wooden boxes ; — they are not so
soon affected by a hot and dry or by a moist at-
mosphere ; they do not part with so much heat
in winter nor admit so much in summer, straw
being, in the language of the chemists, a bad con-
ductor of heat. Being much cheaper than any
others, straw hives are of course chosen by the
cottager.

Upon the storifying system, and with the ad-
vantage of a bee-house, I think wooden boxes
have a great superiority over straw hives ; they
are more firm and steady, better suited for ob-
serving the operations of the bees through the
glass windows in the backs and sides, and less lia-

BOXES AND STRAW HIVES. 101

ble to harbour moths, spiders, and other insects ;
they permit the combs, at the period of depriva-
tion, to be more easily separated from the sides
and tops, and if well made, have a much neater
appearance than straw hives.

102 LEAF HIVES.

CHAPTER X.
LEAF HIVES.

NARROW hives, with large glazed doors on each
side, have been recommended by apiarian wri-
ters, for exposing the operations of bees. That
of REAUMUR was too wide : it allowed the con-
struction of two parallel combs, by which of
course, the apiarian was precluded from making
any useful observations, upon the proceedings of
the bees, in their interspace. BONNET recom-
mended the use of a hive, the doors of which
should be only so far asunder as to allow the
building of one comb between them. This sugges-
tion was successfully adopted by HUBER ; and to
prevent the bees from building short transverse
combs, instead of a single one, parallel to the
sides of the hive, he laid the foundation himself,
by fastening a piece of empty comb to the cieling
of the box.

HUBER'S glass doors had only an interspace of
an inch and half betwixt them : in this hive the
bees could not cluster upon the surfaces of the
comb, and yet had room to pass freely over it.
Mr. JOHN HUNTER recommended the diameter of
these narrow hives to be three inches, and the su-
perficies of the sides to be of sufficient size to

LEAF HIVES.

103

afford stowage for a summer's work. Mr. DUN-
BAR, with his mirror hive, constructed somewhat
like Huber's, has been able to make some interest-
ing observations on the oeconomy of the bee. Vide
Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. iii. The
distance of his glass doors from each other is one
inch and two thirds ; the height and width of the
hive, according to the plan in the Journal, about
a foot. Across the centre of the mirror hive Mr.
Dunbar introduced a light frame, which though
apparently dividing the hive into four compart-
ments, allowed the bees a free passage : they were
skreened from the light by a pair of folding shut-
ters on each side.

Mr. Dunbar hived a small swarm in one of
these narrow boxes, in June 1819: the bees began
to build immediately, and he witnessed the whole
of theii proceedings, every bee being exposed to
his view. The narrowness of their limits con-
strained them, from the very commencement, to
work in divisions, so that four separate portions
of comb were begun and continued nearly at the
same time.

104

LEAF-HIVES.

But this arrangement did not sufficiently employ
these industrious creatures ; for contrary to their
usual mode of building, which is from above down-
wards, they laid two other foundations of comb,
upon the upper parts of the cross sticks.

The bees now wrought upwards and downwards
at the same time, till the originally separate por-
tions were united and become one comb.

For want of proper precautions, the bees of this
hive perished, during the intense cold of January
1820.

On the 25th of March following, Mr. Dunbar
introduced another swarm into the same unicomb
hive ; and so early as the 27th, he saw the queen

LEAF HIVES. 105

laying the eggs of workers. This second swarm
found plenty of honey and farina in the hive, left
by its former tenants. Other particulars reported
by Mr. Dunbar are detailed in the Chapters to
which they belong.

These hives are of course only useful to the
amateur apiarian, who is in quest of information
or amusement.

Huber carried the principle of this hive still
further: he joined several thin boxes together
with hinges : these boxes or wooden frames were
without glasses, and the hinges were so contrived
as to admit of easy removal. Every box or leaf
(as Huber called each separate frame), except the
two exterior, was reduced in thickness to an inch
and quarter, which, as there was a free communi-
cation between all the leaves, afforded the same
liberty for the operations of the bees as the single
box that was an inch and half wide. This con-
trivance gave him the power of opening the leaves
separately, and inspecting the proceedings of the
bees at all times : they soon became accustomed
to this treatment, and M. Huber was thus able to
examine any one of the divisions, without exciting
the anger of the bees. After they had properly
secured the pieces of comb which he had attached
to the roofs of the boxes, they were subjected to
a daily inspection by this indefatigable naturalist.
F 5

106

LEAF HIVES.

The preceding sketches may serve to show my
readers the progressive proceedings of the bees
in the unicomb hive, and the following outline
may give them a notion of the compound hive.

DIVIDERS. 107

CHAPTER XI.
DIVIDERS.

THE apiarian who adopts the storifying plan,
should have Keyss dividers, which consist of two
copper or brass plates, about the sixteenth of an
inch thick, fifteen inches wide, and fifteen and a
half long ; the odd half inch, being turned up,
serves for the operator to lay hold of, when the
plates are withdrawn. Care should be taken that
the plates be perfect planes, well hardened by
hammering, and of proper thickness. If they ex-
ceed the prescribed thickness, the bees may escape
as soon as the plates are partially introduced or
partially withdrawn ; and if they be thinner, there
will be the same chance of escape from their want
of firmness and elasticity.

These dividers greatly facilitate the various
operations which the apiarian has to perform,
and at the same time secure him from the attacks
of the bees.

He should be provided with one of the long-
bladed spatulas or knives, used by apothecaries
and painters, which he will find useful in separa-
ting the honey-combs from the sides of the hives
or boxes. In some cases it will also be necessary
to have an iron instrument, about ten inches long

108 DIVIDERS.

and half an inch wide, the end of which should be
turned up about two inches and be double-edged,
that it may cut both ways. This instrument,
which should be fixed in a wooden handle, being
passed between the combs, will enable the opera-
tor to separate them from their attachment to the
bars.

Those who make use of the Moreton hives, — a
description of which is given in the chapter on
Hives, — should be furnished with two strips of
tin four inches by fifteen ; these will protect the
straw bottoms of the upper hives during the in-
troduction of the dividers, and should be intro-
duced one on each side, the hives having been pre-
viously dissevered by means of the spatula.

STORIFYING.

109

CHAPTER XII.
STORIFYING.

STORIFYING means the piling of hives or boxes
upon each other, as shown in the above plate,
and preserving a free communication between
them ; a method which enables the apiarian to
take wax and honey without destroying the lives
of the bees.

Attempts have been made to accomplish this
object in different ways. THORLEY placed empty
hives or boxes over full ones, WILDMAN and KEYS
placed full boxes over empty ones, WHITE and
MADAME VICAT placed them collaterally.

110 STORIFYING.

Hives and boxes for storifying, as well as for ob-
serving the operations of the bees, have been made
of various forms and dimensions, and of different
materials : such as straw, osiers, glass, and wood.

ARISTOTLE, PLINY, and other ancient writers,
speak of contrivances for taking honey, and in-
specting the operations of the bees. Modern
writers, particularly MOUFFET, ridiculed the in-
effectual schemes of their brethren of antiquity,
and indeed they were very soon abandoned. The
way in which they endeavoured to accomplish
their objects, was by the introduction of trans-
parent substances into the sides of the hives or
boxes, such as isinglass, horn (cornu laterna),
pellucid stone (lapis specularls), probably talc,
which is still used in the Russian navy for cabin
windows, on account of its not being liable to
break by the percussion of the air during the
firing of cannon, or in tempestuous weather.

Mr. HARTLIB'S Commonwealth of Bees, published
in 1655, contains the first account, I have seen,
of bee-boxes being employed in this country. He
speaks of "an experiment of glassen hives in-
vented by Mr. W. MEW, Minister of Easlington
in Gloucestershire : his boxes were of an octagon
shape, and had a glass window in the back." Soon
after, in the year 1675, JNO. GEDDE, Esq. pub-
lished, " A new discovery of an excellent method
of Bee-houses and Colonies" which was intended to

STORIFYING. Ill

preserve the lives of the bees: he obtained a
patent for his boxes from King Charles.

Gedde's boxes were considerably improved by
JOSEPH WARDER, a physician at Croydon, who
published an account of them in his work entitled
" The true Amazons, ortheMonarchyofBees" Dr.
Warder enriched his account with several curious
circumstances respecting bees ; some of which
will be detailed in a future chapter. The method of
these gentlemen seems not to have been generally
known; for even Swammerdam, who published
in 1680, makes no mention of it. Had Swammer-
dam known it, he would have been informed
of many circumstances, respecting which he was
evidently ignorant. This want of Dr. Warder's
information is to be lamented, for Swammerdam
was an accurate observer, and a faithful reporter
of what he did observe.

Gedde and Warder were succeeded by the Rev*
JOHN THORLEY of Oxford, who published " An
Enquiry into the Nature, Order, and Government
of Bees ;" and by the Rev. STEPHEN WHITE of
Hal ton in Suffolk, who wrote on " Collateral
Bee-boxes, or an easy and advantageous method of
managing Bees." Collateral boxes have been
objected to, because bees, when the boxes are
on a level, have laid their eggs promiscuously in
both ; moreover side boxes occupy a great deal
more room than storifying boxes.

112 STORIFYING.

Mr. THORLEY'S SON improved the method of
his father. The indefatigable Mr. WILDMAN de-
voted much of his time to the same subject : to
him we are principally indebted for the present
perfection of bee-boxes, and particularly for ob-
taining fresh honey throughout the season, by
means of small glasses ranged upon a flat-topped
hive. Vide pages 93 and 99.

" But faintly, Rome, thy waxen cities shone
Through the dim lantern or refractive stone,
And faintly Albion saw her film-wing'd train
Glance evanescent through the latticed pane,
Ere Wildman's art unveiFd the straw- girt round,
Its broad expanse with crystal vases crown'd,
And each full vase, like Amalthaea's horn,
For Man successive graced the festal morn."

EVANS.

MADAME VICAT, a very ingenious lady in Switzer-
land, published, in the Memoirs of the Berne
Society, some very judicious Observations on bees
and hives. She was the first who hinted, that
upon the storifying plan, the duplets and triplets
should always be placed under the full hives ; as
the bees, in constructing fresh works, evidently
prefer descending to ascending.

Lastly, we have Mr. KEYS'S very useful book,
" The ancient Bee-master's Farewell" which has
long been a standard work to the practical apia-
rian.

STORIFYING. 113

Keys states, that upon the storifying plan, three
pecks of bees will collect more honey in a season,
than four pecks divided into two families, upon
the common plan, and that the proportion of pure
honey and pure wax will likewise be greater. He
observes, that a good storified colony has, under
favourable circumstances, received an accession of
thirty pounds of honey in seven days ; whereas if
a swarm had been sent off, the increase, in the
same period, would not, probably, have been more
than five pounds.

This difference of increase is owing, I conceive,
to the divided family occupying a larger proportion
of its workers as nurses, than the storified family
employs, there being in the former the brood of
two queens, in the latter the brood of only one, to
be attended to. The one establishment is in fact
divided, so as to form two establishments, and
there must be of course, an observance of the
accustomed peculiarities of dignity and office, in
each of the two, as there was in the one ; conse-
quently, fewer collecting bees can be spared from
the divided family, than would have been at liberty
in their undivided state ; and this reasoning will
apply with increasing force as the number of
duplets and triplets is increased.

In single hiving, if rainy weather occur at the
time the bees are prepared to throw off a swarm,
and the hive be filled with comb to its utmost

114 STORIFYING.

limit, all the bees must remain idle till the return
of fine weather ; whereas if more room be given,
as upon the storifying plan, they will, by embra-
cing every opportunity for collecting, and by con-
structing fresh combs by means of the stores al-
ready collected, be enabled to diminish that check
to their activity, which wet weather always oc-
casions. Though rainy weather has this effect upon
the bees, yet are they much less susceptible to
moisture than to cold : they may frequently be
seen in full activity upon a warm showery day,
whereas on a cold dry one, they cluster closely
together within the hives. The colder the weather
the more closely they cluster. " When the lime-
tree and black grain blossom," says Huber> " they
brave the rain, they depart before sun-rise, and
return later than ordinary."

Independently of the benefit derived from stori-
fying, as congregating a numerous body of bees
together, it will always be found advantageous to
have hives of whatever sort well filled, as the bees
uniformly work best when in a numerous body :
this has induced Mr. Espinasse and others strongly
to recommend the union of stocks that do not
well fill the hives,

SWARMING. 115

CHAPTER XIII.

SWARMING.

HOWEVER populous a stock of bees may be in the
autumn, its numbers are greatly reduced during
winter, perhaps about six or seven eighths. This
loss is more than replaced in the spring, by the
amazing fecundity of the queen. Hence arises a dis-
position to throw off swarms, which, of course, will
issue more or less frequently, more or less early,
and in greater or less force, according to the tem-
perature of the season, the fertility of the queen,
the populousness of the stock, and the attention
that has been paid to early feeding.

It is a prevalent opinion, that a swarm consists
entirely of young bees ; but this is an error : every
swarm contains a mixture of young and old ; the
latter are distinguishable by being of a redder
hue, and having ragged wings.

In favourable seasons, a good stock will throw
off three swarms, even a swarm of the current year
will sometimes throw off another swarm ; in this
latter case, there is but a small collection of honey,
compared with the great number of bees which
have been called into existence. I have endea-
voured to account for this in page 113. In the
Monthly Magazine, for Sept. 1825, an instance is

116 SWARMING.

recorded of five swarms being thrown off and
hived before the end of July from planting one
single stock ; the season was favourable, and the
situation, (High Armaside in Lorton), particularly
so. They were not all thrown off from the first
or parent stock, but from that and the earliest
swarm. Bosc, the French consul in Carolina, has
stated that he had eleven swarms in one season
from a single stock; and that each of those swarms,
during the same season, threw off the same num-
ber of secondary ones ! ! ! ! The space which usually
intervenes between the first and second swarm is
from seven to nine days ; between the second and
third, the period is shorter; and if there should be
a fourth, it may depart the day after that which
precedes it.

This succession of swarms must be owing to
the great number of young queens that obtain
their liberty. As they greatly weaken the parent
stock, and are naturally weak themselves, the
only resource under such circumstances is the
union of two or more of the swarms into one
family.

March is the month in which the grand laying of
the queen usually commences ; yet when January
proves mild, the breeding will sometimes begin
at the latter end of that month, and it is by no
means an uncommon thing for the commencement
to happen in February. The queen-bee may

SWARMING. 117

naturally be expected to breed earlier in the sea-
son than insects in general, from the circumstance
of the working-bees storing up food for the young,
which other insects, that breed later, do not ; as
also from her living in the midst of a society which
preserves a summer heat during the coldest
months of winter. A thermometer in a bee-hive
has ranged as high as 74° Fahrenheit at Christmas ;
and Bonner says that he has often seen his hives
with young brood in them in the midst of a severe
frost. In the Transactions of the Society for the
Encouragement of Arts, &c. Mr. HUBBARD has
stated that vigorous well-stored hives breed even
in the depth of winter. In this perhaps he was
mistaken ; the finding of eggs and maggots in the
cells does not satisfy my mind, as they might have
been laid late in the autumn, and have remained
stationary till spring. Riem states, that in a bad
season the eggs will remain in the cells many
months without hatching. Mr. Hubbard was led
to make the experiment of suffocating a strong
stock in February, to ascertain the state of the
brood combs ; in which he says that he found an
abundance of brood, in every state, from that of
egg to the almost perfect fly ; although the pre-
ceding January had been very cold, accompanied
by frost and snow, — a circumstance which in some
measure confirms my supposition, as to the sus-
pended development of the brood. Mr. Hubbard

118 SWARMING.

further adds, that on examining two weak hives,
in March and April, he found not a single egg.
From these very opposite states Dr. EVANS infers
the great importance of leaving stocks strong in
October, and feeding them in an ungenial autumn,
conceiving that the bees apportion the numbers of
their young to the means they possess of support-
ing them. That

" The prescient Female rears her tender brood
In strict proportion to the hoarded food."

This, however, does not correspond with what will
be stated below ; from which it will appear, that
the queen sometimes lays eggs, in reliance upon
an approaching season, and does not let the num-
ber altogether depend upon the stock of provision
in the hive. The commencement of the queen's
breeding may generally be known, by the bees car-
rying in pellets of farina on their thighs. For want
of a sufficient supply of this, as must happen in
cold unkindly seasons, many of the nymphs are
cast out, having died probably from actual star-
vation. Hence the necessity, as before stated, of
having in the immediate neighbourhood of the
hives such early blossoming trees and flowers as
afford plenty o i farina; and also late blossoming
ones, that the bees may be enabled to lay in a store
of it, ready for spring.

Swarming may take place at any time between
the beginning of April and the latter end of Au-

SWARMING. 119

gust. It seldom happens before ten in the morn-
ing, nor later than three in the afternoon, and
never but in fine weather. If it be sultry, bees
are apt to rise after a storm, being anxious to
escape from the heat of the hive, rendered more
intolerable by the confinement which the storm
has occasioned. In the sixth volume of the Philo-
sophical Transactions, an instance is recorded by
RICHARD REED, Esq. of Lugwardine, of a swarm
issuing on the 9th of March ; as he supposed, in
consequence of there being an insufficient supply
of food for the whole family, a part were sent forth
to seek their fortunes, lest the whole should perish.
The day, he says, was fine, but does not mention
the temperature. Probably this was a stock which
had bred in the month of February, the swarm
issuing from the usual cause, a disproportion
between the size of the family and the size of the
habitation.

If early swarming be desired, early breeding
must be promoted, by feeding with sugared or
honeyed ale in February and March, and by keeping
the stock warm. And if the apiarian at any time
wish to obtain a swarm, he has only to withhold
from his bees that accommodation which storify-
ing affords them.

The most advantageous time for a swarm to be
thrown off is from the middle of May to the mid-
dle of June. This period comprehends the grand

120 SWARMING.

harvest season of the honeyed race. After the
scythe has cut down the flowers which adorn our
meadows and yield the bees such a plentiful sup-
ply of honey and farina, there is a very manifest
relaxation in their activity ; their excursions are
not only much less extensive, but less frequent,
although the weather be in all respects propitious.
Swarms that issue much earlier than the time I
have specified, are apt to be small ; and should
bad weather succeed, feeding will be necessary, to
prevent famine. Those that issue later, afford no
better promise, either to themselves or to the
parent hives ; for though late swarms are usually
large ones, they will scarcely have time to rear
their brood, and to lay in a store of honey, &c.
adequate to the support of the family during the
ensuing winter and spring. Late swarming is not
only hazardous to the bees thrown off, but is in-
jurious to the parent stock, which suffers in pro-
portion to the loss of labourers, that should con-
tribute to the general store of food, and assist in
rearing the brood, which is generally abundant,
though the season be far advanced.

Hence it is the usual practice, early in the au-
tumn, to suffocate both the swarm and the stock,
in order to secure whatever wax and honey may
have been collected up to that time. There is
however another alternative, as will be seen under
the head of Uniting Swarms or Stocks.

SWARMING.

If several days of rainy weather should succeed
a swarm's going off, the stores they carry with
them from the parent hive may be exhausted and
endanger a famine ; in such a case recourse must
be had to feeding.

122 STORIFYING AND SINGLE-HIVING.

CHAPTER XIV.

COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES OF STORI-
FYING AND SINGLE-HIVING.

FROM what has been said in the two last chapters,
a comparative estimate may be made of the ad-
vantages which storifying possesses over single-
hiving ; and they appear to be the following.

First, an oeconomical division of labour, an ad-
vantage common to all bodies of artificers, whose
works are conducted upon a large scale, and
which causes a larger quantity of wax and honey
to be collected in the season, than if the bees
were to swarm, and to carry on their operations
in separate families.

Secondly, the facility with which the bees may
be deprived of a considerable portion of their
honey, without destroying their lives, or commu-
nicating to the honey any unpleasant flavour,
from the sulphurous gas.

Thirdly, the power which is afforded to the
bees, of employing themselves usefully during
wet weather, in the manner before stated.

Fourthly, the saving of that time which is un-
necessarily spent in the construction of fresh
combs, in the new habitation.

Fifthly, the saving of room ; for as every family

STORIFYING AND SINGLE-HIVING. 123

has more warehouse-room than its respective ne-
cessities require, the division into small families
must multiply the proportion of this superfluous
room.

Sixthly, the saving of the time usually lost in
preparation for swarming, when the bees hang
inactively in clusters, on the outsides of the hives,
for many days, sometimes for weeks, particularly
if the weather be unfavourable.

It seems right to remark in this place, that
though this clustering or hanging out of the bees
is generally regarded as one of the strongest
symptoms of an approaching swarm, it is never-
theless a deceptive one. It does certainly indi-
cate that there are bees sufficient to throw off a
swarm, and is sometimes evidence of an anxiety
to do so ; but unless there be a queen ready to go
off with them, however distrest for room, the
clustering will sometimes continue for a consider-
able time ; in hot dry seasons it may last till the
middle of August. This clustering, as before ob-
served, is very prejudicial, as it causes the bees
to be inactive in their principal harvest season,
when every bee ought to be fully employed, and
may induce a habit of inactivity for the future.
Clustering likewise obstructs the operations of the
bees that are active, by interrupting the thorough-
fare to the hive. These disadvantages are ad-
mirably remedied by storifying, without which,

124 STORIFYING AND SINGLE-HIVING.

independently of the loss of time to the bees, a
constant system of watchfulness must be kept up
by the proprietor, during the whole period of the
bees clustering out, otherwise a swarm may be
lost.

Storifying, though generally, is not invariably
successful in causing the clustered bees to re-
enter the boxes : where it fails to do so, if a
young queen were ready to assume the sove-
reignty of the colony, the clustered bees would
swarm and seek a new habitation with the old
one. M. Reaumur drowned several hives thus
circumstanced, and examined all their inmates
most minutely, but could never find more than a
single queen, and this the old one ; in none of
these hives did he find royal larvae.

KEYS says that he has failed to make the
clustered bees rejoin the family, if he has put the
empty hive or box over the colony ; but that by
placing the box under it, the bees soon re-entered
and worked vigorously. I have myself, in several
instances, noticed the reluctance of bees to ascend ;
this reluctance will however generally give way
in a day or two, if no room be allowed them in
any other direction. This is proved by the suc-
cessful use of small glasses upon flat-topped hives
or boxes, for obtaining fresh honey occasionally.
THORLEY constantly practised super-hiving, and
was very successful with it. So likewise is my

STORIFYING AND SINGLE-HIVING. 125

friend MR. WALOND, who finds it afford him a
supply of purer honey than nadir-hiving ; for as
the queen is generally found more disposed to
descend than to ascend, by placing the box over
the stock it will seldom be stored with any other
combs than those which contain honey. MR.
GEORGE HUBBARD, however, of Bury St. Ed-
munds, in a paper contained in the Transactions
of the Society of Arts, vol. ix. (for which they
awarded him ten guineas), says that he has
known instances in which the bees have swarmed
rather than submit to super-hiving.

Bees have been known to construct combs under
the floors of the hives, when restricted for room
within. Here their natural activity surmounted
the impediments thrown in their way, by the
want of inclosed space. The storifying or colo-
nizing plan has been much applauded for its
saving the lives of the bees : though this preser-
vation be well worthy of attention, yet it is an
advantage very inferior to that which is derived
from the economical division of labour, the con-
sequent increase of wax and honey, and the fa-
cility afforded for extracting them. I trust that
this remark will not expose me to the imputation
of inhumanity, for I am fully sensible of the value
of life to all creatures that exist, and have often
felt strongly the force of Thomson's pathetic de-
scription of the sulphurous death of bees.

126 STORIFYING AND SINGLE-HIVING.

" Ah ! see where robb'd and murder'd in that pit
Lies the still heaving hive ! at evening snatch'd,
Beneath the cloud of guilt-concealing night,
And fix'd o'er sulphur

" Sudden the dark oppressive steam ascends,
And, us'd to milder scents, the tender race
By thousands tumble from their honey'd dome,
Convuls'd and agonizing in the dust.'*

The bee is generally allowed to be a short-lived
insect. (Fide Longevity of Bees.) Whatever ad-
vantage can be derived however, from preserving
the lives of the bees, at the period of taking their
honey, those, who keep them upon the storifying
plan, will have the full benefit of it, and be spared
that torture of feeling, which the sensitive always
experience, when destroying life in any way.

" True benevolence extends itself through the
whole compass of existence, and sympathizes with
the distress of every creature capable of sensation.
Little minds may be apt to consider a compassion
of this inferior kind, as an instance of weakness,
but I consider it as affording undoubted evidence
of a noble nature." — Melmoth.

SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING. 127

CHAPTER XV.

SYMPTOMS WHICH PRECEDE SWARMING.

" See where with hurry'd step, th' impassion'd throng
Pace o'er the hive, and seem with plaintive song
T' invite their loitering queen ; now range the floor,
And hang in cluster'd columns from the door ;
Or now in restless rings around they fly,
Nor spoil they sip, nor load the hollow'd thigh :
E'en the dull drone his wonted ease gives o'er,
Flaps the unwieldy wing, and longs to soar."

EVANS.

NOTWITHSTANDING what I have said in the last
chapter on the subject of clustering, it is too
important a circumstance to be omitted in the
following enumeration of the signs of swarming.

1. Clustering or hanging out, if taken singly,
may be regarded as a fallacious symptom, but
when conjoined with other indications, it may be
considered as a sign of swarming, particularly if
accompanied by the signs enumerated at the
commencement of my motto.

2. The drones being visible in greater numbers
than usual, and in great commotion, especially in
the afternoon.

3. The inactivity of the working bees, who

128 SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING.

neither gather honey nor farina, though the
morning be sunny and the weather altogether
inviting. Reaumur regarded this as the most
indubitable sign of preparation for swarming.

4. A singular humming noise, for two or three
nights previous, which has been variously de-
scribed and accounted for. It cannot always be
distinguished, unless the ear be placed near the
mouth of the hive ; the sounds, which are sharp
and clear, seem to proceed from a single bee.
Some suppose the noise to be made by the young
queen, and to resemble chip chip peep peep or
the toot toot of a child's penny trumpet, but not
so loud ; Mr. Hunter compares it to the lower a
in the treble of the piano-forte. It is readily
distinguishable by those who have been accus-
tomed to hear it. DR. EVANS inquires, is it the
sound emitted by perfect queens, on emerging
from their cells, as described by M. Huber?
The noise is sometimes in a shrill, at other times
in a deeper key ; this difference in the intensity
of the tones may arise from the distance whence
the sound proceeds, or may be intended to
4 intimate to the bees the respective ripeness of
their queens. BUTLER and WOOLRIDGE ascribe
it to a parley between the old and young queens,
the latter at the bottom of the hive requesting
leave to emigrate, and the former answering in

SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING. 129

her bass note from the top. WILDMAN supposes
it to arise from a contest betwixt the queens,
about sallying forth ; and endeavours to account
for its less frequency before first swarms, from
the young chiefs being then in their embryo
state. This however is mere hypothesis, and
not at all consonant with later discoveries, par-
ticularly those of Huber and Dunbar. Fide
pages 18 and 22.

5. Unusual silence in the hive, during which
the separatists are supposed to be taking in a
cargo of honey before their flight, as a provision
against bad weather. Mr. Hunter opened the
crops of some bees that remained in the parent
hive and the crops of some emigrating bees,
when he found the latter quite full, whilst the
former contained but a small quantity.

The above symptoms oftener precede second or
third than fast swarms, which latter sometimes
issue forth without any previous notice. KEYS
speaks so emphatically upon this subject that I
shall quote his words. " Although there are no
signs that precede first swarms, those, before
mentioned, convey to the apiator one certain
meaning, and when heard he may be assured
that the first or prime swarm has escaped, if
that will comfort him."

The moment before their departure exhibits a
05

130 SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING.

very lively agitation, which first affects the queen,
and is then communicated to the workers, ex-
citing such a tumult among them, that they
abandon their labours, and rush in disorder to
the outlets.

If a swarm quit the first place on which it
clusters, it hovers in the air for some time, as if
undetermined, and then flies off with great ve-
locity.

We hear now and then of a swarm of bees
being lost, of its having eluded the vigilance of
the proprietor ; I think that its loss is generally
attributable to negligence. As a different opinion
is prevalent, I shall state a few of the facts upon
which that difference is founded.

HOMER and VIRGIL speak of bees in their wild
state as fixing their habitations in the rocks and
in hollow trees.

" As from some rocky cleft the shepherd sees,
Clustering in heaps on heaps, the driving bees."

POPE'S HOMER.

" And oft, ('tis said,) they delve beneath the earth,
And nurse in gloomy caves their hidden birth,
Amid the crumbling stone's dark concave dwell,
Or hang in hollow trees their airy cell.'*

SOTHEBY'S GEORGICS.

Many instances are also recorded of domesti-
cated bees seeking an asylum in some hollow part

SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING. 131

of an old building or tree. DR. WARDER, MR.
BUTLER, MR. KNIGHT, DR. EVANS, M. DUCHET,
and other writers think that the bees about to
swarm regularly send out scouts, to explore an
eligible situation for their future residence ;
though Dr. Evans admits that this disposition to
resume wild habits, like many of the instinctive
faculties of the animal creation, has its intensity
weakened by domestication,. Dr. Warder asserts
that the bees always send out providers, to select
a suitable residence for them, several days before
swarming, and considers that their clustering
upon a bough, &c. soon after they issue forth,
proceeds from their desire to be all congregated
together prior to the last flight : this is likewise
the opinion of Mr. Knight. If the place selected
be a deserted hive, it is first cleared by the bees
of all heterogeneous matters, the old combs alone
being allowed to remain. An observance of this
conduct probably led COLUMELLA to recommend
the placing of empty hives, during the swarming
season, in appropriate situations near an apiary.
KEYS gives a similar recommendation. REAUMUR
on the other hand ridicules the idea of " spies
and quartermasters," as ingenious fable. What
I have stated in Chapter xvii. p. 148. confirms
Reaumur's opinion : he is also supported in it by
BUFFON, BONNET, and HUBER : the former says,

132 SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING*

that the swarming bees form a cloud round their
queen, and set off without seeming to know the
place of their destination ; — " the world before
them, where to choose their place of rest." I will
however detail a few cases that support the theory
of " spies and quartermasters." In the Philosophi-
cal Transactions for 1807, MR. KNIGHT, writing to
Sir Joseph Banks, relates several instances of the
kind. On one occasion he observed from twenty
to thirty bees paying daily visits to some decayed
trees, about a mile distant from his garden ; the
bees appeared to be busily employed in ex-
amining the hollow parts, and particularly the
dead knots around them, as if apprehensive of
the knots admitting moisture. In about fourteen
days, these seeming surveyors were followed by
a large swarm from his apiary, which was
watched the whole way, till it alighted in one of
these cavities. It was observed to journey nearly
in a direct line from the apiary to the tree. On
several similar occasions the bees selected that
cavity which Mr. Knight thought best adapted
to their use. He has also noticed that, a stock
being nearly ready to swarm, one of these hollow
trees was daily occupied by a small number of
bees ; but the swarm from that stock, being
lodged in another hive, the tree was wholly de-
serted. This preference of a hive, when offered

SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING. 133

them, to a place chosen by themselves, Mr.
Knight ascribes to a habit acquired by domesti-
cation, which generating a dependence upon man
for providing them a dwelling, descends here-
ditarily from the parents to their offspring.
Another instance is related by DR. EVANS : he
suffered a hive, whose tenants had died in the
winter, to remain upon the stand till spring : he
then observed several bees paying it daily visits,
and busily employed within, but leaving it at the
close of evening. These soon appeared, like
Dr. Warder's providers, to be the harbingers of
a swarm ; for, early in June, an immense body
of these insects were seen rapidly approaching,
and then surrounding the hive : they took pos-
session as quickly as its narrow entrance and
crowded combs would permit. The same result
was noticed after the mild winter of 1806-7,
which untenanted one of his hives by famine :
he was present when the swarm issued (from
another hive in his garden) to take possession of
the empty one, which, on his endeavouring to
raise it, to give facility to their entrance, he
found already cemented to the floor. The Doctor
also relates a case in which a swarm of bees
" made its way either over the tops of some very
high houses, or through several winding streets,
to an old house in the centre of Shrewsbury, and

3 SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING.

passing through an aperture in the wood-work to
a room on the first floor, were there hived by the
family. MR. BUTLER in his Feminine Monarchic
mentions the case of a poor woman whose hive
being depopulated by famine was allowed to
remain out of doors till the ensuing summer,
when a swarm took possession of it, from which
she afterwards stored her garden. Other in-
stances of a similar kind have been related ; but
in most of them it is not easy to ascertain how
far the proprietors of the hives, from which the
swarms went forth, had been improvident. The
cases related by Mr. Knight are the most re-
markable ; but with respect to these, further in-
formation would be desirable. Was there any
inducement beyond a snug housing in the cavities
of the trees, to tempt the bees to wander so far
from their native spot ? such as favourite pas-
turage, or neighbouring trees that were wont to
supply honey-dew ? or were there in either of
the hollow trees, thus occupied, any old combs
which had been left there by another family ?
Lastly, were the emigrating bees exposed to any
annoyance in their old habitation, either from
neighbours of their own species or the attacks
of other animals ? or were they deprived of any
sheltering protection to which they had been
accustomed, by the removal of buildings, the

SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING. 135

cutting down of trees or otherwise ? BONNE R,
who agrees in opinion with Mr. Knight, that
bees often go in quest of a suitable habitation,
before they swarm, has observed that he knew
for certain that a swarm would not fly a mile to
an empty hive, " whereas they will fly," says he,
" four miles to take possession of an old one with
combs in it."

136 HIVING OF SWARMS.

CHAPTER XVI.
HIVING OF SWARMS.

THE hiving of bees is a proceeding so well known
that it seems unnecessary to offer any observations
on the particular method of effecting it.

In every apiary there should be a stock of hives,
boxes, &c. always ready before-hand, either for
storifying or for single hiving ; a neglect of this
precaution will often be productive of great in-
convenience and confusion.

It is always desirable to have swarms put into
new hives, as old ones often contain the larvee of
moths and other embryo insects, which may prove
injurious to the bees. If straw be the material
with which they are made, every rough straw
should be removed from the interior, otherwise
the bees will lose that time in rendering it smooth,
which they could employ to greater advantage in
gathering honey and constructing combs. For a
similar reason, if boxes be preferred, these should
be made air-tight with putty or other cement, that
the bees may not consume their time in filling the
crevices with propolis. If on any occasion the
apiarian be induced to have recourse to an old
hive, for receiving a swarm, it should, before being
used, be dipped into boiling water, to destroy the

HIVING OF SWARMS. 137

eggs of moths and other insects, after which it
should be made perfectly dry.

In the common straw-hive, two new sticks
placed across each other, at the second round of
straw from the bottom, will be useful to support
the weight of combs : the bees require no aid at
the top, to which they will themselves securely
attach the combs, as may be seen in hollow trees
where bees have taken up their abode.

Dressing the insides of the hives is of doubtful
advantage. Some people rub the interior of the
hive with balm, bean-tops, fennel, &c. or smear
it over with cream and honey. Wildman strongly
reprobates this practice, as it gives the bees the
trouble of making the hive clean again. If any
thing be used, in compliance with custom, sugared
or honeyed ale is the most alluring. KEYS says
that a hive, containing old combs and dressed
with sugared. ale, will often decoy a swarm to
settle in it. HUISH recommends sprinkling the
interior of the hives with human urine ; which he
regards as a specific, on account of " its abound-
ing with sugar and salt, two substances of which
bees are particularly fond :" if such were the fact,
it wrould I think, be more cleanly, and therefore
a preferable plan, to mingle those favourite articles
with a little ale or water for this purpose. Huish
himself recommends smearing the interior of the
hive with honey, when a swarm of bees settle in

138 HIVING OF SWARMS.

a situation, from which it cannot be dislodged and
made to enter the hive, by shaking or other for-
cible means. If urine be attractive to bees, its
attraction must proceed from other qualities than
those which he has mentioned ; it does certainly
contain a very small portion of salt, but I know of
no analysis of healthy human urine, which admits
sugar to be a constituent part of it.

A tinkling noise is generally, though I believe
erroneously, considered to be useful in inducing
bees to settle. KEYS recommends the use of a
watchman's rattle, but not till the queen has come
forth, for fear of alarming her too soon, nor after
the bees have begun to cluster.

KEYS advises also the throwing of sand or water
among the bees, to make them cluster ; likewise
the making of some very great noise, such as firing
a gun ; some have supposed the bees to mistake
a loud noise, for thunder foreboding a storm ; but
this, instead of causing them to settle, would rather
cause their return to the parent stock. DR. EVANS
suggests the probability of noises being first used,
as signals to the neighbours that a swarm was up,
and being afterwards continued by habit only.
The throwing up of handfuls of dust or sand, is
said to make bees descend, when they soar very
high ; these missiles being mistaken for rain.

Bees, when swarming, are generally peaceable,
and if treated gently, may be hived without

HIVING OF SWARMS. 139

danger or difficulty. A remarkable instance of
their inoffensiveness at this time is related by MR.
THORLEY. Wanting to dislodge a swarm from
the branches of a codlin-tree, he placed the hive
in the hands of his maid-servant, who being a
novice, covered her head and shoulders with a
cloth, to guard her face; on shaking the tree,
most of the bees alighted upon the cloth, and
quickly crept under it, covering the girl's breast
and neck up to her very chin. Mr. T. impressed
her with the importance of neither flinching from
nor buffeting the bees, and began immediately to
search for the queen ; which on finding, he gently
seized and removed, but without effecting a dis-
lodgement of the swarm : thus disappointed, he
suspected that there was a second queen ; which
actually proved to be the case : on securing, and
placing her also in the hive, with a portion of the
bees, the rest followed in multitudes, till in two
or three minutes not one bee remained upon the
girl, who was thus released from her state of ap-
prehension and alarm, without feeling the point
of a single sting. All persons similarly situated
may not be so fortunate, as, notwithstanding the
greatest precaution, bees may be provoked to
draw their swords. DR. EVANS relates a case of
this kind ; a swarm having settled on the branch
of a larch- tree, and its long tufts of narrow leaves
flapping the bees as the bough was shaken, the

140 HIVING OF SWARMS.

woman who hived them, received above thirty
stings. If the weather be windy, at the time of
swarming, they are often irritable, and apt to
sting ; though clustered, they will frequently re-
turn home : this last occurrence is generally
caused by the absence of a queen ; but it may
also be produced by a sudden shower, or by the
transit of a dark cloud.

A queen has sometimes a defect in her wings,
or is disabled by some accident ; either of these
misfortunes may cause the return of a swarm, or
produce symptoms of discontent after hiving.

As many persons doubt the queen's importance
to the harmonious union of a swarm, I shall give
an instance or two, to show how essentially neces-
sary her presence is to produce this effect. DR.
WARDER being desirous of ascertaining the extent
of the bees' " loyalty to their sovereign, ran the
hazard of destroying a swarm, for this purpose."
Having shaken on the grass, all the bees from a
hive which they had only tenanted the day before,
he searched for the queen, by stirring amongst
them with a stick. Having found and placed her,
with a few attendants, in a box, she was taken
into his parlour ; where the box being opened, she
and her attendants immediately flew to the window,
when he clipped off one of her wings, returned
her to the box, and confined her there for above
an hour. In less than a quarter of an hour, the

HIVING OF SWARMS. 141

swarm ascertained the loss of their queen, and
instead of clustering together in one social mass,
they diffused themselves over a space of several
feet, were much agitated, and uttered a piteous
sound. An hour afterwards they all took flight,
and settled upon the hedge where they had first
alighted, after leaving the parent stock ; but in-
stead of hanging together, like a bunch of grapes,
as when the queen was with them, and as swarms
usually hang, they extended themselves thirty
feet along the hedge, in small bunches, of forty,
fifty, or more. The queen was now presented to
them, when they all quickly gathered round her,
with a joyful hum, and formed one harmonious
cluster. At night the Doctor hived them again,
and on the following morning repeated his experi-
ment, to see whether the bees would rise ; the
queen being in a mutilated state, and unable to
accompany them, they surrounded her for several
hours, apparently willing to die with her rather
than desert her in distress. The queen was a
second time removed, when they spread them-
selves out again, as though searching for her : her
repeated restoration to them, at different parts of
their circle, produced one uniform result, " and
these poor loyal and loving creatures, always
marched and counter-marched every way as the
queen was laid." The Doctor persevered in these
experiments, till after five days and nights of fast-

142 HIVING OF SWARMS.

ing, they all died of famine, except the queen,
who lived a few hours longer and then died. The
attachment of the queen to the working bees, ap-
peared to be equally as strong as their attachment
to her ; though offered honey on several occa-
sions, during the periods of her separation from
them, she constantly refused it, " disdaining a
life that was no life to her, without the company
of those which she could not have."

My next instance is contained in the Trans-
actions of the Society of Arts, fyc. for 1790, in a
paper written by MR. SIMON MANLEY, of Topsham
in Devonshire, for which the Society awarded him
five guineas. " I have before now," says he,
" taken the queen bee, while in the act of swarm-
ing, put her into a clean bottle, and kept her from
the swarm a full hour. I have then shown her to
several gentlemen, the swarm continuing to hover,
without settling, the whole time. I brought her
home, and laid her on the floor of a kitchen
window. Being moist with her own breath in the
bottle, when I took her out she licked herself
clean, and being quite recovered, was carried out
and placed upon the hive she swarmed from.
About a handful of her subjects soon found her
out, and seemed much rejoiced at finding her.
From thence she rose up, and pitched upon a
currant bush, and the remainder of the swarm
came to her, and settled at once."

HIVING OF SWARMS. 143

SWAMMERDAM tried the experiment of fasten-
ing the queen hy one of her legs to the end of a
pole, by which he induced the bees to follow him
wherever he chose. Reaumur relates a somewhat
similar instance of a bee-man mentioned by
FATHER LABBAT in his Travels, who had the ad-
dress to conceal the source of his dexterity. WILD-
MAN'S expertness in this way was celebrated far
and near. Fide chapter on Uniting Swarms.

In confirmation of the evidence I have already
given, of the queen's importance to the well-being
of the community, I will advert to some experi-
ments of HUBER. He removed a queen from one
of his hives ; the bees were not immediately
aware of it, but continued their labours, watched
over the young, and performed the whole of their
ordinary occupations. In a few hours afterwards,
agitation commenced, and all appeared to be a
scene of tumult ; a singular humming noise was
heard, the bees deserted their young and rushed
over the surface of the combs, with delirious im-
petuosity. On replacing the queen, tranquillity
was instantly restored ; and from what will be said
presently, it appeared that they knew her indi-
vidual person. Huber varied this experiment
with other hives, in different ways ; instead of
restoring their own queen, he tried to substitute
a stranger queen; the manner of her reception
depended upon the period at which she was in-

144 HIVING OF SWARMS.

troduced. If twenty-four hours had elapsed after
the removal of the queen, the stranger was well
received, and at once admitted to the sovereignty
of the hive. If not more than eighteen hours had
elapsed, she was at first treated as a prisoner, but
after a time permitted to reign. If the stranger
was introduced within twelve hours, she was im-
mediately surrounded by an impenetrable cluster
of bees, and commonly died either from hunger
or privation of air. It appeared therefore, in the
course of these experiments, that from twenty-
four to thirty hours were required, for a colony
to forget its sovereign, and that if, before the
lapse of that period, no substitute was presented,
they set about constructing royal cells, as stated
in page 22 ; and moreover, that if, during the
time they were so occupied, a princess was
brought to them, the fabrication of royal cells
was instantly abandoned, and the larvae selected
to occupy them were destroyed. On the admis-
sion of a welcome stranger queen, more regard is
perhaps shown to her at first, than to a restored
natural queen, — at least there are more conspicuous
demonstrations of it : the nearest workers touch
her with their antennae, and, passing their pro-
boscis over every part of her body, give her
honey. In the cases above related, the bees all
vibrated their wings at once, as if experiencing
some agreeable sensations, and ranged themselves

HIVING OF SWARMS. 145

in a circle round her. Others, in succession,
broke through this circle, and having repeated
the same process, of touching her with their an-
tennae, giving her honey, &c. formed themselves
in a circle behind the others, vibrating their wings
and keeping up a pleasurable hum. These de-
monstrations were continued for a quarter of an
hour, when the queen beginning to move towards
one part of the circle, an opening was made
through which she passed, followed and sur-
rounded by her customary guard. Such is the
substance of Huber's account : it does not en-
tirely correspond with what has been stated by
Dunbar. Fide chapter on Bee-boxes.

The loyal attachment of bees to their queen ex-
tends even beyond this : HUBER states that he
has seen the workers, " after her death, treat her
body as they treated herself when alive, and long
prefer this inanimate body to the most fertile
queens he had offered them." And DR. EVANS
relates a case, in which a queen was observed to
lie on some honey-comb in a thinly peopled hive,
apparently dying, and surrounded by six bees,
with their faces turned towards her, quivering
their wings, and most of them with their stings
pointed, as if to keep off any assailant. On pre-
senting them honey, though it was eagerly de-
voured by the other bees, the guards were so
completely absorbed in the care of their queen, as

146 HIVING OF SWARMS.

entirely to disregard it. The following day,
though dead, she was still guarded ; and though
the bees were still constantly supplied with honey,
their numbers were gradually diminished by
death, till, at the end of three or four days, not
a bee remained alive.

WILDMAN says that if the queen of a swarm be
lost, though it happen several weeks after leaving
the mother hive, the bees will return to it, carry-
ing their honey with them. This, if true, must
occur where no grub can be converted into a
queen. Both REAUMUR and WILDMAN tried the
experiment of introducing a royal larva into a
queenless stock, when the bees immediately set
to work again, on the inspiration of hope alone.

Should symptoms of discontent be observed
after hiving, the queen will probably be dis-
covered on the ground, or somewhere apart ;
surrounded by a small cluster of attendants, whom
nothing but violence can separate from her. If
she be taken up either singly or with the cluster,
and placed near the entrance of the hive contain-
ing the swarm, all will be harmony.

Sometimes a swarm divides into two portions,
which settle apart from each other and have each
a distinct leader. The conduct of the apiarian
must be governed by the size of the two divisions,
and the season at which they emerge ; unless both
be large and the swarming early, they had better

'HIVING OF SWARMS. 147

be hived in separate boxes, and joined together,
in the manner recommended in Chap. XIX.

COLUMELLA was the first who proposed union
by killing the supernumerary queen.

The branch on which the swarm settled is
sometimes rubbed with wormwood, or smoked
with disagreeable fumes, to drive away all re-
maining loiterers.

In every operation, it is desirable to avoid
crushing a single bee, as, in case of discovery,
the rest are excited to anger. See chapter on the
Senses of Bees.

Immediately on the bees taking to the hive, it
should be placed upon a table, on a proper floor
board, and be covered with boughs or a cloth ;
and the hive should be near the parent stock, to
catch stragglers, on their return home. At night
it should be removed to its permanent station.

148 REMOVING BEES FROM STRAW HIVES

CHAPTER XVII.

ON REMOVING BEES FROM COMMON
STRAW-HIVES TO STORIFYING HIVES
OR BOXES.

MANY plans have been suggested for transferring
bees from hives to boxes ; but , excepting in the
case of a recent swarm, I would not recommend
any, but an experienced apiarian, to attempt an
immediate transfer.

In the case of a recent swarm, the method of
effecting the objects simple and easy ; for if, when
the bees have retired for the night, the hive be
placed upon a middle board, with a divider un-
derneath it, and the whole be inverted upon a small
tub or a peck measure, and an empty box be
raised upon the divider, this latter being with-
drawn, and every opening besides what is necessary
for admitting air being well secured, the bees
will all probably have ascended into the box by
morning, when with the assistance of the dividers
thay may be placed in the bee-house or any where
else that the proprietor chooses, just as if they had
been originally hived in the box. If the ascent
have not taken place in the morning, it may be
effected by drumming smartly with two sticks,
upon the sides of the hive : in this way, the ascent

TO STORIFYING HIVES OR BOXES. 149

may be known by the loud humming noise by
which it will be accompanied.

I have said that the above plan is only to be
recommended in cases of recent swarming : by this
I mean, in swarms of the day on which it is at-
tempted, and before any works are constructed in
the hives, to such an extent as to make the bees
tenacious of their new habitation ; for wherever
they form a settlement, though even for the short
time that they occupy a bush or tree before
hiving, there are always to be seen the rudiments
of one or more combs, showing, that they always
intend, (so far as one can give bees credit for
intention,) to take up their abode, permanently,
upon the very spot on which they first cluster
round their Royal Leader.

If however, from want of forethought or from
any other causes, a swarm have been allowed, for
a longer period, to occupy a hive from which it is
desirable to dislodge it, in that case I would re-
commend the apiarian, towards night, to place the
hive upon a middle board with a divider under-
neath it, to lute the junction with clay, so as to
prevent the bees from escaping, and to invert the
whole upon a stool that has had an opening made
in it of sufficient size to allow the hive to sink
about halfway through it. Then, if he raise a
couple of empty boxes upon the divider, in the
manner already directed for super-hiving, and

150 REMOVING BEES FROM STRAW HIVES.

having adjusted the whole, withdraw the divider ,
the bees will soon desist from carrying on their
works in the hive, and commence new ones in the
upper box ; the hive at the period of deprivation
may be separated from the boxes in the usual
way.

The middle board that is used on this occasion,
provided the colony be designed to stand out of
doors, must have a resting board attached to the
edge of it, for the bees to alight upon. And as it
is intended to serve as a substitute for a floor
board, it must be made to correspond with the
floor boards in its construction, so far as respects
its giving liberty for the bees to have ingress and
egress, and its affording a power to shut them in.

If it should be thought more convenient, an
entrance could readily be formed, by cutting a
piece out of the lower edge of the box, in which
also a groove might be cut for a slide to run in.

HIVING BY MEANS OF DIVIDERS. 151

CHAPTER XVIII.

SUPER- AND NADIR-HIVING BY MEANS OF
DIVIDERS.

WHEN one hive or box is to be raised upon another
in a bee-house, the operation may be performed
at any time ; the best time is about ten or eleven
o'clock in the morning, when a great portion of
the bees are ranging the fields. If the bees be
kept in an out-door hive, the operation will be
best performed in an evening or early in a morn-
ing, when, all the bees being at home, they may
be shut in and thereby prevented from annoying
the operator.

If super-hiving be the object of the apiarian, he
must first withdraw the four screws out of the top
board of his stock hive or box, so as to enable
him to push one of his dividers from front to back,
between that board and the box which it covers ;
he may then safely take off the top, and screw it
upon an empty box. (He would of course be en-
abled to accomplish the business with more
promptitude, if he have a supernumerary top
already screwed down.) Having put the fresh box
upon a middle board, the whole is to be carefully
placed upon the divider, that covers the stock :
when accurately adjusted to each other, if an

152 SUPER- AND NADIR-HIVING

assistant hold firmly in their places the two boxes,
or the inferior box and the middle board, the di-
vider may be withdrawn, and thus a communi-
cation between the two boxes will immediately be
effected, without the escape, and perhaps without
the destruction, of a single bee.

When I have had no assistant near me, upon
whose steadiness I could rely, at the time of with-
drawing the divider, I have fixed a piece of double
quarter with one of its ends against the inferior
box, and the other against the wall opposite to it,
and have thus effectually prevented the box from
moving, whilst with one hand I held firmly the
middle board, and drew out the divider with the
other. My readers are to suppose me operating
in a bee-house, for in an out-door apiary an as-
sistant will always be required, whenever any im-
portant operation is to be performed.

Nadir-hiving is accomplished by introducing
both dividers between the floor board and the box
or hive which it supports, the first with its turned
edge downwards, and the other upon it with its
turned edge upwards. The box or boxes are
then to be removed on one side or upon a table,
together with the upper plate or divider, which
will form a temporary floor to the box, while the
lower plate covers the wooden floor and those few
bees that may be lodged upon it.

In removing the box or boxes for nadir-hiving,

BY MEANS OF DIVIDERS. 153

some caution is requisite, to prevent the escape
of the hees. The safest plan is gradually to draw
forward the boxes with their temporary floor, till
they hang nearly half over the wooden floor, and
then, by spreading out the fingers and applying
them under each side of the divider, the whole
may be lifted up and moved wherever it be most
convenient till raised upon the nadir. When the
box has been drawn half off, a weight should be
placed upon the covering divider, to prevent it
from tilting up.

The removal being accomplished, an empty box
should be quickly placed upon the divider which
covers the floor, and upon the box a middle board ;
the adjustment being complete, the dividers are
to be withdrawn separately, and with the same
precautions as in super-hiving.

If the apiarian wish to practise centre-hiving
i . e. to introduce an empty box between a superior
and an inferior one, he can easily apply the pre-
ceding directions to that particular case.

154 UNITING SWARMS OR STOCKS.

CHAPTER XIX.

UNITING SWARMS OR STOCKS.

THE union of swarms with their stocks, and of
swarms or stocks with each other, in case of their
being or becoming weak, has been attempted in
various ways, and with various success, depending
perhaps, in some degree, upon the skill and
adroitness of the operator. Upon the storifying
plan this operation will rarely be necessary, ex-
cepting in the case of weak stocks, as it is not
a very common occurrence for storified bees to
swarm, and when they do so, they generally throw
off strong swarms. Still the object may occasion-
ally be desirable, and it is worthy of attention, for
the tenants of well filled hives are always the most
active.

The three usual methods by which union has
been attempted, and indeed their advocates say,
accomplished, are fuming them, immersing them in
water, and aspersing them with sugared or honeyed
ale. To these I may add a fourth, namely ope-
rating upon their fears, by confining them for a
time, and then alarming them by drumming
smartly upon the outside of their domicile. It
was operating on their fears that enabled Wildman
to perform such extraordinary feats with bees.

UNITING SWARMS OR STOCKS. 155

When under a strong impression of fear, says he,
they are rendered subservient to our wills, to such
a degree as to remain long attached to any place
they afterwards settle upon, and will become so
mild and tractable, as to bear any handling which
does not hurt them, without the least show of
resentment. "Long experience has taught me,
that as soon as I turn up a hive, and give some
taps on the sides and bottom, the queen immedi-
ately appears." " Being accustomed to see her,
I readily perceive her at the first glance ; and
long practice has enabled me to seize her instantly,
with a tenderness that does not in the least en-
danger her person." "Being possessed of her, I
can, without exciting any resentment, slip her
into my other hand, and returning the hive to its
place, hold her, till the bees missing her, are all
on the wing, and in the utmost confusion." When
in this state, he could make them alight wherever
he pleased ; for on whatever spot he placed the
queen, the moment a few of them discovered her,
the information was rapidly communicated to the
rest, who in a few minutes were all collected round
her. In this way he would sometimes cause them
to settle on his head, or to hang clustered from
his chin, in which state they somewhat resembled
a beard. Again he would transfer them to his
hand, or to any other part of his body, or if more
agreeable to the spectators before whom he ex-

156 UNITING SWARMS OR STOCKS.

hibited, he would cause them to settle upon a
table, window, £c. Prior to making his secret
generally known, he deceived his spectators by
using words of command ; but the only magic that
he employed was the summoning into activity for
his purpose the strong attachment of the bees to
their queen.

" Such was the spell, which round a Wildman's arm
Twin'd in dark wreaths the fascinated swarm ;
Bright o'er his breast the glittering legions led,
Or with a living garland bound his head.
His dextrous hand, with firm yet hurtless hold,
Could seize the chief, known by her scales of gold,
Prune, 'mid the wondering train, her filmy wing,
Or, o'er her folds, the silken fetter fling." EVANS.

Cautioning his readers as to the hazard of attempt-
ing, what he himself accomplished only by long
experience and great dexterity, Wildman con-
cludes his account with a parody of the reply of
C. Furius Cresinus, a liberated Roman slave, who,
being accused of witchcraft in consequence of his
raising more abundant crops than his neighbours,
and therefore cited before a Roman tribunal, pro-
duced his strong implements of husbandry, his
well-fed oxen, and a hale young woman his daugh-
ter ; and pointing to them, said, " These, Romans !
are my instruments of witchcraft; but I cannot
show you my toil, my sweats, and anxious cares.'9
" So," says Wildman, "may I say, These, Britons!

UNITING SWARMS Oil STOCKS. 157

are my instruments of witchcraft ; but I cannot show
you my hours of attention to this subject, my anxiety
and care for these useful insects; nor can I commu-
nicate to you my experience, acquired during a
course of years "

The neatest and most scientific mode with which
I am acquainted of uniting weak families together
in harmony was invented by my friend THE REV.
RICHARD WALOND, whom I had occasion to men-
tion in a former chapter, and whose experience
in the management of bees, for nearly half a cen-
tury, entitle his opinions concerning them to great
respect. His theory and practice upon this sub-
ject are as follow. Bees, says he, emit a peculiar
odour, and it is by no means improbable that every
family of bees emits an odour peculiar to itself :
if so, as their vision seems to be imperfect, and
their smell acute, it may be by this distinctive
and peculiar odour that they are enabled to dis-
criminate betwixt the individuals of their own
family and those of a stranger hive. Upon this
supposition, if the odours of two separate stocks
or swarms can be so blended as to make them
completely merge into each other, there will then
probably be no difficulty in effecting the union of
any two families that it may be desirable to unite.
To accomplish this end therefore, Mr. Walond
had recourse to a very ingenious contrivance : he

158 UNITING SWARMS OR STOCKS.

procured a plate of tin, the size of a divider, and
thickly perforated with holes, about the size of
those in a coarse nutmeg-grater. Having confined
in their respective hives or boxes, the two families
to be united, and placed them over each other,
with only a divider between them ; he introduced
his perforated tin plate upon the divider, which
was then withdrawn. Immediately the bees began
to cluster with hostile intentions, one family cling-
ing to the upper, the other to the under side of the
perforated plate ; when after remaining in this state
for about twenty- four hours, they had so far com-
municated to each other their respective effluvia,
and so completely commixed were the odours in
both hives, that on withdrawing the perforated
plate, the bees mingled together as one family, no
disturbance being excited, but such as arose from
the presence of two queens, the custom being
always, in such case, to dethrone one of them*
According to Huber this is effected by single com-
bat between the queens : which subject will be
adverted to in a future chapter. KEYS has ob-
served that these incorporations seldom turn to ac-
count unless they be effected in summer ; and when
it is considered that the principal gathering months
are May and June, (excepting in those neighbour-
hoods that abound in lime, sycamore, and other
trees that are apt to be affected with honey-dew,)

TRANSPORTATION OF BEES. 159

we cannot, of course, expect them to be very suc-
cessful. I have entered fully into this subject, when
speaking of early and late swarms, page 115.

To obviate the consequences there apprehended,
some apiarians have had recourse to the practice
of removing their bees to fresh pasture ; to dis-
tricts where buckwheat is cultivated, or to the
neighbourhood of heaths, or to any other place
where such late blossoming flowers abound as
afford honey. Mr. ISAAC assures us that he
once had a poor swarm of a month's standing,
which only weighed five pounds four ounces, and
that on the 30th of July he had it removed to
Dartmoor Heath, from whence it was brought
home, two months afterwards, increased in weight
twenty-four pounds and a half. He moreover
states that the . increase of others, that were sent
there, was nearly proportional, and is of opinion
that the whole addition was made during the
month of August.

In LOWER EGYPT, where the flower harvest is
not so early as in the upper districts of that
country, this practice of transportation is carried
on to a considerable extent. The hives after
being collected together from the different villages,
and conveyed up the Nile marked and numbered
by the individuals to whom they belong, are heaped
pyramidally upon the boats prepared to receive
them, which floating gradually down the river and

160 TRANSPORTATION OF BEES.

stopping at certain stages of their passage, remain
there a longer or shorter time, according to the
produce which is afforded by the surrounding
country. " After travelling three months in this
manner, the bees, having culled the perfumes of
the orange flowers of the Said, the essence of roses*
of the Faicum, the treasures of the Arabian jessa-
mine, and a variety of flowers, are brought back
to the places from which they had been carried.
This industry procures, for the Egyptians, deli-
cious honey, and abundance of bees-wax. The
proprietors, in return, pay the boatmen a recom-
pence proportioned to the number of hives which
have been thus carried about from one extremity
of Egypt to the other." LATREILLE states that
between Cairo and Damietta a convoy of 4000
hives were seen upon the Nile by NIEBUHR, on
their transit from the upper to the lower districts
of that country. Floating bee-hives were formerly
common also in FRANCE. One barge was capable
of containing from 60 to 100 hives, which, float-
ing gently down their rivers, enabled the bees to
gather the honey which is afforded by the flowers
on their banks. REAUMUR likewise states it to
have been the practice in some districts to trans-
port them with similar views, by land, in vehicles

* Whatever inducement the bees of Egypt may have to
ply the roses of that country, with us they pay very little
attention to those beautiful flowers.

TRANSPORTATION OF BEES. 161

contrived for the purpose. In SAVOY, PIEDMONT,
and other parts of ITALY, the practice is also com-
mon. It is indeed of very ancient origin. Colu-
mella speaks of it as a very general custom among
the Greeks, who used annually to send their bee-
hives from Achaia into Attica.

These, however, are advantages which very few
situations can afford ; probably but few of my
readers may reside in the neighbourhood of heaths,
and still fewer may be disposed to incur the trouble
and expense of removal. If therefore incorpo-
ration be desirable in any particular case, I can
only recommend that attention be paid to feeding
the bees with sugared ale ; by the assistance of
which, indeed, I should not be afraid of carrying,
even a weak stock, very safely through the winter
and early spring. " Give your bees," says Mr.
Isaac, " two harvests in one summer" (alluding to
the practice of transportation), " and you may
make almost any swarm rich enough to live
through the following winter." This second
harvest may be very efficiently supplied by an at-
tention to feeding, during mild weather in winter,
and particularly in the early spring, — for the ma-
nagement of which, see^Chap. XXIII. on Feeding.

162 PERIODS OF DEPRIVATION.

CHAPTER XX.
PROPER PERIODS OF DEPRIVATION.

IT should be an invariable rule with the apiarian,
never to remove an upper hive or box, till an
under one be quite full ; and even then, it should
be ascertained that the contents of the inferior
one, (if taken at Michaelmas,) be not less than
18 pounds. If it do not contain so much, a
sufficient quantity should be returned in the box
that has been removed, otherwise recourse must
be had to feeding. MR. ISAAC says that he has
carried a colony that had no honey at Michael-
mas, safely through the winter and spring, with
only eight pounds of honey. Huber succeeded
with less ; but it appears that his observations
were made upon weak stocks that were not
altogether destitute.

A variety of experiments were made by MR.
JOHN HUNTER and MR. KEYS, to ascertain the
quantity consumed during the respective months
of winter and spring, and they all led to one con-
clusion, namely, that it amounted upon an average
to eight pounds, taking the season through, from
the beginning of October to the end of May,
when the spring proves ungenial. During the
first six months the consumption was not more

PERIODS OF DEPRIVATION. 163

than five pounds upon an average, and the colder
the weather the smaller was the consumption.
Vide 2nd page of Chap. XXIV.

As a general rule, — no honey should be taken
from a colony the first year of its being planted,
though there may be an extraordinary season
now and then, which may justify a departure
from this rule ; but neither in such an un-
common year, nor even in the second year,
should the whole of the combs in any box be
taken, (unless it be clearly ascertained that the
centre combs contain no brood,) but only the ex-
ternal ones, which should be examined carefully
one by one, and the brood combs, if any, be re-
turned in the box to the stock. The apiarian,
as HUBER observes, if he wish to obtain a con-
siderable quantity of honey, should endeavour to
secure his object rather by the number of his
colonies, than by plundering a few of a great
proportion of their treasures. A moderate par-
ticipation is the most infallible means of pre-
serving the stock.

Should " Summer signs auspicious ride,

And tubes unfailing pour the balmy tide,
A full rich harvest, Bee-herds, may ye claim
From the blithe tenants of your crystal'd frame.
But long ere Virgo weaves the robe of sleet,
Or binds the hoar-frost sandals round her feet,
Close seal'd and sacred, leave your toil-worn hosts,
The last kind dole their waning season boasts,

164 PERIODS OF DEPRIVATION.

Lest coop'd within their walls, the truants prey
On hoards reserv'd to cheer stern Winter's day."

EVANS.

MR. Hu BEARD says that he has found colonized
bees frequently fail, in consequence of their having
been robbed of too much honey ; it prevents early
breeding. WILDMAN particularly recommends
cautious deprivation after July, to avoid the at-
tention which might be required in feeding, if
the autumn should be unfavourable.

So much for the first and second years. — On
the third, if the summer of that year as well as
the summer preceding have been favourable for
honey-gathering, the superior box will probably
contain no brood, and may then be taken all at
once.

The proceedings of the fourth and fifth years
may fall under the practice of the second, but will
probably allow of an earlier deprivation ; some
side combs may perhaps be taken away in July,
and in October either the nadir or the centre box
be removed entirely, and those above (if more
than one) be brought down, and remain so till
April ; when the nadir may be introduced again.

No hive or box should have its breeding combs
left more than Jive years; and in general, after the
first year, the lower boxes will be found to be
principally occupied for this purpose.

By this practice for four years out of every

PERIODS OF DEPRIVATION. 165

five, whatever combs are removed will be new
ones, which, on account of the purity both of the
wax and the honey, are greatly preferable to old
ones.

VIRGIL, probably copying his predecessor
ARISTOTLE, describes two harvests of honey every
year, namely, in the spring and in the autumn.

" The golden harvest twice each year o'erflows,
Thou, twice each year, the plenteous cells unclose,
Soon as fair Ple'ias, bright'ning into day,
Scorns with indignant foot the wat'ry way,
Or, when descending down th' aerial steep,
She pours her pale ray on the wintry deep."

SOTHEBY'S GEORGICS.

"VARRO mentions three harvests; namely, at
the rising of the Pleiads, about the twenty-
second of April ; the latter end of summer, and
when the same stars set about the end of Oc-
tober : COLUMELLA recommends them to take
place about the twenty-fifth of April and the
twenty-ninth of June ; PLINY in May and July ;
and PALLADIUS in June only." — EVANS.

Should such an accident occur as the destruction
of a queen, by the introduction of a divider (and
she might be so unfortunately situated as to fall
a sacrifice to it), the stock will appear very much
distressed and very restless all day, particularly if
there be no Royal Embryo or no very young
larva ; for in either of these cases they will soon

166 PERIODS OF DEPRIVATION.

become reconciled. But if neither of them be
present, and the bees be left to themselves, they
will lose their wonted activity, gradually dwindle
in number and pine away : or they will transfer
their allegiance to another sovereign ; and in that
case, convey all the treasured sweets of their own
hive, to that of the family they join. The only
remedy for such a misfortune is to unite the bees
to another stock, in the manner already directed,
or to procure a supernumerary queen from an-
other family. The latter, however, is an opera-
tion which few will have courage to attempt.

TAKING HONEY. 167

CHAPTER XXL
TAKING HONEY BY MEANS OF DIVIDERS.

AFTER having noted the utility of Dividers, in
adding fresh empty boxes, the reader will readily
perceive their importance in the removal of full
ones, when the period arrives for depriving a
colony of a portion of its honey. In this case,
the two dividers must be introduced between the
middle board of the box to be removed and the
box below it, precisely as in nadir hiving. In
the act of deprivation a little more force will be
required to push in, as well as to withdraw the
divider, as it will generally have to pass through
a portion of honey-comb. The above directions
apply to the removal of an upper box, wrhich will
in general be the first for which they will be re-
quired. When any other is to be taken away,
the plan of proceeding must be varied, but it
would be tedious to give directions for every
case ; an intelligent operator by an attention to
the instructions already given, and 'his own re-
flection, will be able to adapt his mode of pro-
ceeding to the particular exigency. Only one
divider should be introduced till the situation of
the queen be ascertained : if she be in the box
intended for removal, the divider must be with-

168 TAKING HONEY.

drawn, and the experiment tried again in a week
or two. If in an hour after the introduction of
the divider, the bees in the box intended to be
taken should exhibit symptoms of inquietude, it
may be assumed that the queen is not within that
box, the disturbance being caused by the anxiety
of the bees to have access to her ; whereas if she
be in the box, the bees in company with her will
be tranquil, and the excluded portion of the
family will be in a state of commotion. Having,
we will suppose, ascertained that the queen is in
the desired place, the second divider should be
introduced as before directed, when the box,
with one of the dividers underneath it, must be
removed. The apiarian, when performing this
operation for the first time, may find it con-
venient to raise a stage of empty bee-boxes or
other convenient articles, on one side or at
the back of the box to be removed, and upon a
level with the bottom of its middle board ; he
can ttui, after having introduced the dividers,
very easily slide the full box, with its middle
board and divider, over his temporary stage.
(This mode of proceeding may likewise be found
applicable on other occasions.) The operation
having proceeded thus far, the box is ready for
being applied over the hole of delivery, where
a floor board should be placed with its sliding
shutter open, and with an uncovered empty box

TAKING HONEY. 169

upon it. (If the full box were itself placed upon
the floor board, stranger bees might smell the
honey and become very troublesome intruders :
— this is the reason why an empty box is inter-
posed betwixt the full one and the floor board.)
The full box and middle board, with the divider
underneath them, being raised upon the empty
box and the divider withdrawn, a portion of the
bees will immediately sally forth, to join the fa-
mily from which they have been separated. I
say a portion, for notwithstanding their attachment
to their queen, they will not all quit, without re-
luctance, so great a treasure as a box full of honey ;
if any of the combs contain brood also, this re-
luctance will be increased. When therefore the
bees issue slowly, the sliding shutter should be
closed, and re-opened in a quarter of an hour.
This short imprisonment will produce some im-
patience and restlessness, and consequent eager-
ness to be set at liberty ; and on re-opening the
shutter there will be a fresh sally : this method
must be pursued, at similar successive intervals,
till all or nearly all the bees have quitted the box ;
should a few still remain, the box, towards even-
ing, may be taken out of doors and the stragglers
brushed out upon a board or cloth, with a wing,
and placed upon a support near the entrance to
the stock ; those that are not injured by the wing
will soon find their way in : thus will the whole
i

170 TAKING HONEY.

operation be completed. But if the upper story
be taken, it will be obvious that either an empty
box or a top board must be placed over the stock.
If this method of deprivation should fail of
success, some other course must be pursued. MR.
ISAAC'S plan promises well. After removing the
box from the stock, he used to confine his bees in
it, till their anger and agitation had rendered their
prison so hot and uncomfortable, and probably so
unwholesome, by the deterioration of the air, that
they were glad of an opportunity to quit it, which
he soon afforded them. Unscrewing the top of
his box, and introducing a divider underneath it,
he placed an empty box over the full one, and
opened a communication between the two, by
withdrawing the divider. At the same time he
gave an additional impulse to the ascent of the
bees by drumming smartly upon the sides of the
full box. When the bees were entirely or nearly
gone, he took out either the whole of the combs
or such as contained honey without brood, pro-
ceeding according to the directions given in page
163. There is another resource, in the method
uniformly practised by MR. KEYS, viz. that of
fuming, which is effected by placing an empty box
over the full one, in the manner described above,
and expelling the bees with the smoke of burning
puff balls, probably that of woollen rags would
answer as well, though Mr. Keys relies upon the

TAKING HONEY. 171

stupifying quality of the puff balls, which how-
ever, he says, is in a great measure lost if the
balls be kept more than a year. The operation
may be afterwards finished in the usual way.

Where straw hives are used, or where boxes
are surmounted by them, a very simple method of
taking the honey, without destroying the bees,
was adopted by J. F. M. DOVASTON, ESQ. a Salo-
pian gentleman. I will suppose that he took off
the hive with a middle board and divider under-
neath it ; he then inverted it upon a kettle of hot
water, fitted to receive the hive without any part
sinking into the water ; the whole being surmounted
by an empty box, and the divider withdrawn : in
ten minutes the heat so annoyed the bees, that
they were heard marching, mag no cum fremitu,
into the empty hive. In a few minutes, when all
was quiet, the divider bejng introduced again, the
hive was replaced by the box containing the bees.
Mr. D. found that on this plan not a single bee
remained among the combs. I see no good reason
why a similar practice should not be adopted with
boxes or Moreton-hives ; in this case the water in
the kettle should be heated gradually by a chaff-
ing-dish, and the box or hive should have a per-
forated divider under it, like that for uniting
stocks : the empty box had better communicate
with the open air, lest the heat of the steam
i 2

172 TAKING HONEY.

should be intolerable to the bees. Having the top
unscrewed would probably answer the purpose, as
it could then be easily pushed on one side. DR.
EVANS, when he could not readily dislodge the
bees from the box, had recourse to DR. WARDER'S
plan of placing it over an inverted empty box,
that contained a lighted sulphur match, the fumes
of which stupified the bees"; and on the upper
hive being rapped, they fell down in a state of
insensibility, but soon revived and joined the
family, by the usual entrance. The fumes of
sulphur answered as well as those of the narcotic
fungus recommended by Thorley and Keys,
which it is sometimes difficult to procure and
troublesome to prepare. Immersing the bees in
cold water would answer, with a glass or earthen-
ware hive. Dr. EVANS was led to adopt it in con-
sequence of reading Wildman's account of Madame
Vicat's method of clearing her bees from vermin,
by plunging them in water. The chapter on Bee-
maladies contains some remarks on this subject.

At the commencement of my apiarian inquiries,
I felt that there was a want of more minute infor-
mation than is given by Keys ; and others with
whom I have conversed upon the subject, have had
the same feeling : this has induced me to enter into a
descriptive detail of the whole business of super-
hiving, nadir-hiving, and deprivation. Those who

TAKING HONEY. 173

are in possession of" The ancient Bee-master's Fare-
well" will perceive that I have made some altera-
tions in the boxes of Keys and some additions to
them : the principal of these are the sinking of the
entrances in the floor boards, instead of having
them cut in the lower edges of the boxes ; having
fixed bars upon the tops of the boxes, instead of
Keys's loose ones, and the use of middle boards.
The first was my own suggestion, the two last were
improvements made by Mr. Walond. Entrances
made in the floor boards enable the apiarian to
place his boxes upon the boards in whatever direc-
tion he chooses, and render sliding shutters in the
upper boxes unnecessary. The loose bars were
inconvenient, from the bees attaching their combs
to the sides of the boxes, which they almost al-
ways do, as well as from their attaching every
comb to two or three bars. The middle boards
facilitate the introduction of the dividers, secure
the apiator against the effects of any little irregu-
larity in the adaptation of the boxes to each other,
at the time of adding or taking away, and form a
good foundation for a superstructure of cell- work ;
for sometimes the bees depart from their usual
practice of suspending their combs from the roofs
of the boxes, and build from below upwards.

It is the usual custom in this country, to sacri-
fice the lives of the bees, in order to get possession

174( TAKING HONEY.

of their stores. This is generally done in Sep-
tember, by setting the hive, late in an evening,
over lighted brimstone matches, placed in a hole
dug in the earth ; the soil being quickly drawn
round the hive, as well to prevent the escape of any
of the bees, as to confine the sulphurous gas. In
about a quarter of an hour, if the hive receive a
few smart strokes on its sides, the bees will be
found to have dropped insensible into the hole,
where they are immediately buried ; otherwise
they would revive, such of them at least as were
not singed or otherwise injured by the fire. The
heaviest and lightest hives are usually selected
for the purpose, the former as yielding most
profit, the latter as being unlikely to survive the
winter.

If, after a hive of bees has been suffocated, the
apiarian wish to search for the queen, the best
mode of doing so is to lay the whole of the bees
on white paper, or in water on a white shallow
dish, and examine them singly ; her colour upon
the back is not so remarkably different from that
of the workers as to be very striking ; but on look-
ing at the under part of her, she will be imme-
diately recognised.

I adverted to this latter mode of robbing bees
of their treasure in Chap. XIV. and there quoted
the lamentation of Thomson at their fate. For

TAKING HONEY. 175

this humane appeal, he has been thus apostro-
phized by Dr. Evans.

" And thou, sweet Thomson, tremblingly alive
To pity's call, hast mourn' d the slaughter'd hive,
Cursing, with honest zeal, the coward hand,
Which hid, in night's dark veil, the murd'rous brand,
In steam sulphureous wrapt the peaceful dome,
And bore the yellow spoil triumphant home.'*

176 THE BEE-DRESS.

CHAPTER XXII.
THE BEE-DRESS.

THE Storifying system, when conducted with pro-
per precaution, in a bee-house, renders a bee-
dress quite superfluous to the apiarian, as ail his
operations may be safely performed at all times
and in all weathers, without one.

They may be as securely performed, by the
storifier in a simple shed, if the time of operating
be either early or late in the day, when the bees
are all at home and can be confined by shutting
the slide of the floor board.

Still, as timidity may foster a feeling of insecu-
rity, and as the armour of a bee-dress may give
confidence to an operator, I shall describe the
dress that appears to me most suitable.

In the first place the apiator should be armed
with a pair of thick cloth gloves, made to tie over
the sleeves of his coat. Secondly, his legs should
be fortified by a double pair of thick woollen or
worsted stockings, or some kind of stout leggings
as they are called. And thirdly, he should be
provided with a short dress of Scotch gauze or cat-
gut. This dress should be so formed as to tie
round the crown of a hat having a shallow brim
(about 2|- inches deep), should have short sleeves

THE BEE-DRESS. 177

to tie round the arms, and descend low enough to
tie round the body. A woollen apron should also
be worn, as high as the bottom of the catgut dress,
otherwise, in the language of Mr. Keys, the prying
little insects may find an opening of sufficient size
to enable them to tickle the belly. " Women,"
says Mr. K. "should not meddle with bees, with-
out a bee-dress, nor then without the addition of a
man's coat, and I had almost said of breeches also."
This dress is the most complete mode of secu-
ring an operator from bees or wasps ; but if he
be adventurous enough to brave their attacks, I
recommend him first to drink or rince his mouth
with a little malt liquor ; to wash his face and
hands with the same, and to approach them with
a bunch of sweet herbs in his hand, gently fanning
his face with them, whilst he is in the vicinity of
their domicile, and breathing as much as possi-
ble through his nose. (Fide Part II. Bee's Sting.)
In case of an actual or threatened attack, (the
latter of which may be known by the peculiar
noise which precedes it,) a defence by striking
at them would be highly imprudent. An attempt
may be first made to put them gently away ;
should that not succeed, the only resource is to
retire quietly, and to conceal the face in shrubs or
boughs, if any be near, or if not with the hands
spread over it. The bees will then generally
desist from further attack, and go home.
i5

178 THE BEE-DRESS.

The smart quick strokes of the wings, when
bees are angry and prepared to sting, give a sound
very different from their usual buz. " Instead,"
says Mr. Hunter, " of that soft contented noise
made by the bee when coming home loaded on
a fine evening, — when a bee meditates an attack
with its sting, it makes a very different one."
There is a piercing shrillness in the sound, as the
author and some of his friends have often expe-
rienced.

Messrs. Kirby and Spence, after quoting a
passage from Mr. White's Natural History, rela-
tive to the feigned attacks of some wild bees
near Lewes in Sussex, which " with a sharp and
hostile sound dash and strike round the heads and
faces of intruders," make the following observa-
tions. " The hive-bee will sometimes have re-
course to the same expedient, when her hive is
approached too near, and thus give you notice
what you may expect, if you do not take her
warning and retire. — Humble-bees when dis-
turbed, whether out of the nest or in it, assume
some very grotesque and at the same time threaten-
ing attitudes. If you put your finger to them,
they will either successively or simultaneously
lift up the three legs of one side ; turn themselves
upon their back, bend up their anus and show
their sting accompanied by a drop of poison.
Sometimes they will even spirt out that liquor."

FEEDING. 179

CHAPTER XXIII.

FEEDING.

A STOCK of bees will, generally, consume a pound
of honey per month, betwixt the 1st of October
and the 1st of March : from this time to the end
of May, they will consume two pounds per month ;
if the spring be unfavourable for gathering early,
and less than ten pounds of honey per stock have
been left for their winter's support , and that winter
have proved mild, the bees should be fed early In
the season, and sometimes through a considerable
part of the month of May.

I believe the best spring food for bees is the
following COMPOUND : A pound of coarse brown
sugar and half a pint of ale or sweet wort, boiled
to the consistence of a syrup, to which may be
added a small portion of salt. According to
Huber the coarsest sugar enables the bees to form
the whitest wax. The above mixture is regarded,
by some, as a useful food for bees even when there
is no deficiency of honey ; It is supposed to en-
courage early breeding, and to preserve the health
of the bees ; I administer it invariably from the
end of February or the beginning of March till the
bees seem to disregard it, which always happens

180 FEEDING.

as soon as the flowers afford them a supply of
honey.

There are two opinions upon the best mode of
administering the syrup : one party gives the pre-
ference to daily feeding, in small quantities ; the
other, to introducing a considerable quantity at once,
and repeating it as occasion may require. The
majority of apiarians favour the latter practice ;
among the number are REAUMUR, THORLEY,
ISAAC, MORRIS, &c. the latter gentleman obtained
an award often guineas from the Society of Arts,
for his method of feeding. The advocates of the
first method are KEYS, ESPINASSE, and some
others. Copious feeding is effected by filling the
cells on one side of a spare drone comb, laid flat
upon the floor of the hive ; or by pouring the
syrup into a dish, or an excavated floor board of
twice the usual thickness, covering the food with
short straws or pieces of reed, about half an inch
long, to prevent the bees from soiling themselves.
The stock being placed in an evening over the
whole, — in the course of the night, or the following
morning, the bees will carry up the syrup, and
store it in unoccupied cells. Where it has been
ascertained that the bees have not stored a
sufficient quantity of honey to carry them through
the winter and ensuing spring, and it is determined
to furnish them with a supply in the autumn, I
think this method of copious feeding is the best.

FEEDING. 181

But when they are fed in the spring, I think it

preferable to give them about a table-spoonful a

day. This has generally been accomplished, by

introducing into the mouth of the hive a long

boat, formed by scooping out the pith from an

elder stem, and filling it with the composition.

Upon this plan, no more is introduced than the

case requires, and frequent opportunities are

afforded of learning the condition of the bees,

from the manner in which they receive the boon.

If a little irascibility be exhibited, it is a symptom

of health ; and though indifference to the proffered

bounty may not actually betoken mischief, yet

it deserves attention, and should induce vigilance

in the apiarian. Feeding upon the large scale in

spring, tempts the bees to fill those cells which

may be wanted for the queen to deposit her eggs

in, and thus proves a drawback upon the strength

and prosperity of the hive. It may also cause the

bees to partake too freely of the syrup, and suffer

from their intemperance. Whichever mode be

adopted, the external entrances must be closed,

during the time of feeding ; and I know of no

better contrivance for this purpose than Mr.

Huish's tin guards. Without this precaution,

unfed stranger bees, attracted by the smell of the

syrup, will banquet upon it ; and these marauders,

having once tasted the repast, will not only return

to it again and again themselves, but bring in

182

FEEDING.

their train a multitude of others, to the great
injury of the well fed apiary. The way in which
I feed my own bees is exceedingly simple, and
attended with no risk to the apiarian. At the
close of the gathering season, I turn my boxes
and their floors a quarter round, and adapt to
them a long narrow box with a glass top and two
openings, one at the end, serving as a street door,
the other in the side serving as a hall door leading
into the box, as shown in the following sketch.

In an evening, when the bees are all at home, I
push in the slide of the floor board, raise the
glazed box, and place the syrup under it : then I
close the external entrance, and withdraw the
slide to admit the bees to the food : by morning I
generally find that my donation has been removed.
I place the syrup in a small shallow saucer,
covered over with Scotch gauze, through which
the bees suck it without smearing their wings.
If the gauze hang over the sides of the saucer, it

FEEDING. 183

will act as a syphon, and the syrup be wasted : to
obviate this inconvenience, a small hoop of whale-
bone, cane, or other pliable material should be just
dropped within the edges of the saucer, and upon
this hoop the gauze should be stretched, turned
over and secured with a needle and thread.

184 DISEASES OF BEES.

CHAPTER XXTV.
DISEASES OF BEES.

I SUSPECT that much which has been written upon
this subject is fanciful, and that most of the ailments
of bees originate from want of cleanliness or want
of food ; for if bees be not kept clean, and be not
supplied with food in backward springs, particu-
larly in those which succeed mild winters, a mor-
tality among them is usually experienced ; and it
is in spring that their alleged maladies prevail.

" For late the lynx-ey'd scout, in nice survey,
Had mark'd the ravage of ungenial May,
Where the lorn bee-herd wail'd his empty shed,
Its stores exhausted, and its tenants dead."

" So mourn'd Arcadia's swain* his honey'd host,
By keen disease or keener famine lost,
Till his fond mother, on her glassy throne,
Heard through deep Peneus'f wave the filial moan. "

EVANS.

During a mild winter the stock of honey is often
exhausted, such a season encouraging the bees to

* Aristaous, the son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, to
whom mankind were said to be indebted for the art of
curdling milk, managing bees, making hives, and cultivating
olives ; on which account he was worshipped as a God by
the Greeks. He was the father of the unfortunate Actaeon.

f A river of Thessaly.

DISEASES OF BEES. 185

be active, without affording any resources beyond
their own domicile ; yet it is not uncommon to
hear the keepers of bees speak of a mild winter
as favourable for the bees. It is most unfavour-
able to them ; and if feeding be not duly attended
to, frequently fatal. Hence a northern aspect has
been recommended for hives during winter ; and if
guarded by proper coverings, and contrivances
against snow and other bad weather, such an as-
pect is highly proper. THE REV. STEPHEN
WHITE observes, that if hives be placed on the
northern side of a building, the bees will seldom
be induced to come out, and will eat much less
than if exposed to the winter's sun. MR. GEDDE
recommends keeping them during winter, not only
in a cold, but in a dark situation, in order to lessen
the consumption of honey. He even suggests the
use of an ice-house, having found that bees sur-
vive the cold in Siberia, and render Russia some-
what remarkable for its productiveness of honey.
" A very observing gentleman," says DR. DARWIN,
" at my request, put two hives for many weeks
into a dry cellar, and observed, during all that
time, that they did not consume any of their pro-
vision, for their weight did not decrease, as it had
done when they were kept in the open air." The
same observation is made in the Annual Register
for 1768, p. 113. The sudden transitions from
heat to cold, and from cold to heat, experienced

186 DISEASES OF BEES.

in this country, are detrimental to bees ; but these
vicissitudes would not alarm me, if the bees were
well sheltered, and had a convenient supply of
water, salt and sugar, in the early part of the
spring.

Keys thought they were not fond of salt : from
my own experience as well as from that of my
apiarian friends, I am satisfied that he was mis-
taken, and my opinion is confirmed by the follow-
ing observation in Crevecoeur's Travels. " One
day, having remarked that my bees frequently
settled on spots, where brine had been spilt, I
placed some grains of salt before their hives.
What was my astonishment, when I saw them
repeatedly tasting it with eagerness, and carrying
it away with them ! Before this experiment, I
could not have believed that the manufacturers of
honey could taste with pleasure, a substance so
different from the nectar of flowers."

In the winter of 1782-3, a general mortality
took place among the bees in this country, which
was attributed to various causes : want of honey
was not one of them ; for in some hives consider-
able store was found, after the bees were gone.
Some were of opinion that it arose from the pre-
ceding being a bad breeding year, and thought the
bees died of old age. Others attributed it to the
moistness of the spring of 1783, which rendered
the providing of pollen difficult, for without pollen

DISEASES OF BEES. 187

no brood can be raised. The difficulty of collect-
ing pollen was ascribed to the continual closing of
the flowers over the anthers, the want of sun to
burst the anthers, and the washing away of the
pollen by the frequent showers after they did
burst. The fatal influence ascribed to the wetness
of the spring of 1782 seems to be improbable ;
though the wet might have affected the quantity
of bees bred, it was not likely to put a stop to
their breeding altogether, and the young bees
ought at any rate to have escaped the desolating
evil, if it were old age alone ; yet wherever the
mortality once made its appearance, every bee
became its victim.,

A similar incident occurred among the wasps in
the year 1824. The queen wasps were unusually
numerous in the spring of that year, and yet
scarcely a wasp could be seen of any sort in the
ensuing summer and autumn, though there was a
great deal of fine weather and plenty of sunshine,
the fruits having ripened remarkably well. In
both cases, it seems probable that the mortality
arose from some unfavourable circumstance at the
breeding season, with which we are unacquainted.
I am not aware that it has been attributed to any
specific distemper of an epidemical nature. MR.
KNIGHT noticed a similar occurrence, as to wasps,
in the year 1806 (Philosophical Transactions 1807,
p. 243); and in 1815, MESSRS. KIRBY and SPENCE

188 DISEASES OF BEES.

made the same observation. Mr. Knight supposed
the scarcity to arise from a want of males to im-
pregnate the queens.

I shall now proceed to notice the maladies of
bees ; and state their causes, symptoms and re-
medies, as I have collected them from ancient and
modern authors.

DYSENTERY.

This malady was attributed by COLUMELLA to
the bees extracting and feeding upon honey col-
lected from the blossoms of elms and spurge ; he
regarded it as an annual distemper. By others
it has been ascribed to their feeding too freely
upon the vernal honey, from whatever source
derived ; or from their being obliged to eat wax,
through want of other food, in the early part of
the spring. MADAME VICAT supposed it to arise
from the feeding upon honey that had been
candied, in consequence of the hive being exposed
to a severe winter. REAUMUR instituted some
experiments to ascertain the cause of dysentery,
but they were not satisfactory.

The presence of this disorder is indicated by
the appearance of the excrement, which, instead
of a reddish yellow, exhibits a muddy black
colour, and has an intolerably offensive smell.
Also by its being voided upon the floors, and at
the entrance of the hives, which bees, in a healthy

DISEASES OF BEES. 189

state, are particularly careful to preserve clean.
HUISH compares the morbid excrement to lin-
seed.

VERTIGO.

Fertige, as Du CARNE DE BLANGY calls it, is
supposed to arise from the bees extracting the
honey of deleterious plants. I have treated fully
upon this subject under the head of Pasturage.
In addition to what has been there stated I will
give an extract from DR. BARTON'S Paper, who
after observing that there is more poetry than
philosophy in the following lines of Pope —

" In the nice bee what sense so subtly true
From poisonous herbs extracts the healing dew?"

says : " It is however much to be questioned
whether this noxious honey proves so to the bees
themselves." Sir J. E. Smith asserts that " the
nectar of plants is not poisonous to bees." Syl-
labus to Botan. Lect. And Dr. Barton, though
disposed to adopt the contrary opinion, gives
instances to the same effect. Thus a party of
young men, induced by the prospect of gain,
having removed their hives from Pennsylvania to
the Jerseys, whose vast savannahs were finely
painted with the flowers of the Kalmia angustifolia,
could not use or dispose of their honey, on account
of its intoxicating quality ; yet, " the bees increased
prodigiously," an increase only to be explained by
their being well and harmlessly fed.

190 DISEASES OF BEES.

This disorder is marked, we are told, by a
dizzy manner of flying, and by irregular motions,
such as starting, falling down, &c. when the bees
are pursuing their usual occupations. To these
symptoms succeed lassitude and death. No re-
medy has hitherto been discovered for this malady.

HUBER says that vertigo attacks ants, and causes
them to lose the power of moving in a straight
line, and occasions the performance of rapid gyra-
tions always in the same direction : he observed
one insect make about 1000 turns in an hour,
describing a circle of about an inch in diameter ;
this continued for seven days : he does not say
whether he ever knew any instance of a recovery.

In Dr. Barton's ingenious paper, to which I
have already referred in the chapter on Pasturage,
the plants enumerated as yielding poisonous honey
are Kalmla angustlfolla, latlfolla, and hlrsuta ;
Rhododendron maximum, Azalea nudiflora, and
Andromeda mariana. The honey of these is stated
to have proved injurious both to dogs and the
human species. The symptoms it usually pro-
duces are dimness of sight or vertigo, delirium,
ebrlety, pain In the stomach and bowels, convulsions,
profuse perspiration, foaming at the mouth, vomit-
ing and purging ; in some instances, temporary
palsy of the limbs, but very seldom death. The
best mode of treatment is not yet ascertained ;
though the similarity of the symptoms, the Doctor

DISEASES OF BEES. 191

says, would induce us to pursue the same plan as
in counteracting other narcotic poisons. In those
cases, early vomiting, whether spontaneous or in-
duced by art, removes the disease at once ; and
cold lathing, so useful in other spasmodic or con-
vulsive affections, is employed with considerable
advantage by both Natives and Europeans. This
should seem to be one of those cases in which
the stomach-pump would be peculiarly beneficial,
from the promptness and certainty of its action.

To the credit of the genus of plants last named,
it should be mentioned that one species (Andromeda
nitida or lucida of BARTRAM) affords abundance of
excellent honey ; hence the name of honey-flower
is given to it, by the country people in Georgia
and Carolina, not however merely from the cir-
cumstance just mentioned, but from the regular
position of the flowers on the peduncle, which
open like the cells of a honey-comb, and from the
odour of these flowers, which greatly resembles
that of honey." — Barton.

" As most of the plants enumerated in the above
list are now introduced into our gardens, and the
Datura (common Thorn Apple) has long become
perfectly naturalized, they might be supposed to
injure the British honey. Most probably, how-
ever, their proportion to the whole of the flowers
in bloom, is too small to produce any such
inconvenience ; whereas on their native continent

192 DISEASES OF BEES.

they exclusively cover whole tracts of country, as
instanced above in the Jerseys." EvanSj'B.iL^. 95.

TUMEFACTION OF THE ANTENNAE.

The antennae, in this disorder, become swelled
at their extremities, which resemble the bud of a
flower ready to open, and they assume a yellow
colour, of which the forepart of the head shortly
partakes ; the bees becoming gradually languid
and dying, if they have not timely assistance. —
This malady occurs about the month of May.

PESTILENCE, orFAUx COUVAIN (as Schirach calls it).

Pestilence has been reckoned among bee-mala-
dies, and attributed to the residence of dead
larvae in the cells, from a careless deposition of
ova by the queen, (the head of the grub not being
placed in a proper position for exclusion, when
that period has arrived,) it has also been ascribed
to cold, and to bad nursing, that is, feeding with
unwholesome food.

TREATMENT.

The remedies which have been found most
successful in all these maladies, excepting vertigo,
are cordials, namely wine and sugar. This circum-
stance, taken in conjunction with their occurring at
the spring of the year, tends to confirm my opinion
that the ailments of bees arise from hunger and
filth.

DISEASES OF BEES. 193

Cleanliness and timely supplies of sugared ale,
particularly during the months of February and
March, are the preventive remedies which have
hitherto preserved my bees in a state of healthful
activity. In ungenial springs, feeding should be
continued even through a considerable part of
May, if the preceding autumn have been un-
favourable, or if a cold May have succeeded to
warm weather in early spring, — the earliest vernal
flowers affording but a scanty supply of honey.
The apiarian is sometimes astonished that he
should lose his bees at this advanced season of the
year, when but a short time before he had seen
them in full health and activity. Had he afforded
that food which his bees could not obtain from a
comparatively immature and honeyless vegetation,
their lives would still have gladdened him with
the spectacle of a thriving population.

" Tf e'er dank autumn, with untimely storm,
The honey'd harvest of the year deform,
Or the chill blast, from Eurus' mildew wing,
Blight the fair promise of returning spring,
Full many a hive but late alert and gay,
Droops in the lap of all-inspiring May.'* EVANS.

The reader must now perceive the importance

of feeding, and that the transition from health to

languor and death is less frequently to be ascribed

to disease, than to the want of the necessary

K

194 DISEASES OF BEES.

means to continue the vital energy. The sudden-
ness of the unhappy change may reasonably lead
the uninformed or improvident to suppose that
an incurable malady has visited their hives : — so
long as the store of honey lasted, there were health
and' prosperity ; but that gone, famine commenced
its ravages, and an extinction of the bees of course
followed. A little foresight and a little trouble
would have kept off the calamity. I am perhaps
tediously particular in this notice. I wish to im-
press my noviciate bee-friends with the necessity
of thus providing for their hives, that the most
frequent agent of mischief, — hunger, — may be kept
out 'of them. Still further let me also recommend
to them, on the approach of winter to have the
floors of their hives or boxes well cleaned from
insects and their eggs, and from all heterogeneous
matter. This is a business which the bees them-
selves, when the weather admits of it, are par-
ticularly attentive to ; indeed they refrain, as
much as possible, from dropping their excrement
upon the floors, taking advantage of every fine
day in winter to sally forth and get rid of it. This
was proved by the experiments of Mr. Hunter : in-
deed they sometimes fall a sacrifice to their per-
sonal neatness in this respect, their bodies becoming
so swelled, from the accumulation of faeces, as com-
pletely to disable them from flying, when the wea-

DISEASES OF BEES. 195

ther is sufficiently favourable to admit of their
going out; in consequence of which, they fall
to the ground and perish.

SCHIRACH and others recommend, in cases of
Faux Couvain, to cut out the infected combs, and
to clean and fumigate the hive by burning aro-
matics under it.

In BUTLER'S Feminine Monarchic, we are gravely
told of a certain bee-mistress, who, finding her
hives fruitless, and their tenants pining away with
sickness, by the advice of another female, went to
receive the eucharist, and having kept it in her
mouth, placed it, on her return home, in one of
the diseased hives. The plague ceased ; honey
accumulated ; and, on examining the inside, she
found a waxen chapel and altar, of wondrous
architecture, and even bells of the same materials.
—Gent. Mag. 1809. p. 316.

To prove that there is much of fancy in the
traditional accounts respecting bee-maladies, I
will mention the various hypotheses concerning
dysentery. COLUMELLA speaks of its arising from
the bees feeding upon honey collected from elm
and spurge blossoms : my own neighbourhood
abounds with both ; but I never met with nor
scarcely heard of dysentery among the bees here,
EVELYN in his Sylva expresses doubts upon the
subject ; and DR. EVANS says he made particular
inquiries of some friends in Worcestershire, which
K 2

196 DISEASES OF BEES.

(like this county — Herefordshire) abounds with
elms, without obtaining satisfactory information.

Dysentery has also been said to be produced by
a surfeit of vernal honey, simply as such, from
whatever flowers derived : were this true it would
occur in all neighbourhoods. With respect to
its proceeding from their eating wax, I am de-
cidedly of opinion that wax never constitutes any
part of their food, under any circumstances ; not
a tittle of evidence can be adduced in support of
such an assertion. Wax is an excrementitious
matter, secreted among the abdominal folds of the
bees for the sole purpose of constructing the
honey and brood combs : the scraps of wax that
are observed in winter and spring upon the hive
floors, and which, to the minds of common obser-
vers, convey the idea that they are crumbs caused
by the bees consuming the wax for food, are pro-
duced by their nibbling the lids of the cells to
uncover the honey. If MADAME VICAT'S theory
were correct, what would become of all the bees
in Siberia and other northern regions ? Huish
says he never found honey in this country to
candy in the combs, but adds that Bonner assured
him that he had experienced it. Vide chapter on
Honey.

KIRBY and SPENCE have given it as their
opinion, that dysentery arises from the bees
having an insufficiency of pollen or bee-bread to

DISEASES OF BEES. 197

eat with their honey. We have no evidence that
pollen constitutes any part of the food of adult
bees ; and if it did, they have generally opportu-
nities of storing it very abundantly, in the autumn,
as well as in the spring : and such is the provident
industry of bees, that a considerable surplus is
always found in every stock-hive.

WILDMAN and HUISH recommend salt for pre-
serving the health of bees ; and their frequenting
stable drains and other receptacles of urine gives
countenance to this recommendation, as it seems
probable that the saline matter contained in
those fluids attracts the bees, their desire for it
overcoming that repugnance to offensive odours
which would otherwise occasion them to avoid
such places. Even fresh urine has been recom-
mended by RANCONI, an Italian author, in case
the bees should be attacked by dysentery ; — in all
probability a weak solution of salt would be more
acceptable and equally efficacious. I always in-
troduce a small portion of it into the syrup with
which I feed my bees. KEYS says that they are
not fond of salt. Vide Page 186.

I will close this chapter on the Diseases of
Bees with an extract from Nicholson's Journal,
vol. xxiii. p. 234 : Scientific Intelligence.

" A large swarm of bees having settled on a
branch of the poison ash, (Rhus Vernix^) in the
county of West Chester in America, was taken

198 DISEASES OF BEES.

into a hive of fir at three o'clock in the afternoon,
and removed to the place where it was to remain,
at nine. About five the next morning the bees
were found dead, swelled to double their natural
size, and black, except a few, which appeared
torpid and feeble, and soon died on exposure to
the air." This was attributed to their being
poisoned by the effluvia of the Rhus Fernix.

ENEMIES OF BEES. 199

CHAPTER XXV.

ENEMIES OF BEES.

AMONG the enemies of bees are enumerated va-
rious kinds of birds, poultry, mice, wax-moths,
slugs, hornets, wasps, woodlice, ants, and spiders.

The most destructive enemies of the bee, in this
country, are ivasps, whose superior strength, bold-
ness and number, enable them to commit great
ravages in a hive. One wasp is supposed to be
a match for three bees, and, to filch a belly-full
of honey, will oppose a host of bees in a very
daring manner.

The wax-moth (Tinea mellonella) is also a dan-
gerous enemy. MR. ESPINASSE says that this is
the smallest of the genus, and it is of a whitish
brown colour. The butterfly usually appears about
weak hives in April, and may be seen till the end
of October. This insect is remarkably active in
its movements ; and if the approach to the hives
be observed of a moonlight evening, the moths
will be found flying, or running round the hives,
watching an opportunity to enter ; whilst the bees
that have to guard the entrances against their
intrusion, will be seen acting as vigilant sentinels,
performing continual rounds near this important
post, extending their antennae to the utmost, and

200 ENEMIES OF BEES.

moving them to the right and to the left alter-
nately. Woe to the unfortunate moth that comes
within their reach ! " It is curious," says HUBER,
" to observe how artfully the moth knows to
profit, to the disadvantage of the bees, which re-
quire much light for seeing objects ; and the pre-
cautions taken by the latter in reconnoitring,
and expelling so dangerous an enemy." Adroitly
gliding between the guards, the moths will often
contrive to insinuate themselves, unperceived, into
the hives, and riot upon the honey. When they
have obtained possession, they deposit their eggs
upon the sides of the combs ; the caterpillar is
formed and inclosed in a case of white silk ; at
first, it is like a mere thread, but gradually in-
creases to the size of a quill, and during its growth
feeds upon the wax around it. It seems very
extraordinary, and would be almost incredible if
the fact were not well attested, that such tiny
creatures should live in the midst, and at the ex-
pense of myriads of such formidable insects as
bees, protected as they are by coats of mail,
armed with weapons of offence, and ever watchful
of their treasure. Such, however, is the havoc
sometimes made by these apparently insignificant,
but active enemies, as now and then to compel a
colony of bees to emigrate, and seek another
habitation.

In this country, where the apiary is generally

ENEMIES OF BEES. 201

situated near the dwelling, birds do not commit
any great ravages. MR» ESPINASSE thinks that
in general they come only for dead bees and larvce,
which may have been thrown out of the hives.
But in America, according to MR. HECTOR ST.
JOHN, the king bird, the protector of corn-fields
from the depredation of crows, is a great de-
stroyer of bees. After shooting these birds, Mr.
St. John has found bees in their craws, from one
of which he took as many as a hundred-and-se-
venty-one : on laying them all on a blanket in
the sun, fifty-four of them returned to life, licked
themselves clean, and joyfully went back to their
hives. Many wonderful tales of this kind have
been told, — such as the recovery of flies that had
been inclosed for a considerable time in bottles
of liquor (madeira). An instance of this is re-
lated by Wildman, who says his informant was a
very ingenious and accurate gentleman : — that the
madeira had been brought, in bottle, from Vir-
ginia to London, and that the flies when exposed
to a warm sun for an hour or two, were so com-
pletely reanimated, as to take wring ; thus putting
to the test, as Wildman's friend observed, the
truth of the opinion, that a fly cannot be drowned.
— A very marvellous tale was related last year in
the newspapers, of the recovery of some appa-
rently dead bees after the substance containing
them had been submitted to a considerable heat
K 5

202 ENEMIES OF BEES.

or to a chemical process. Mr. St. John's state-
ment is within the bounds of credibility : it seems
to have been a case of suspended animation of
short continuance, not produced by exposure to
gas or to any liquid likely to prove deleterious to
them ; and it is well known that bees often re-
cover even after suffocation with sulphurous gas.
Bees may be immersed in water for a long
time, without loss of life. Reaumur saw them re-
cover after nine hours immersion. Dr. Evans
accidentally left some eighteen hours in water ;
when laded out with a spoon and placed in the
sunshine the majority of them recovered. Other
animals, of analogous species, exhibit still more
wonderful resurrections. DeGeer has observed
one species of mite to live for some time in spirit
of wine ; and Mr. Kirby states that being desirous
of preserving a very pretty lady-bird, and not
knowing how to accomplish it, he immersed it in
geneva. " After leaving it," says he, " in this
situation a day and a night, and seeing it without
motion, I concluded it was dead, and laid it in the
sun to dry. It no sooner, however, felt the
warmth than it began to move, and afterwards
flew away." This circumstance laid the founda-
tion of Mr. K.'s study of entomology.

Of this adherence to life, advantage has been
taken at the time of deprivation, — recourse having
been had to immersion for removing a portion of

ENEMIES OF BEES. 203

the combs, the bees were afterwards spread on a
cloth in the sun, and became reanimated. Dr. Der-
ham says that he has known bees revive after
remaining twenty-four hours under an exhausted
air-pump. After long submersion the proboscis
of the bee is generally unfolded, and stretched to
its full length. The first symptom of returning
animation, is a motion at its extremity, succeeded
by a similar motion at the extremities of the
legs. Having so far progressed towards recovery,
the tongue is soon folded up again, and the bee
prepared to resume its customary occupations.

Moths and spiders should be watched and de-
stroyed in an evening, as at that time the former
are hovering about, and the latter laying their
snares ; at that time too there would be less
danger of annoying the bees, or of being annoyed
by them. Wherever moths have gained pos-
session of a hive, it is always necessary to destroy
the bees, or to drive them into another hive.

Attention to the following particulars may guard
the bees from many of their enemies. A frequent
cleaning of the hive floors ; the use of new or well
cleaned hives ; the timely renewal of the cover-
ings, and keeping the ground bare around the
apiary, particularly in front of it. This last pre-
caution may also prevent the entanglement of the
bees in rubbish or long straggling vegetables,

204 ENEMIES OF BEES.

should they on their return home fall down
through fatigue or the weight of their loads.

From rats and mice the surest safeguard is an
appropriate position of the hives ; traps may also
be laid, and in winter the entrances into the hives
contracted. It will be prudent likewise to case
the legs of the bee-benches with tin. Bees in a
healthy vigorous state will attack and kill an in-
truding mouse ; but in winter it might commit
great depredations, and cause the emigration of
the bees on the return of warm weather. (Mr.
Espinasse says that he has known a mouse take
up his winter quarters in a hive, without destroy-
ing the bees.)

For protection against ants, which sometimes
enter the hives and eat the honey, Mr. COBBETT,
in his Cottage Economy, recommends that the
pedestals or legs of the benches supporting the
hives should be surrounded by a green stick,
twisted into a circular form and covered with
tar ; and if the ant nest can be traced, that boiling
water should be poured into the centre of it, at
night, when all the family are at home. The tar-
ring of the stick should be repeated every two or
three days : the legs of the stool, or the posts
on which the shed stands, may also be tarred.
Some bees may be lost by sticking in the tar, but
this disadvantage will be more than counter-

ENEMIES OF BEES. 205

balanced by the destruction of the ants. Slaked
lime may be beneficially spread about a foot wide
round the apiary. The usual custom has been
to renew this sprinkling of lime every two or
three days : but the experiments q/MR. COLERIDGE
(Southey's Brazil, i. 645) show that this step is
unnecessary : by exposure to the air, lime is con-
verted into chalk ; and according to Mr. C., (who
states that the formic acid transpires from the
bodies of ants so as to leave its traces upon the
substances which they traverse,) if ants attempt to
pass over chalk, the effervescence produced be-
tween the chalk and the acid will be so consider-
able as to burn their legs. It has been said that
a bee cannot kill an ant, when bitten ; but that
the bee instead of making resistance, flies away
and carries the ant with it.

M. REAUMUR was of opinion that ants were
not to be reckoned among the enemies of bees ;
and he relates an instance of their living as very
close neighbours, yet in perfect harmony. The
ants established themselves between the glass
panes of his bee-box and the wooden shutters
which covered them ; and as a similar circum-
stance occurred to BONNET, and in other of
Reaumur's hives also, it seems probable that the
ants took up their quarters in this situation for
the sake of the equable warmth that the bees
would impart to their eggs. " Ants were with-

206 ENEMIES OF BEES.

out the hive," says Reaumur, " and bees within ;
a single glass only separating two nations, so dif-
ferent in manners, in customs, and genius. The
bees were abundantly provided with a dainty of
which ants are exceedingly fond, I mean honey.
The ants had j ust reason to be apprehensive that
the bees would be uneasy, and jealous to preserve
so precious a treasure. Nevertheless the utmost
harmony and concord prevailed between the twro
nations. Not a single ant was tempted to enter
the hive, how strongly soever she might be invited
by the fragrance of the honey ; nor did any bee
disturb the ants, though superior to them in
power ; the several individuals, on each side,
went in and out peaceably ; they would meet in
the way without teazing or molesting one another :
respect on one side, and complacency on the other,
were the foundation of this peace." — Nat. History
of Bees, p. 352.

The destruction of queen rvasps and queen hornets
in the spring, and of wasps' and hornets' nests in the
summer, will prove the best security against those
formidable enemies. None but queen wasps and
queen hornets appear in the spring. Everyone which
is then annihilated would probably have been the
founder of a kindred colony, and every colony of
wasps at a moderate computation may be calculated
to produce at least 30,000 in a season. These de-
stroyers may often be watched to their homes and

ENEMIES OF BEES. 207

exterminated in the night, by brimstone, gun~
powder, or boiling water.

The wooden guards invented by Espinasse, or
the tin guards of Huish, will be very useful in
case of a formidable attack, and had better be
made use of if an assault be apprehended from
these predatory insects.

Powder and shot are the only protectors from
the visits of birds.

The exclusion of poultry must be left to the
ingenuity of the apiarian.

In an ungenial autumn, it is not uncommon for
bees that are ill-managed and not properly fed, to
plunder the hoards of their own species, and bees
that have thus acquired predatory habits, become
great annoyers of industrious and well fed co-
lonies ; they are known by the name of corsair
bees. On these occasions spies are said to be
sent our to ascertain the respective strengths of
neighbouring colonies, and to select the weakest
for attack. They make similar attacks upon the
nests of humble-bees, as well as upon the bees
themselves ; in the former case they will carry off
almost the whole of the stores that have been
collected, unrepulsed by its proprietors ; and in
the latter case, says HUBER, " the humble-bee,
accustomed to such exactions, yields up its honey,
and resumes its flight." In both cases it renews
its labour in the fields, and repairs with its surplus

208 ENEMIES OF BEES.

treasure to its usual asylum, and that even after
repeated robberies. MR. HUBBARD says that he
has known repeated instances of weak stocks
being expelled from their hives by strong ones.
The best remedies for this evil are the contraction
of the entrances, as for guarding against wasps, or
a change in the situation of the hives.

DR. DARWIN in his Phytologia has related an
instance of a besieged hive being removed to a
distant and more easterly part of the same garden :
the assailants in this case did not follow, and the
bees resumed their usual occupations. Removal
to a still greater distance would seem to promise
more certain relief. In order to raise their cou-
rage above its natural height when thus attacked,
SCHIRACH recommends mixing a little wine or
brandy with honey, and presenting it to the bees
that are besieged.

HUBER has called the attention of Naturalists
to what he designated as a new enemy of bees, the
Sphinx Atropos or Death's-head Hawk-moth, to
which his attention seems to have been first di-
rected in 1804. This gigantic moth, which de-
rives its name from having upon its back a mark
somewhat resembling a death's head, has, from
this cause together with its size, (which at first
caused it to be mistaken for a bat,) produced
great alarm amongst the people of some countries,
being regarded by them as the harbinger of some

ENEMIES OF BEES.

calamity. KUHN speaks of its having been no-
ticed in the apiaries of some monks at the close
of the last century, as well as in the bee-houses
of other persons : and CAMPBELL, in his Travels,
mentions it as plundering the wild bees in Africa
of their honey. This moth makes its appear-
ance towards the close of summer : it has the
faculty of emitting a shrill mournful cry, which,
when threatened by the vengeance of the bees, has
the power of disarming their fury. It operates
upon them like the voice of their queen, and thus
enables the moth to commit the greatest ravages
in the hives, with perfect impunity. Huber as-
certained that it could not produce the same effect
upon humble-bees ; for whenever their nests are
entered by one of these insects, it is immediately
attacked and driven out. One that Huber in-
troduced into a nest of humble-bees was actually
stung to death by them, but not till many wounds
had been inflicted upon its most sensible part, the
belly. On dissecting one of these moths, he found
a table- spoonful of pure honey in its abdomen.
The proceedings of bees, when attacked by the
Sphinx Atropos, as detailed in the Chapter on
Instincts, will suggest to the apiarian the best plan
to be adopted, whenever this formidable insect
shall invade their territories.

210 EXOTIC BEES.

CHAPTER XXVI.
EXOTIC BEES.

BEES are, in all probability, the most universal
of all animals ; and notwithstanding their impa-
tience of cold, they seem adapted to live in all
climates. They are accordingly to be met with
in every quarter of the globe, and in every quar-
ter they seem to flourish, if duly attended to.

In all tropical climates there are little black bees
without stings. Those of Guadaloupe are only
half the size of those in Europe, and are rounder
in their form. They build in hollow trees, or in
the cavities of rocks by the sea-side, where they
lay up their honey in cells about the size and
shape of a pigeon's egg ; these cells are of a
black or deep violet colour, and joined together,
so as to leave no space between them ; they hang
in clusters almost like a bunch of grapes ; each
cell somewhat resembles a small bottle or blad-
der ; when filled with honey the cell is closed up.

The honey collected by these bees is said not
to be so unpalatable nor so surfeiting as that of
Europe. By unpalatable I conceive the writers
merely to mean, that it has less of that peculiar
flavour which European honey possesses. A
writer in the 15th volume of the Philosophical

EXOTIC BEES. 211

Transactions, states that their honey is always in
a fluid state, and as clear as rock water, forming
an agreeable beverage, which taken on an empty
stomach in the quantity of about half a pint, acts
medicinally in about two hours, but not so when
taken with the meals.

There is a species of bees in Guiana which
gather very delicious honey, and have no stings.
These also construct their combs in a different
manner from the hive bee of our hemisphere.
According to Huber's translator, there are bees
in India that construct under the boughs of a tree
a single comb of very large dimensions. The
most interesting account of exotic bees that I
have met with, is in Mr. Basil Hall's highly in-
structive and entertaining Journal written on the
coasts of Chili, Peru and Mexico, in 1820, -1, and
-2, of which I shall here give a transcript.

" From the Plaza, we went to a house where
a bee hive of the Country was opened in our
presence. The bees, the honey-comb, and the
hive, differ essentially from those in England.
The hive is generally made out of a log of wood
from two to three feet long and eight or ten
inches in diameter, hollowed out, and closed at
the ends by circular doors, cemented closely to
the wood, but capable of being removed at plea-
sure.

" Some persons use cylindrical hives, made of

EXOTIC BEES.

earthenware, instead of the clumsy apparatus of
wood ; these are relieved by raised figures and
circular rings, so as to form rather handsome or-
naments in the verandah of a house, where they
are suspended by cords from the roof, in the
same manner that the wooden ones in the village
are hung to the eaves of the cottage. On one side
of the hive, half-way between the ends, there is
a small hole made, just large enough for a loaded
bee to enter, and shaded by a projection to pre-
vent the rain from trickling in. In this hole,
generally representing the mouth of a man, or
some monster, the head of which is moulded in
the clay of the hive, a bee is constantly stationed,
whose office is no sinecure*, for the hole is so
small, he has to draw back every time a bee
wishes to enter or to leave the hive. A gentleman
told me that the experiment had been made, by
marking the sentinel ; when it was observed that
the same bee continued at his post a whole day.

" When it is ascertained by the weight that the
hive is full, the end pieces are removed, and the

* If the Mexican bees enter the hives with as much ra-
pidity and in as great numbers as Reaumur states they do
in this part of the world, it would indeed be no sinecure.
He observes that the population of a hive amounts to 18,000,
and that a hundred enter in a minute ; if as many go out
in the same time, I think the sentinel must rather stand on
one side of the entrance than within it.

EXOTIC BEES. 213

honey withdrawn. The hive we saw opened was
only partly filled, which enabled us to see the
economy of the interior to more advantage. The
honey is not contained in the eleganthexagonal cells
of our hives, but in wax bags, not quite so large as
an egg. These bags or bladders are hung round
the sides of the hive, and appear about half full,
the quantity being probably just as great as the
strength of the wax will bear without tearing. Those
near the bottom being better supported, are more
filled than the upper ones. In the centre of the
lower part of the hive, we observed an irregular-
shaped mass of comb furnished with cells, like those
of our bees, all containing young ones, in such
an advanced state that when we broke the comb
and let them out, they flew merrily away. During
this examination of the hive, the comb and the
honey were taken out, and the bees disturbed in
every way ; but they never stung us, though our
faces and hands were covered with them. It is
said, however, that there is a bee in the country
which does sting ; but the kind we saw seem to
have neither the power nor the inclination, for
they certainly did not hurt us ; and our friends
said they were always ' muy manso,' very tame,
and never stung any one. The honey gave out
a rich aromatic perfume, and tasted differently
from ours, but possessed an agreeable flavour."
From the periodicals of the last year, I have

24 EXOTIC BEES.

observed that there has been an importation of
the stingless bees into this country. I doubt the
success of their establishment here, as the fruits of
their labours may very soon become the prey of
wasps and corsair bees, and even of the hive bees
which, in a dearth of honey or when from a pau-
city of numbers a hive is weakly defended, will
commit depredations upon one another. The
stingless bees having no weapon of defence which
enables them to cope with armed assailants must
soon be exterminated. In their native clime, where
there is an abundance of sweets, no temptations
to predatory attack may occur ; but in our hemi-
sphere, as Buffon has observed, there are hundreds
of lazy creatures, fond of honey and disliking
labour, that would, but for the weapons of defence
possessed by our bees, invade their hives and
carry off the treasures.

Honey-bees do not appear to have been among
the native productions of North America, though
they have now become general throughout that
continent. When established there, they extended
themselves somewhat in advance of the white
population ; in consequence of which they were
called by the native Indians, the white man's
flies, and were regarded as indicating the approach
of European settlements. — Jefferson's Virginia.

An elegant modern writer has observed upon
this subject, that " a few years ago the hum of a

EXOTIC BEES. 215

bee ha$ never been heard on the western side of
Alleghany Mountains : but that a violent hurri-
cane having carried several swarms over that
lofty ridge, they found there a new unexhausted
country, singularly favourable to their propaga-
tion, where they have multiplied, till the whole
of those boundless savannahs and plains have been
colonized by these indefatigable emigrants."

From what I have said above, it would seem
that the bees of all tropical climates store their
honey in cells or bags of large dimensions ; but
from Mr. Basil Hall's account it appears that the
bees of South America build small cells also, re-
sembling those of our hive-bees ; and in all pro-
bability this is the case with those of other hot
climates, and that these small cells are merely
used as receptacles for the young brood.

216 SEPARATION OF WAX AND HONEY.

CHAPTER XXVII.
SEPARATION OF WAX AND HONEY.

AFTER deprivation, the box or hive containing
the combs should be kept in a warm room, till
it is convenient to drain it of its contents, as
the more fluid the honey, the sooner and the
more completely will it run off; this is of course
a reason for not deferring the draining longer than
can be avoided.

The combs should be separated from the boxes
or hives with the broad spatula and the double-
edged instrument recommended in chapter XL
and placed afterwards on a clean dish. The
waxen covers, on both sides of the sealed combs,
should be sliced off, when by placing them on a
hair sieve the honey will run through tolerably
fine, and may be caught in an earthen pan. For
prime purposes the purest combs should be
selected, and their honey passed through a sepa-
rate sieve. Mr. Isaac recommends letting this
fine honey drop through the sieve into a silk sarse,
such as is used by the apothecary for sifting fine
powders, and from the sarse into an earthen
pan ; this would enable the apiarian to obtain
his honey in a more depurated state. The sarse
must be first wetted, or the honey will not run

SEPARATION OF WAX AND HONEY. 217

through it. If the weather be cool, this business
should be done in a room where there is a fire.

The ordinary combs may be chopped up, or
broken down with the hands, and together with
the refuse combs after draining, may be thrown
into as much clear water as will cause the wax to
swim : the whole may remain in this state for some
days to dissolve all the honey for making common
mead ; or the combs may be spread out upon
broad dishes, and set before the bees in an evening,
as also the utensils which have been employed
during the process, first strewing them over with
short straws, to prevent the bees from smearing
their wings. The former is the best mode of dis-
posing of the refuse combs and utensils, as the
latter is apt to produce quarrelling and robberies.

The combs having been cleared as completely
as possible, the finest should be boiled in water
enough to float them, till they are thoroughly
melted : the melted mass should be poured into a
canvass bag, made in the form of a jelly bag, with
a draw tape or string at the top, and then be sus-
pended over a tub or pan of cold water. The
strings of the bag being tightly drawn, the ex-
pression may be effected in various ways. Some
press the bag between two strong round sticks,
tied or strapped together at their ends, so as to
resemble a pair of nut-crackers, with which two

218 SEPARATION OF WAX AND HONEY.

persons may by repeatedly stripping down the
sides of the bag, express the whole of the wax.
Others express it by making an inclined plane of
a board about four feet long, placing one end of
it in the tub or pan of water, and the other against
the breast of the assistant, who puts the bag on
the board and passes a round stick firmly down
it, as long as the wax will run. A screw press,
made hot, would of course answer the purpose
better than either of the above modes.

The crumbled combs might be put over the
fire, in a steam kettle, with water under it, and
the wax which runs through might be afterwards
melted again and passed through the bag. The
new combs will melt almost entirely ; but the old
ones, owing to their cells having received so many
linings, will preserve their form, the wax running
from them but in small quantities.

The vessel used for melting the wax should
be capable of containing a good deal more than
is put into it, as the contents may boil up sud-
denly, and occasion loss and inconvenience as well
as danger. The wax having been separated
from the water in which it was melted, should
be remelted with just water enough to prevent
burning ; and having been well skimmed, may be
poured into proper moulds for forming cakes,
the vessels being first rinsed with cold water \o

SEPARATION OF WAX AND HONEY. 219

prevent the wax from adhering to them. The
melted wax should be placed near the fire and
covered over, to cool gradually, or the cakes will
be liable to crack. If it be desirable to have the
wax in a very pure state, it may be boiled over
and over again with fresh water.

%%() WAX.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
WAX.

WAX is a solid compact unctuous substance,
generally of a yellow colour. It is secreted by
animals and vegetables, but the vegetable secre-
tion of it is often combined with resin.

BEES-WAX may be said to be a concrete animal
oil, holding the same relation to the fixed oils that
resin does to the essential oils. It is secreted by
certain small sacklets on the body of the bee, as
occasion requires, for constructing the combs in
which the family provision and the young brood
are deposited ; the wax of commerce is procured
by melting down these combs, in the manner
already described.

Prime wax is of a bright yellow colour and an
agreeable odour, somewhat like that of honey.
The best is procured from combs which have
been either wholly unoccupied, or occupied by
nothing but honey. When first secreted, it is
white, semitransparent, and very fragile : it after-
wards becomes stronger, and assumes more or
less of a yellow hue. This deepening of colour
is owing, partly, to its being covered with a
yellowish varnish by the bees, (for an account of

WAX. 221

I

which see " Architecture" and "Propolis,") and
is partly the effect of age.

Independently of its colour, the goodness of
wax may also be estimated by the passing of the
thumb nail forcibly over its surface : if good, the
nail will pass with a kind of jerk ; but if no ob-
struction be felt, the wax may be looked upon as
adulterated with suet, or some similar substance.
The average quantity yielded by a common hive,
is about half a pound of wax to fifteen pounds of
honey ; the quantity of both may be considerably
increased by storifying.

WHITE WAX is nothing more than the yellow
wax that has been exposed in thin flakes or
shreds to the action of the sun and air. There
is an apparatus for melting and reducing the wax
into shreds or ribbands, but the process of con-
version, under any circumstances, is tedious and
dependent on the weather. " The following,"
says Mr. Parkes in his Chemical Essays, " is the
usual process, as it is conducted in England.
Common bees- wax is melted upon hot water ; and
when in a fluid state, it is laded out of the copper,
together with a part of the water, into a wooden
vessel ; and in this it is allowed to remain a few
hours, for the impurities to subside from it. The
purified wax is then put, while still hot, into a
cullender full of holes, through which it runs, and
falls upon a revolving metallic roller, which dips

Z22 WAX.

into cold water contained in a vessel placed
underneath. As the melted wax runs through the
cullender upon the revolving roller, the motion of
the cylinder forms it into thin shavings, which
cool as they come in contact with the water, and
fall in an accumulated heap into the water below.
These shavings of wax, being now in a suitable
form for absorbing oxygen, are taken out of the
tub, and exposed in a field to the action of the
atmosphere, till they become sufficiently white."

Bees-wax forms a considerable article of com-
merce, and large quantities of it are annually im-
ported into this country from the Baltic, the
Levant, the Barbary Coast, and North America.
In some parts of Europe and America wax is very
extensively employed in the religious ceremonies
of the inhabitants. Humboldt informs us that
upwards of 80,000 pounds worth is annually im-
ported from Cuba to New Spain, and that the
total export from that island in 1803 was worth
upwards of 130,000/. By far the greater part of
this wax is the produce of the hive-bee, though
no inconsiderable quantity is procured also from
various species of wild bees, as well as from
certain trees which I shall notice presently.

Upon this subject a modern writer, after la-
menting the increasing neglect of bee-culture in
this country, has not hesitated to use the follow-
ing contemptuous, though somewhat extravagant,

WAX.

language. " There is hardly bees- wax enough
produced in England to answer the demand for
lip-salve alone; but importation from America
supplies all our wants, for the quantity obtained
in that country is annually increasing." " Little
thinks the ball-room beauty, when the tapers are
almost burnt out, that the wax by whose light her
charms have been exalted was once hidden in
the bells and cups of innumerable flowers, shed-
ding perfume over the silent valleys of the Sus-
quehanna,or nodding at their own reflected colours
in the waters of the Potomac and Delaware."

The uses of wax in making candles, oint-
ments, &c. are well known.

According to Buffon, the bees-wax of tropical
climates is too soft for any but medicinal purposes.

There is a species of wax, which is generally re-
garded as of vegetable origin, and which is afforded
by various trees, plants and fruits. The light down
which silvers over the surface of prunes and other
stone fruits, has been shown by M. Proust to be
wax, the leaves and stem of the Ceroxylon also,
afford it in considerable quantity, if bruised and
boiled in water ; but the trees which afford it in
greatest abundance, are the Myrica cerifera angus-
tifolia or wax tree of Louisiana, and the Myrica
cerifera latifolia of Pennsylvania, Carolina, and
Virginia. The latter is now naturalized in France :
it flourishes also in the dry lands of Prussia, and,

224 WAX.

from the productiveness of its berries, it seems
surprising that its culture is not more general.

The mode in which this myrtle wax is obtained
is as follows. Towards the end of autumn the
natives gather the ripe berries, boil them in water,
skim off the wax which rises, strain it off from its
impurities, and set it to drain, after which, they
remelt and form it into masses. Four pounds of
berries yield about one pound of wax.

From the wax thus procured, they make soap
and candles. The soap manufactured from it is
said to be excellent, and to wash linen perfectly
white ; the candles afford a good light, without
smoke or guttering ; their perfume is highly
agreeable, not only during the time that they are
burning, but for a considerable time afterwards.

Mr. Sparrman suspects that myrtle wax is de-
posited upon the berries by insects, and Du Valde
has given an account of a white wax made by
small insects, round the branches of a tree in
China, in great quantity, which is there collected
for medical and economical purposes. (Descrip-
tion of China, vol. i. page 230.) Myrtle-wax
therefore may not be a vegetable product.

According to the experiments of M. Cadet and
Dr. Bostock, this myrtle wax differs in some re-
spects from bees-wax. It differs from it in colour,
different specimens of it assuming different shades
of yellowish green : its smell is also different ;

WAX. 225

myrtle wax, when fresh, emitting a fragrant bal-
samic odour. It has in part the tenacity without
the unctuosity of bees-wax, and somewhat of the
brittleness of resin. Its specific gravity is greater,
insomuch that it sinks in water, whereas bees-wax
floats upon it ; and it is not so easily bleached to
form white wax.

Analysis of Wax.

Carbon 81,79

Oxygen 5,54?

Hydrogen 1 2,67

" The formation of resin and wax has been
explained thus : — That when a volatile or a fixed
oil is expelled out of plants, and has its surface
exposed to the air, the first becomes a resin by
losing hydrogen, the second a wax by absorbing
oxygen." — Parkes's Chemical Catechism, p. 244,
llth edit.

226 HONEY.

CHAPTER XXIX.
HONEY.

HONEY is a well known, sweet, tenacious, sub-
stance, which in fine weather is continually secre-
ting in the nectaries of flowers, chiefly from
certain vesicles or glands situated near the basis
of every petal, from whence it is collected by bees
and other insects. The domestic honey bees
consume a portion of this honey for food, at or
near the time of gathering ; but the principal part
is regurgitated and poured into the cells of the
hive, for the use of the community in winter : — so
very abundant are these collections, in favourable
seasons, as to afford to the apiarian an extensive
share of them, without distressing the provident
hoarders. Mr. Wildman states that in the year
1789, he purchased a glass filled with exceedingly
fine honey-combs, weighing 63lbs., whichhad been
collected within a month, and that the hive which
it had surmounted still contained a full supply
for the winter's consumption of the bees. This
however was an unusual quantity ; a hive or box,
of the dimensions recommended in this work, may
be considered as well stocked when it yields from
30 to 40lbs. of honey.

The honey intended for early use, and for the

HONEY. 227

nursing bees and drones, is deposited in cells
which are allowed to remain open, and is probably
of an inferior sort ; whilst the finest honey, which
is laid up in store for winter, is placed in the
most inaccessible parts of the hive, and closed in
the cells with waxen lids.

" There cluster'd now clear wells of nectar glow,
Like amber drops that sparkle in the Po,
And now (so quick the change) ere one short moon
Shrinks with waned crescent mid the blaze of noon,
All veil'd from view, these amber drops are lost,
And each clear well with waxen crown embost."

EVANS.

In the Philosophical Transactions for 1792,
Mr. Hunter has stated, that whatever time the
contents of the honey bags may be retained, they
still remain pure and unaltered by the digestive
process. Mr. Polhill, a gentleman to whom the
public are indebted for several articles in Rees's
Cyclopaedia appertaining to bees, is also of this
opinion. Messrs. Kirby and Spence do not ad-
mit this statement : as the nectar of flowers is not
of so thick a consistence as honey, they think it
must undergo some change in the stomach of the
bee. This opinion is strengthened by what has been
stated by Reaumur : he observed that if there was
a deficiency of flowers, at the season of honey-
gathering, and the bees were furnished with sugar,
they filled their cells with honey, differing in no
other respect from honey collected in the usual

228 HONEY.

way, but in its possessing a somewhat higher
flavour. The same may be observed when they
imbibe the juices of sweet fruits, for bees do not
confine themselves solely to flowers and honey-
dewed leaves ; they will sometimes very greedily
absorb the juice of raspberries for instance, and
thus spoil them for the table ; they also visit in
crowds the vats of the cider and wine maker.

Reaumur has likewise remarked, that in each
honey-cell there is a cream-like layer or covering,
of a thicker consistence than the honey itself, which
apparently serves to retain the more liquid col-
lections that may from time to time be introduced
under it. Messrs. Kirby and Spence say, that if
honey were the unaltered nectar of flowers, it
would be difficult to conceive how this cream
could be collected in proper proportions. This
observation is made, in consequence of their pre-
suming that some of this cream-like covering is
conveyed into the cells with each deposition of
fresh honey ; and it has been supposed that this
cream was the last portion disgorged. According
to an article in Rees's Cyclopaedia, probably written
by Mr. Polhill, this cream-like matter is formed
at the very first, and every addition of honey is
deposited beneath it. The bee, entering into the
cell as deeply as possible, puts forward its anterior
pair of legs, and with them pierces a hole through
the crust or cream : while this hole is kept open

HONEY.

by the feet, the bee disgorges the honey in large
drops from its mouth ; these, falling into the hole,
mix with the mass below : the bee, before it flies
off, new-models the crust, and closes up the hole.
This mode of proceeding is regularly adopted by
every bee that contributes to the general store.

The power of regurgitation in the bee is very
remarkable : its alimentary organs, like those of
the pigeon, besides being subservient to the pur-
pose of nutriment, afford it a temporary store-
room or reservoir. Ruminating animals may be
considered as regurgitating animals, though in
them the operation is performed for different pur-
poses. In some it is exercised for the purpose
of digesting the food, in others for feeding the
young ; but in bees its use is to enable them to
disburden themselves 01 the honey which they
gather for the winter's store of the community.

The finest flavoured and most delicate honey is
that which is collected from aromatic plants, and
has been stored in clean new cells : it has been
usually called virgin-honey, as though it were
elaborated by a fresh swarm of bees ; but this
is not essential to the perfection of honey, for,
provided the cells in which it is deposited have
never contained either brood or farina, it is not
material whether it have been collected by swarms
or by old stocks ; the season and the flowers
having been the same, the quality of the honey

230 HONEY.

will in both cases be alike. F. Lamberti asserts,
that the best honey in the world is produced in
Pontus, and that its superiority is attributable to
the great quantity of balm growing there. In
this quarter of the world, the Narbonne honey is
regarded as the finest, owing to the rosemary
which abounds in the neighbourhood of Narbonne.
" The honey, for which Narbonne is so deservedly
celebrated, is every year diminishing. Bees have
ceased to be an object of attention to the peasan-
try ; they now devote their time to the vineyards,
and neglect the bees. The flowers of the wild
plants, in the neighbourhood of Narbonne, are
highly aromatic, and give the flavour which is
peculiar to its honey : this peculiarity is attributed
exclusively to the wild rosemary, Rosmarmus
ojflcinalis." (Duppa's Miscellaneous Observations
and Opinions on the Continent. 18.25.) Attempts
are said to have been made to imitate Narbonne
honey, by adding to other honey an infusion of
rosemary flowers.

Of the power which some flowers possess of im-
parting deleterious qualities to their honey, I have
already spoken in the chapter on Pasturage. I will
here add, however, what has been said of the ap-
pearance of this pernicious kind of honey. "It is
usually distinguished from what is innocent, by
its crimson or reddish brown colour, its bitter
flavour, and thicker consistence ; but in Florida

HONEY. 231

and Carolina it is so similar, in all respects, to
innocent honey, that the hunters depend upon
experience only, and, knowing that bad honey
soon shows its effects, they at first eat very spa-
ringly. The converse of this would appear in the
" blood-red honey" found by Mr. Bruce at Dixan
in Abyssinia, to which he ascribes no evil proper-
ties. (Travels to the Nile, vol. v.) Linnaeus in-
forms us, that in Sweden, the honey of autumn is
principally gathered from the flowers of the Erica
or Heath, and that it has a reddish cast. The
honey of our native heaths is also of the same
colour. Dr. Barton has observed that during his
residence at Edinburgh, the Highland honey was
often of a dirty brownish colour, which was sup-
posed to be given to it by the " blooming hather,"
as Burns calls it : the people of Edinburgh, how-
ever, though great consumers of it, never complain
of any ill effects from it. It produced upon the
Doctor a soporific effect. The most innocent
honey will often disagree with those who take it
in large quantities, or who have irritable bowels ;
usually, in such cases, it produces purging, and
sometimes griping pain. The mischievous quali-
ties of honey have been said to be destroyed by
boiling and straining, or even by long keeping
only ; yet when made into metheglin, it has
been found as deleterious as ever.

The quality of honey varies with the time of

232 HONEY.

gathering, and that even though the whole season
may have been favourable. The collection at
the commencement of summer is regarded as the
prime honey of the year, the flowers being then
most abundant, and in the full glow of health ; and
that which is collected in spring is superior to the
gleanings of autumn.

Huber states that the secretion of honey and the
formation of max are singularly promoted by elec-
tricity : hence the works may always be observed
to advance rapidly when there is a southerly
wind, a moist warm air, and an impending storm ;
whereas the secretion is impeded, and sometimes
suspended, by long protracted droughts, cold rains,
and a northerly wind.

Prime honey is of a whitish colour, an agreeable
smell, a pleasant taste, and a thick consistence.
When taken from the combs it is in a fluid state,
but gradually thickens by age, and in cold weather,
if genuine, it becomes firm and solid. In England,
it has seldom, if ever, been known to assume this
solid state while in the hives ; and even out of
them, if it remain in the combs, it will preserve its
clearness, purity and fine flavour, for at least a
year. The honey of tropical climates is always
in a fluid state. Vide chapter on Exotic Bees.

Much of the fine flavour of honey will depend
upon the manner of its separation from the comb.
That will be the most delicate which flows spon-

HONEY. 233

taneously from the purest and whitest combs ; the
next in excellence will be that which is expressed
without heat ; and the coarsest, that which is ob-
tained by the aid of heat and pressure.

Care should be taken in the selection of the
vessels used for storing honey ; the most appropri-
ate are jars of^tone ware, called Bristol ware. The
principal constituents of sugar and honey are the
same; viz. hydrogen, carbon, and oxygen. Besides
these their common elements, honey contains mu-
cilage and extractive matter, and also an excess of
oxygen : in plain English, honey possesses a greater
proportion of acid than is contained in sugar, and
in a state more capable of acting upon those
bodies with which it comes in contact. From
this the reader will perceive my reason for recom-
mending stone jars for its preservation : the acid
of the honey acting upon the lead with which every
other kind of earthen ware is glazed, causes the
honey to receive an impregnation from it, which
may prove injurious to those whose constitutions
are delicate : the stone ware, being glazed with
common salt, cannot communicate any injurious
property to the honey which is stored in it. Honey
should be kept in a cool and dry situation, as
warmth promotes fermentation and generates a
sensible acidity. The circumstance of honey,
when separated from the combs and put into jars,
being disposed to ferment in a temperature much

234 HONEY.

below the usual heat of a hive, is calculated to
excite our admiration of the instinctive intelligence
of the bee, which leads it to distribute its treasure
in small cells and to seal them closely over,
whereby the honey can be preserved from fermen-
tation for a long period, even in a high tempera-
ture. PROUST says that granulated honey is ca-
pable of being separated into two parts, one of
which is liquid, the other dry and not deliquescent,
crystallizable in its manner and less saccharine than
sugar. The Jens of Moldavia and the Ukraine
prepare from honey a sort of sugar which is solid
and as white as snow, which they send to the
distilleries at Dantzic. They expose the honey
to frost for three weeks, in some place where
neither sun nor snow can reach it, and in a vessel
which is a bad conductor of caloric, by which
process the honey, without being congealed, be-
comes clear and hard like sugar.

Prior to the discovery of sugar, honey must
have been an article of great utility ; and notwith-
standing that discovery, if we may judge from the
quantity imported into this country, and the price
at which it sells when of fine quality, it may still
be regarded as a commodity of great importance,
and worthy of more attention from our rural
population than it in general obtains. In the
Ukraine, some of the peasants have four or Jive
hundred hives each, andjind their bees more profi-

HONEY. 235

table than their corn. This is a number however
which I should think would overstock most dis-
tricts, and which could only be supported naturally
by having recourse to transportation. This seems
to be evinced by the inhabitants of Egypt, France,
Savoy, Piedmont and other places availing them-
selves of that practice, as already stated.

The most productive parts of this kingdom, in
all probability, are the borders of Cambridgeshire,
Hertfordshire, and part of Hampshire, which
abounding in heaths, commons and woods, afford
so much pabulum for bees, as to enable some of
the farmers to have from 100 to 150 stocks of
them, the largest number that I have ever heard
of in this kingdom.

On the subject of overstocking) Mr. Espinasse
says that few parts of England which he has
visited afford flowers in sufficient profusion and
of sufficient variety to support numerous colonies.
" In the village," says he, "where my house is
situated, many persons, induced by my example,
procured bees ; they were too numerous for what
was to feed them ; more than one half of them
died in the ensuing winter, and nearly one third
of my own were with difficulty saved by feeding."
The proprietor of bees may know whether or
not his situation is overstocked, if he will attend
to the produce of his apiary for several years
together.

236 MEAD.

CHAPTER XXX.
MEAD,

PRIOR to the introduction of agriculture into Bri-
tain, mead was the principal cordial beverage of
its inhabitants. In other northern nations also
it was formerly in high estimation. This must
have proceeded, either from their unpampered
simplicity of taste, or from their having a better
method of making their mead than has been
handed down to posterity ; for certainly in the
present day it is a liquor seldom heard of, and
still seldomer made ; and when made, holding a
very humble rank among our imperfect vinous
productions. It however continued in favour
long after the introduction of malt liquor, and
the northern inhabitants of Europe drank it gene-
rally until very modern times. To show how highly
it was formerly esteemed in this country, I will
give an extract from an ancient law of the prin-
cipality of Wales, where " the praises of it, accom-
panied by the lyre, resounded through the spa-
cious halls of her princes." " There are three things
in Court which must be communicated to the
king, before they are made known to any other
person.

MEAD. 237

" 1st, Every sentence of the judge ;

2nd, Every new song ; and

3rd, Every cask of Mead."

Mead-making appears to have been regarded
by our forefathers as a high and important avo-
cation ; at the courts of the Princes of Wales,
the mead-maker was the eleventh person in dig-
nity, and took place of the physician. We read
in the English History, that Ethelstan a sub-
ordinate king of Kent, in the tenth century, on
paying a visit to his relation Ethelfleda felt very
much delighted that there was no deficiency of
mead. According to the custom at royal feasts,
it was served up in cut horns and other vessels of
various sizes. About the same period, it was
customary to allow the monks a sextareum (about
a pint) of mead between six of them at dinner,
and half the quantity at supper.

It was probably the liquor called by Ossian,
the joy and strength of shells, with which his
heroes were so much delighted; the Caledonian
drinking-vessels having consisted of large shells,
which are still used by their posterity in some
parts of the Highlands. Mention is sometimes
made also of the Feast of Shells.

Mead was the ideal nectar of the Scandinavian
nations, which they expected to quaffin heaven out
of the skulls of their enemies ; and, as may reason-
ably be supposed, the liquor which they exalted

238 MEAD.

thus highly in their imaginary celestial banquets,
was not forgotten at those which they really in-
dulged in upon earth. Hence may be inferred
the great attention which must have been paid
to the culture of the bee in those days, or there
could not have been an adequate supply of honey
for the production of mead, to satisfy the demand
of such thirsty tribes.

The mythology of Scandinavia (the religion of
our Gothic ancestors) was imparted by Sigge or
Odin, a chieftain who migrated from Scythia with
the whole of his tribe, and subdued either by arms
or arts the northern parts of Europe. From him
descended Alaric and Attila. In the singular
paradise which Odin sketched for his followers,
the principal pleasure was to be derived from war
and carnage ; after the daily enjoyment of which,
they were to sit down to a feast of boar's flesh
and mead. The mead was to be handed to them
in the skulls of their enemies, by virgins some-
what resembling the houri of the Mahometan pa-
radise, and plentiful draughts were to be taken,
until intoxication should crown their felicity.
Hence the poet PENROSE thus commences his
" Carousal of Odin."

" Fill the honey'd bev'rage high,
Fill the skulls, 'tis Odin's cry !
Heard ye not the powerful call,
Thundering through the vaulted hall ?

MEAD. 239

Fill the meath and spread the board,

Vassals of the grisly lord ! —
The feast begins, the skull goes round
Laughter shouts — the shouts resound !"

Hence likewise, in an ode by Mr. STIRLING, we
find the following illustration of the northern Ely-
sium.

" Their banquet is the mighty chine

Exhaustless, the stupendous boar;
Virgins of immortal line

Present the goblet foaming o'er :
Of heroes' skulls the goblet made,
With figur'd deaths and snakes of gold inlaid."

Boar's flesh was considered by these tribes as
the highest delicacy ; the celestial boar was sup-
posed to be daily renewed, and to afford an ample
repast for the most numerous party : a quantity
of mead also, sufficient for the intoxication of
this paradisiacal community, was imagined to be
daily supplied by a goat called Heidruna,

" Whose spacious horn would fill the bowl
That rais'd to rapture Odin's soul ;
And ever drinking, ever dry-
Still the copious stream supply." COTTLE.

I could not refrain from adducing these short
historical and poetical evidences of the high esti-
mation in which mead was held by our northern
ancestors. I trust that I shall also stand excused
for still further lengthening my preamble by en-

240 MEAD.

tering upon the general principles of wine-ma-
king<

The grand desiderata in wine are strength,
flavour, and pleasantness : — to accomplish the first,
sugar must be converted by fermentation into
alcohol ; the second depends upon the article to be
vinified, and upon the management of the process
of vinification ; flavour may likewise be produced
artificially by different adjuncts : pleasantness will
principally result from the same causes, but more
especially from the liquor holding in solution a
certain quantity of unconverted sugar.

The elements necessary to a due fermentation
and to bring the process to a satisfactory issue,
are sugar, extractive matter, acid of tartar, and
water. These exist in the highest perfection and
in the best relative proportions in the grape : hence
the superiority of foreign wines. Whoever there-
fore expects to imitate, with much effect, those
generous liquors, must supply in the process those
ingredients in which the article sought to be con-
verted into wine is deficient.

If the native juices of fruits be deficient in sugar,
it will be impossible to convert them into a strong
wine without a proper supply of that ingredient ;
and without a sufficiency of extractive matter,
which is the natural ferment, a due fermentation
could not be established ; the wine would be sweet,
but not potent ; sweet wines being the produce of

MEAD. 241

an incomplete fermentation. If the extractive
matter were in excess, the liquor would have a
tendency to the acetous fermentation, which might
also be induced by a superabundant proportion of
water.

The result of a complete fermentation is a dry
wine ; to produce which, the elements must all be
nicely balanced, and the process conducted under
favourable circumstances, with respect to tempe-
rature, tunning, stopping down, &c.

Two opposite practices prevail, in the manufac-
ture of the same sort of wine ; some wine-makers
boiling the juices before fermentation) others con-
ducting the whole process without boiling : the pro-
priety or impropriety of these practices depends
upon the quality of the juices to be vinified. Ex-
tractive matter is partially coagulable by heat ;
boiling therefore, by causing this matter to sepa-
rate and to be deposited, tends to the production
of a sweet wine. The extractive matter may
also be precipitated by sulphuric acid gas, (burn-
ing in the cask a brimstone match as hereafter
directed,) or by sulphuric acid itself, with which
the soluble leaven forms an insoluble compound.
Hence where the extractive matter is in excess,
and where there is danger of fermentation going
on too rapidly, boiling or sulphuring will be useful
both to the wine and cider-maker, in checking or
preventing fermentation. The superfluous ex-
M

242 MEAD.

tract thrown up in the course of fermentation as
yeast, or deposited as lees, will, if remixed with
the liquor, have the effect of continuing the fer-
mentation : hence the utility of racking and fining,
where it is in excess ; and of re-union, where it is
deficient. Artificial leaven or yeast, which con-
tains the extractive principle in great abundance,
affords a supply to those juices which are deficient
in it, and without which they will not ferment.
Natural leaven (i. e. extractive matter) is soluble
in cold water, artificial leaven is not : during fer-
mentation, therefore, the latter is always thrown
off; so also is the greater part of the former, if the
process be well conducted.

Most of the fruits of this country abound in
malic acid ; those that possess only a moderate
quantity of it, however, afford excellent wine with
the addition of sugar only ; still better wine may
be obtained by the further addition of the acid of
tartar. Where the malic acid prevails so abun-
dantly as to make its neutralization desirable,
DR. McCuLLOcH, (to whom I am indebted for
much of the information contained in this chapter,)
recommends the coating of the insides of the fer-
menting vats with a white wash of hot caustic
lime. I have neutralized the malic acid, by putting
into the cask, after the sensible fermentation has
been completed, about a pound of egg shells to
every sixty gallons of wine.

MEAD. 243

The acid of tartar increases the fermenting
power of fluids : half-ripe fruits possess it in
greatest abundance ; hence the vivacity of cham-
pagne and green gooseberry wine. It is most con-
veniently used in the state of supertartrate of
potash or common cream of tartar : the common
rough tartar is in some respects preferable, as
its admixture of yeast assists in perfecting the
fermentation.

All vegetables contain more or less of extractive
matter ; those that possess little may be assisted
in their fermentation, by that process being con-
ducted in wooden vessels, wood supplying the
extractive principle to the liquor; the same juices
therefore which would ferment very well in wood,
would scarcely ferment at all in glass or earthen-
ware.

The extractive matter and the sugar are seldom
completely destroyed in any wines ; the existence
of the forme* is evinced, by the skinny matter
frequently deposited upon the insides of the wine-
bottles ; the latter may be detected, by a nice
palate, in the very driest of our wines ; its pre-
dominance indicates an inferior wine.

From the preceding observations, my readers

have probably anticipated my opinion of honey 9

in wine-making. I regard it merely as a substitute

{for sugar ; and to those who approve of its flavour

1 1 recommend the following directions, which I

M 2

244 MEAD.

have successfully followed for several years,
having my home-made wines enriched with a
considerable portion of foreign flavour. — Dis-
solve an ounce of cream of tartar in five gallons
of boiling water ; pour the solution off clear upon
twenty pounds of fine honey, boil them together
and remove the scum as it rises. Towards the
end of the boiling, add an ounce of fine hops ;
about ten minutes afterwards, put the liquor into
a tub to cool ; when reduced to the temperature
of about 60° Fahrenheit, add a slice of bread
toasted and smeared over with a very little yeast ;
the smaller the quantity the better, for yeast in-
variably spoils the flavour of wines, and where
there is a sufficiency of extractive matter in the
ingredients employed, it should never be intro-
duced. The liquor should now stand, and be
stirred occasionally, till it carries a head, when it
should be tunned and the cask filled up from time
to time from the reserve, till the fermentation
has nearly subsided. It should now be bunged
down, leaving open a small peg-hole ; in a few days
this may also be closed, and in about twelve
months the wine will be fit to bottle.

Many makers of both wine and cider have been
unconsciously benefited from the acquisition of
tartar by their liquor ; it being a frequent practice
to tun into an empty foreign wine cask, whose
incrusted sides have supplied their wine or their

MEAD. 245

cider with a portion of that necessary ingredient
for perfect vinification.

It is a practice with some to add spices to their
Mead during the fermentation, such as ginger,
cloves, mace, rosemary, lemon-peel, &c. This
is bad ceconomy ; a much smaller quantity will
communicate the required flavour if the addition
be made after the fermentation has ceased.

A common beverage is sometimes made, by
simply boiling the refuse honey-combs in water
after extracting from them as much of the honey
as will run ; this liquor will not require tartar or
yeast : it should be tunned as soon as cool, bunged
down in three or four days, and drank in a few
weeks. In some parts of Wales the refuse combs
are brewed with malt, spices, &c. and the produce
is called Braggot, a name derived from the old
British words brag and gots, the former signifying
malt, the latter honey-comb.

A knowledge of the principles of fermentation
will enable the wine-maker to regulate its process.
Thus if a dry wine be desired, and fermentation
be suspended, it may be renewed by a restoration
of the separated leaven or the addition of fresh ;
or by agitation and a remixture of the lees. It
is upon the latter principle, called "feeding on the
lees" that some foreign wines are improved by
long voyages ; but this treatment, so serviceable

246 MEAD.

to Madeira and other Spanish wines, and also to
some of the French wines, would destroy Burgundy.
If there be an excess of fermentation the scientific
operator will regulate, check or suspend it, by
skimming, racking, fining. If skimming and rack-
ing do not succeed, recourse must be had to
fining, which may be effected by isinglass, in the
proportion of about an ounce to 100 gallons.
The isinglass must be beaten, for a few days, with
a whisk in a small quantity of the wine, till com-
pletely attenuated. This solution must then be
well stirred into the cask of wine, which in about
a week will become fine and fit for being racked
off. This fining is accomplished by the union of
the isinglass with what is called the tannin of the
wine. Fining may also be effected by stumming,
i. e. by burning in a close vessel containing a small
part of the wine a brimstone rag, at the rate of a
dram of sulphur to thirty gallons ; and when con-
sumed, rolling the cask about for a quarter of an
hour, that the wine may absorb as much as possi-
ble of the sulphuric acid gas. This being done,
the cask is to be filled up with the remainder of
the wine, and bunged down. In this process the
sulphuric acid or its oxygen unites with the ex-
tractive matter or soluble leaven, which being
thereby rendered insoluble is precipitated to the
bottom, as I before observed. If wines be per

MEAD. 247

fectly fermented, they do not require the addition
of any brandy, as a sufficiency of spirit is gene-
rated during the process.

The best temperature for carrying on fermentation
is about 54° Fahrenheit. Its perfection depends in
some degree upon the volume of the liquor ; the
larger the quantity, the longer the fermentation
will continue, and the stronger and pleasanter
will be the wine. There are however exceptions
to this rule. The peculiar excellence of cham-
pagne would be destroyed, if its fermentation were
conducted upon a large scale : it may be made
successfully in a gallon measure. This wine is so
managed by the makers as to ferment after
bottling.

Dry wines and fine wines are much more durable
than any others ; and those that would perish in
cask, may be preserved many years by bottling.

These hints will, I hope, enable the makers of
home-made wines to conduct the process scien-
tifically, and to secure generally a successful issue.
Cookery books and good housewives abound in
receipts for wine-making, which are very often
fanciful and absurd, recommending the intro-
duction of articles which, in their very natures,
counteract the production of good wine. Hence
we are sometimes presented with such miserable
mawkish stuff]- as disgraces the name of wine,

248 MEAD.

being only rendered tolerable by the brandy which
has been added to it, and which in some degree
covers the crudeness and insipidity of the com-
pound, and moderates its hostility to the peace of
our stomachs.

THE

ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY

OF

THE BEE.

PART II.

CHAPTER XXXI.
ANATOMY.

HAVING given in detail the instructions necessary
for the domestic management of the Bee, and
treated of such parts of its physiology as that
detail naturally suggested ; I shall now proceed
to give an account of the most important parts of
its anatomical structure, and so much more of its
physiology as may arise from a consideration of
that structure, or be otherwise likely to interest
my readers.

Some persons may possibly consider a descrip-
tion of the anatomy of so small a creature as

M5

250 ANATOMY.

unimportant and uninteresting ; but without un-
derstanding the anatomy of the bee, its physiology
would be vague, uncertain, and conjectural; and
it is physiological knowledge that has hitherto
led, and must still lead, to a scientific and pro-
fitable management of this insect. The enlightened
BOYLE, when contemplating the various wonders
of Nature, has declared his astonishment to have
been more excited by the mite than by the ele-
phant ; and that his admiration dwelt, not so much
on the clocks as on the matches of creation. It is
not my intention, however, to enter deeply into the
anatomy of the bee, but merely to give a general
account of those parts which are most prominent
and important ; anything beyond this would, to
the general reader, be tedious and uninteresting.
Those who desire minute information may obtain
it in various works, but in none more satisfactorily
than in that of MESSRS. KIRBY and SPENCE.

The natural ^ C The Head.

divisions of > are < The Trunk.

the Bee J I The Abdomen.

These are connected together by ligaments.

The HEAD, in common with that of other
creatures, is the inlet for nutrition and the princi-
pal seat of the organs of sensation. — Of nutrition
and sensation I shall speak in their appropriate
places.

The TRUNK is the intermediate section of the

ANATOMY.

body between the head and the abdomen : it
approaches in figure to a sphere, and is the seat
of the organs of motion; it contains the muscles of
the wings and legs which proceed from it, and is
the main prop, or as it were the key- stone, of the
other two sections. The upper side is called thorax
or the chest, the under side pectus or the breast.

The ABDOMEN is the third section of the body,
posterior to the trunk ; it is divided into six rings
or segments, which, by sliding one over another,
serve to shorten or lengthen the body. It is the
seat of the organs of generation, and principally
of those connected with respiration ; and contains
also the anus and the sting. The upper part is
called tergum or the back, the under side venter
or the belly.

THE HEAD.

The most remarkable part of the head is the
PROBOSCIS, of which so good an account has been
given by DR. EVANS that I shall describe it nearly
in his words.

It is not so much the mere simplicity of nature,
which excites our wonder and admiration, as that
apparently complex structure, which operates with
all the ease of the simplest machinery. Of this
we have not a more striking instance than in the
proboscis of the labouring bee : though the com-
ponent parts of the proboscis are scarcely dis-
cernible by the naked eye, yet are they far more

252

ANATOMY.

complicated than the elephant's stupendous trunk.
It consists of no less than five distinct branches ;
namely, a central trunk, or tongue, and four horny
scales, tapering to a point, convex outwards and
concave towards the trunk ; the two outer ones so
sheath the inner as to appear but one single tube :
by a joint in the middle they bend, or extend all at
once, carrying with them the unarticulated tongue,
which is cylindrical, and about the size of a man's
hair, and appears through a magnifier to be com-
posed of successive rings. It has probably as many
short muscles as the tongue of a fish, which are ca-
pable of moving it in all directions ; and towards its
termination is furnished with hairs or villi, some
of which at the point are very long, and seem to act
like capillary tubes. MR. WILDMAN assures us,
that he has seen the trunk growing bigger and
less by turns, swelling the instant the bee sucked ;
and this alternate lessening and enlargement pro-
pagated from the extremity to the root. What a
delicate apparatus of invisible muscles must per-
form this office ! The tongue is capable of being
contracted and folded up at pleasure ; for if it
were constantly extended, it would be exposed to
injury : when at rest, therefore, it is doubled up by
means of its joint, and lies in a very small com-
pass ; the first portion being brought within the
lip, and the second part folded under the head
and neck, protection is given to it by a double

ANATOMY. 253

sheath, consisting of four strong scales, the two
inner scales sheathing the tongue, and the two
outer and larger ones encompassing the whole.
When at work, the trunk is lengthened beyond
its sheaths, probes the very bottom of the flowers,
through all impediments of foliage or fructification,
and drains them of those treasured sweets which,
without such an apparatus, would be completely
inaccessible.

The proboscis of the bee is not used like that
of other flies, not being tubular like theirs, but
serves as a brush or besom to sweep, or as a
tongue to lap *; having collected the nectar of
flowers in small drops, it deposits its collection
upon the tongue, which is protruded for the pur-
pose of receiving it, and having received it, with-
drawn again.

The LIPS. The bee has two lips, an upper one
called labrum, and an under one called labiujn ;
(the Mentum of Latreille.)

The TONGUE of the bee, which is very long, is
at its upper part cartilaginous ; below the middle,
membranous and capable of considerable inflation,
thus forming a bag to receive the honey from the
proboscis, preparatory to its conveyance into the
pharynx. It terminates in a knob, but has no

* The bee and all other insects that lap their food are
called lambent insects.

254 ANATOMY.

passage through it, to exercise the power of suc-
tion, as has been supposed. When in a state of
inaction, it is folded up longitudinally, and lies
between the lips. The tongue of the working
bee is probably the largest of any known animal,
for its size ; it is much longer than that of either
the male or queen, and thus fitted for taking up
honey at a considerable depth. The bee has the
power of unfolding it with great rapidity, and
darting it betwixt the petals and stamina of those
flowers that afford honey, it moves it about in
every direction, sweeping the convex as well as
the concave surface of the petals.

The PHARYNX lies at the root of the tongue ;
it is an opening by which the honey passes from
the tongue to the gullet or honey-bag, and closes
by a valve.

The OESOPHAGUS or GULLET receives the food
from the pharynx, and convey sit, in part at least,
to the stomach, there to be digested, animalized,
and forwarded to the small intestines, from whence
it is distributed, through appropriate vessels or
tubes, to all parts of the body for its nutriment.
The gullet is long and slender, commences at the
termination of the pharynx, and traversing the
neck and breast, dilates into a fine bag, transparent
as crystal, and when filled with honey about the
size of a small pea. In bees caught on going out
early in the morning, Mr. Hunter found this re-

ANATOMY. 255

servoir perfectly empty ; but in those returning
from the fields, it was quite full of honey, some
of which had passed into the stomach.

The MANDIBLES or upper jaws move horizon-
tally, and are armed with teeth.

The MAXILLA or under jaws are situated below
the mandibles, have a similar motion, and form,
according to Linnaeus, the sheath of the tongue.
De Geer regarded them as part of the apparatus
of the under lip, on each side of which they are
placed.

The mandibles are powerful organs, hard and
horny, and constitute the tools with which the bee
performs its various labours ; the maxillae on the
contrary are soft and leathery : the latter pro-
bably serve to hold such materials as the former
have occasion to operate upon.

The ANTENNAE. Of all the organs of insects,
none appear to be of more importance than their
antennae : in all the tribe they are planted either
between or below the eyes ; and no insect has
more than two : in their general structure, they
consist of a number of tubular joints, each having
a separate motion, which gives them every variety
of flexure. The antennae of the male have one
more joint than those of the female, the former
having thirteen, the latter only twelve. They
seem to enable the insects, by certain signs and
gestures, to communicate to each other their

256 ANATOMY.

mutual wants or discoveries. But I shall enter
more fully into this subject when I come to speak
of the various uses to which the antennae are
applied.

' The PALPI or FEELERS are also important or-
gans ; their ends are furnished with nervous
papillae, indicating some peculiar sense, of which
they are the instrument : they are four in number,
two emerging from the maxillae called maxillary
feelers, and one from each side of the labium,
called labial feelers. The maxillary are short
and without a joint, the labial long and with four
joints, including the two flat joints or elevators.

The EYES, two in number, are placed in the
sides of the head ; they are compounds of an in-
finite number of hexagonal lenses, as clear as
crystal, and are guarded by a horny tunicle or
covering. This subject is however treated of in
Chap. XXXII.

THE TRUNK.

The trunk affords attachment to the organs of
motion.

First, To the WINGS, which transport the insect
through the air ; these consist of two superior and
two inferior: they are membranous and trans-
parent, and while in a state of repose are incum-
bent on each other, covering the abdomen.

Bees and various other hymenopterous insects,

ANATOMY. 257

and also those of the dipterous family, possess
die power of flying in a more perfect degree than
any class of animals besides, surpassing in this
respect even the bird tribe. In the anterior mar-
gin of the under wings small hooks (hamuli) are
placed, which are capable of laying hold of the
posterior margin of the upper wings, by means of
which they are kept steady when flying. These
hooks are discoverable under a good magnifier.

Secondly, To the LEGS, by which the insect
moves itself from place to place upon the earth.
Of these there are six in number, each composed
of several joints, and articulated like our arms,
thus affording the power of various movements :
in the legs are three distinct divisions ; namely, the
thigh, the shank, and the foot. In the/owr hinder
legs one joint forms a kind of brush, externally
smooth and bare, but covered on the inside with
stiff bristling hairs. By these the insect is enabled
to brush off farina both from the tips of the sta-
mina of flowers and from the hairs of its own
body. With the jaws and two fore-feet, the meal
is rolled into small compact masses, which are con-
veyed, by the middle pair of legs, to the spoon-
shaped cavities in the centre joint of the two hind-
most feet ; these are surrounded by strong close
set hairs, to secure more firmly the precious bur-
dens. (No such groove is to be found in the legs
of either the queen-bee or drone.) Each foot'ter

258 PHYSIOLOGY.

inmates in two hooks, with their points opposite to
each other, by means of which the bees suspend
themselves from the roofs or sides of the hives or
boxes, and hang from each other, in the form of
festoons, ropes, or cones. From the middle of
each pair of hooks proceeds a little thin appendix,
which is usually folded up ; when unfolded it en-
ables the insects to fasten themselves to polished
surfaces, such as glass, &c. : they probably also
use it for taking up small bodies, the pollen for
instance, which they thereby transmit to the hol-
lows of their hinder legs.

The trunk also gives origin to a number of
muscles, serving various purposes, which it would
lead me too much into detail to enter upon here.

THE ABDOMEN.

The abdomen, besides various other parts, con-
tains the honey-bag, the venom-bag, and the anus,
which latter in the female comprehends the ovi-
positor and sting : in the male it contains the
organs of reproduction but no sting, and of course
no ovipositor. For a particular account of these,
vide Organs of Reproduction further on.

ORGANS OF SENSATION.

We have an abundance of presumptive evidence
that bees are endowed with sensation and percep-
tion, and that the excitement of these faculties is

PHYSIOLOGY. 259

communicated, through the medium of nerves, to
a common sensorium, though the latter was denied
to insects by Linnaeus and other eminent natu-
ralists. Common sensation, however, does not
reside in the brain alone of insects, as in that of
warm-blooded animals, but in the spinal marrow
also ; hence it is that bees and many other insects
exhibit signs of sensation after their heads have
been severed from their bodies. Some insects
exhibit these for a long time afterwards, the wasp
for instance ; L YON NET informs us that he has
seen motion in the body of a wasp, three days
after its division from the head ; and I have known
several instances of its inflicting wounds with its
sting, at least four-and-twenty hours after the
separation. The severed body will not only
move but walk, and sometimes even fly, at first
almost as actively without the head as with it.
The penetrating genius of LORD BACON afforded
him such illumination upon this subject, as to
enable him to approach very near to what is at
this day regarded as a correct statement of the
cause of this protractedvitality in mutilated insects.
"They stirre," says he, "a good while after their
heads are off, or that they be cut in pieces ; which
is caused also for that their vital spirits are more
diffused throughout all their parts, and lesse con-
fined to organs than in perfect creatures."

That insects have a real sensorium or brain,

260 PHYSIOLOGY.

would seem to be proved by their having memory,
and a capacity to receive instruction, and acquire
new habits. Such functions in higher animals are
regarded as functions of a cerebral system. That
they are endowed with memory cannot well be
doubted. HUBER relates a remarkable instance
of it in bees, which illustrates what will hereafter
be said on their having a method of communica-
ting information to each other. "Honey," says
he, " had been placed in a window in autumn,
where the bees resorted to it in multitudes. It
was removed, and the shutters closed during
winter ; but when opened again, on the return of
spring, the bees came back, though no honey was
there. Undoubtedly they remembered it, there-
fore an interval of several weeks did not obliterate
the impression they had received." " But the
most striking fact evincing the memory of bees
has been communicated to me," says MR. KIRBY,
" by my intelligent friend MR. W. STICKNEY, of
Ridgemont, Holderness. About twenty years ago,
a swarm from one of this gentleman's hives took
possession of an opening beneath the tiles of his
house, whence, after remaining a few hours, they
were dislodged and hived. For many subsequent
years, when the hives descended from this stock
were about to swarm, a considerable party of
scouts were observed, for a few days before, to
be reconnoitring about the old hole under the

PHYSIOLOGY. 261

tiles ; and Mr. Stickney is persuaded, that if
suffered, they would have established themselves
there. He is certain that for eight years suc-
cessively the descendants of the very stock that
first took possession of the hole, frequented it as
above stated, and not those of any other swarms ;
having constantly noticed them, and ascertained
that they were bees from the original hive by
powdering them, while about the tiles, with yellow
ochre, and watching their return. And even at
the present time, there are still seen every swarm-
ing season about the tiles, bees, which Mr. Stickney
has no doubt are descendants from the original
stock."

Some anecdotes of the spider prove that insects
are capable of instruction. M. PELISSON, when he
was confined in the Bastile, tamed a spider, and
taught it to come for food at the sound of an
instrument. A manufacturer also, in an apart-
ment at Paris, fed 800 spiders, which became so
tame, that whenever he entered it, which he
usually did with a dish of flies, they immediately
came down to receive their food. That insects
are susceptible of a change of habits, or rather
that they may acquire civilized habits, if I may
say so, is shown by the domestication of bees,
and occasionally by that of ants and wasps.
HUBER'S experiments, with leaf hives, show the
existence of this faculty in an eminent degree, for

262 PHYSIOLOGY.

he assures us that it renders the bees quite tame
and tractable.

Most physiologists, resting upon the evidence
of analogy, agree in attributing five senses to
insects : (DR. VIKEY, as will be seen further "on,
ascribes to them seven senses :) though there is a
difference of opinion as to the organs by which
those senses are conveyed. The antennte. for in-
stance, have been regarded by some as the organs
of smell, by others as the organs of touch, and by a
third class as the organs of hearing. With the sub-
stitution of taste forbearing, the same opinions have
been maintained respecting the palpi ; nor can the
question even now be considered as settled. The
prevailing opinion seems to be, that the antennae
are explorers or tactors, but that they are also
applied to other uses ; the effects produced by
their excision indicate that they are organs of the
highest importance. Vide Senses of Bees.

MESSRS. KIRBY and SPENCE notice the analogy
borne by antennae to the ears of vertebrate animals,
such as their corresponding in number and stand-
ing out from the head. No ether organ has been
found which can be supposed to represent the
ear*. And what I have said in another place, of
their constituting a sixth sense, has received some
countenance from the observations of those natu-

* MARCEL DE SERRES thinks he has discovered an organ
of hearing in most insects, but does not state its situation.

PHYSIOLOGY. 263

ralists. " I conceive," says Mr. K., " that the
antennae, by a peculiar structure, may collect notices ,
from the atmosphere, receive pulses or vibrations,
and communicate them to the sensorium, which,
[communications] though not precisely to be called
hearing, may answer the same purpose." Lehmann
calls the function of the antennae aeroscepsy. A very
remarkable instance of the effect produced upon
them by sound, is adduced by the authors just
quoted, which one of them has thus related. "A
little moth was reposing upon my window ; I made
a quiet, not loud, but distinct noise : the nearest
antenna immediately moved towards me. I re-
peated the noise at least a dozen times, and it
was followed every time by the same motion of
that organ ; till at length the insect, being alarmed,
became agitated and violent in its motions. In
this instance, it could not be touch; since the
antenna was not applied to a surface, but directed
towards the quarter from which the sound came,
as if to listen."

That the antennae should have been regarded
as organs of smell is not surprising when the pro-
ceedings of the bees on visiting flowers are con-

o &

sidered; their first act is to introduce one of the
antennae, but no further than the tip : this conduct
would naturally enough convey the idea of look-
ing or smelling for nectar ; yet it does not at all
militate against the opinion that the antennae are

264 PHYSIOLOGY.

transmitters of sound; the sense which they supply
may, in these little creatures, be so very fine, as
to enable them to hear the bursting of an anther,
or the exudation of nectar. The continual motion
of the antennae of insects from side to side, when
they walk, conveys the idea that it is by their
means that they inform themselves of what is
going on in their immediate vicinity. The impor-
tance of the antennae may be inferred from their
very complicated structure. MR. KIRBY has
observed, that in one species of Apis which he
examined, under a powerful magnifier, the ten
last joints of the antennae appeared to be composed
of innumerable hexagons, and from this similarity
in their structure to the eyes (Vide Senses of
Bees) he thought that they might serve a some-
what analogous purpose.

What I have said with respect to the Senses of
Bees, in another place, will I think make it evident
that these insects possess an organ of smell, but
»vith respect to its situation naturalists differ.
BASTER, LEHMANN, and CUVIER, consider the
spiracles as the organs of smell, as well as of
respiration : this opinion is founded upon the
notion that, without the inspiration of air, there
can be no smell ; and that as insects are smaller
than the food they live upon, it would be of no
consequence to them where this sense was situated.
KIRBY and SPENCE, on the contrary, suppose that

PHYSIOLOGY. 265

it resides in some organ near the mouth : in other
parts of the animal creation certainly, that is its
situation ; and as there seems to be a necessary
connection between smell and taste, analogy should
lead us to argue in favour of that opinion ; but
though smell be usually accompanied by respira-
tory organs, they may not be essentially necessary
to it ; a bee may receive impressions from external
objects, in a manner which we cannot comprehend.
In confirmation of this opinion of KIRBY and
SPENCE, we have the experiments of HUBER. It
seems that no odour is so unpleasant to insects as
that of oil of turpentine. M. HUBER having pre-
sented this oil, on the point of a camel's hair pencil,
successively to every part of the abdomen, trunk
and head, it excited no uneasiness in the bee : he
then tried the eyes and antennae, but with the
same result ; yet as soon as he pointed it a little
above the insertion of the proboscis, near the
cavity of the mouth, the bee receded, became
agitated, clapped its wings, and would have taken
flight, had not the pencil been withdrawn. This
experiment was repeated with the turpentine and
other articles of penetrating odour, and with the
same effect ; but when the mouths of several bees
were stopped with paste, no such consequences
ensued, on the contrary they traversed the im-
pregnated pencils without being at all annoyed
by them ; even honey did not attract them. All

N

266 PHYSIOLOGY.

these circumstances tend to prove that the site of
smelling is in or near the mouth. — This subject
will be resumed in Chap. XXXII.

ORGANS OF RESPIRATION.

The respiration of bees is performed through
several little orifices, called stigmata, spiracles, or
breathing pores, situated in the sides of their
bodies, behind their wings. REAUMUR was of
opinion that inspiration was performed through the
spiracles, and expiration through the mouth ; but
BONNET proved satisfactorily that neither inspira-
tion nor expiration takes place through the mouth.
The spiracles are connected with a system of air
vessels called trachece, ramifying through every
part of the frame, and serving the purpose of
lungs. From the absence of lungs, ARISTOTLE and
the ancients in general thought that insects did
not breathe. PLINY may perhaps be excepted, for
he has observed that dipping bees in honey or
oil deprives them of life ; — this immersion stops up
the mouths of the spiracles. Modern physiolo-
gists have however incontestibly proved that they
do breathe. " Life and flame," says CUVIER, "have
this in common, that neither the one nor the other
can subsist without air ; all living beings, from
man to the most minute vegetable, perish when
they are utterly deprived of that fluid." HUBER
detected the existence of the stigmata or breathing

PHYSIOLOGY. 267

pores, by immersing different portions of a bee
in water, and finally by total immersion, upon
which he observed that bubbles of air attached
themselves for some time to the orifices of the
stigmata, which alternately appeared and receded,
till their increased bulk enabled them to overcome
the resistance of inspiration and rise to the sur-
face. These respiratory organs escaped the ob-
servation of SWAMMERDAM.

Air is equally necessary to insects in the egg
state : SPALL ANZANI found that their eggs could
not be hatched in small close vessels, though all
other circumstances were favourable to a develop-
ment. The eggs of the hive-bee, whilst in the
ovaries, have a net-work of air-vessels spread
over their surfaces ; — these were discovered by
Swammerdam : from analogy, we may reasonably
conclude, that such a provision obtains generally.

The closeness of a hive, and its having no
direct current of air through it, may favour a
belief that bees can exist in any atmosphere,
however vitiated, and may seem also to confirm
the opinion of the ancients, that they have no
particular system of respiratory organs. But
M. HUBER and SON have proved that they breathe
like other animals, that they are speedily deprived
of life, if the process of respiration be arrested ;
so delicate indeed is their organization, that they
detect the smallest deterioration in the atmosphere

268 s PHYSIOLOGY.

of their hives, and immediately adopt measures to
restore to this element the degree of purity
essential to respiration : from some eudiometrical
experiments, it has been ascertained that the air
of a well stocked hive is as pure as that by which
it is surrounded. Still neither wax nor pollen
favours the generation of oxygen gas, nor have
bees the faculty of generating it ; for when very
closely shut up, they perish in a few hours. The
writers just referred to, discovered that the bees,
by uniting the two wings of each side, by means
of the small marginal hooks with which they
are provided, so as to make them present the
largest possible surface to the air, were capable
of striking it with considerable force, and that
this force was increased by the wings forming a
slight concavity. The wings arranged in this
manner, are put into a violent vibratory motion
by the bees appointed to the office of ventilators,
and produce what we call a draught of air. Fen-
tilation is thus systematically accomplished. A
certain portion of ventilating bees is stationed in
files at the entrance of the hive, with their heads
turned inwards ; another and a larger party, in
files also, stands a considerable way in the interior,
with their heads towards the entrance : thus both
these parties cooperate, in producing a current of
air in the same direction, and are so arranged as
not to interrupt the passage of their fellow-citi-

PHYSIOLOGY. 269

zens, moving in and out. As this hard duty has
no intermission during the day, nor in hot weather
during the night, and must necessarily occasion
fatigue, one set of ventilators is considerately re-
lieved in about twenty-five minutes, by another set
of fresh bees. Under particular circumstances
the number of ventilating bees is considerably in-
creased. " When the air," says HUBER, " was
not renewed in the manner desirable, we have seen
all vibrating their wings at once, though this never
occurs in the natural state, when the vibrations
of a few are sufficient for ventilation." Although
this fanning motion of the wings is so rapid as to
render them almost indistinguishable, yet they
may be observed to describe an arc of 90°. The
sagacious bees remind me of a method which is
sometimes adopted of renewing the air of a room,
called pumping ; some person moves the door
backward and forward so rapidly as to cause a
thorough agitation of the confined air, and the in-
troduction of a fresh unvitiated atmosphere.
61 When they are engaged in ventilation, the bees
by means of their feet and claws, fix themselves
as firmly as possible, to the place they stand upon.
The first pair of legs is stretched out before ;
the second extended to the right and left : whilst
the third, placed very near each other, are per-
pendicular to the abdomen, so as to give that part
considerable elevation." That ventilation is carried

270 PHYSIOLOGY.

on for the purpose of renewing the air of the hives,
and not for lowering its temperature, is evident
from its being continued to a certain extent, even
during the depth of winter.

The vibratory motion of the bee's wings has
been regarded by some as the principal cause of
the humming noise heard in every prosperous hive
during the busy season. This humming has like-
wise been attributed to the rushing of the air
through their spiracles : so thought M. CHABRIER,
and, I believe, MR. J. HUNTER. Mr. H. assures
us that bees can produce a sound independently
of their wings ; for if these be smeared over with
honey so as to stick together, the bee still makes
a noise, which is shrill and peevish. He found
the same effect from holding the bee by the legs,
with a pair of pincers, while the wings were per-
fectly still, and also by immersing the insect in
water, though not till it was ve.y much teased.

The whole body of a drone is in a state of vi-
bration when it hums. Though deprived of its
wings, it is capable of producing a sound exactly
similar, and probably the same with its former
hum : even when the legs are cut off, the trunk
retains its tremulous motion, and utters an audible
noise. If immersed in water, many air-bubbles are
disengaged from it : but though the mutilated
insect be taken out alive, it is no longer sonorous.
" This experiment, however incomplete," says a

PHYSIOLOGY. 271

writer in the Dictionnaire des Sciences Naturelles,
" tends at least to prove, that the humming of bees
is not occasioned by a strong vibration of the in-
ternal part of the upper wings, but rather by a
tremulous affection of the entire body ; and per-
haps even by the escape of a greater quantity of
air through the stigmata or spiracles. This last
would amount to a sort of voice." The humming
noise with which a flower is always approached by
the bee, ceases as soon as she has alighted upon
it, though during the time that she is extracting
its sweets she is in a constant vibratory motion,

CIRCULATION.

The term circulation is not strictly applicable
to the imperfect sanguineous system of insects, as
the fluid which supplies their bodies with nutri-
ment is not distributed to its several parts through
the medium of a heart and vascular system.
Lyonnet and Cuvier are both of opinion that in-
sects have no heart, whereas all creatures that
possess a circulation, properly so called, have a
heart, lungs or gills, and a liver ; but insects have
only air-vessels and hepatic ducts. The chyle
which is produced in their intestines, transpiring
through the pores of the intestinal canal, passes
into the general cavity of the body, where it is
probably animalized, and made to answer the
same purposes that blood does to creatures of a

22 PHYSIOLOGY.

higher class, though when animalized it still re-
tains its white colour. Although its distribution
is obscure, from its analogy to blood, we may con-
clude that it is a fluid which visits and nourishes
every part of the insect's body ; that from it secre-
tions are made, and that, as in other creatures, it
is fitted for these purposes by receiving oxygen
from the air-vessels. CUVIER has observed that
the blood of insects, " for want of a circulating
system, not being able to seek the air, the air
goes to seek the blood ;" the air-vessels, as I have
stated under the head of Respiration, are distributed
to every part of the body.

NUTRITION.

From what I have said under the head of Cir-
culation, it wTill appear evident that the bodies of
bees and other insects are supplied with nutri-
ment in a very simple manner. CUVIER is of
opinion that it is obtained by direct absorption or
transudation, by imbibition as he calls it, through
the pores of the intestinal canal, along which the
blood or animalized chyle passes : and LYONNET
thinks that this imbibition is analogous to that
which takes place from the earth by the roots of
plants.

SECRETION.
Every thing connected with the subject of se-

PHYSIOLOGY. 273

cretion seems to be obscure : it is evident, how-
ever, that secretions do take place ; for silk, wax,
and poison are all the results of that process.
The first of these substances is only secreted by
the bee when in its larva state. I must refer
those who wish for information respecting silk, to
those naturalists who have written on the silk-
worm. The secretion of wax I shall treat of
hereafter in a distinct chapter ; and it will be
better perhaps to speak of Poison, after describing
the sting and its appurtenances. There is one se-
cretion however, on which I will say a few words
in this place, — viz. Perspiration.

PERSPIRATION.

The temperature of insects not gregarious, is
generally that of the medium they inhabit ; but
bees possess the power not only of preserving a
high temperature during the coldest months of
winter, but of raising that temperature under par-
ticular circumstances. DR. DARWIN has observed
that they generate heat by a general motion of
their legs, as they hang clustered together in the
hives : HUBER thinks that it may be increased by
the agitation of their wings ; — whatever disturbs
them so as to cause a tumult invariably produces
a considerable accession of heat. INCH, a German,
plunged a thermometer into a bee-hive in the
winter, and saw the mercury stand 27 degrees higher

274 PHYSIOLOGY.

than it did in the open air. MR. HUNTER found
the heat of a hive vary from 73° to 84° of Fahren-
heit ; and HUBER, who says that in a prosperous
hive the thermometer in winter commonly stands
at from 86° to 88°, and in summer between 95°
and 97°, states that he has observed it, on some
occasions, to rise suddenly from about 92° to above
104°. The former naturalist, about ten o'clock in
the morning, in the middle of July, when the
quicksilver in the thermometer in the open air
ranged at 54°, found that on plunging it into a
bee-hive, it rose in less than five minutes to 82°.
At five the next morning it stood at 79°, — at nine
it had risen to 83°, — at one to 84° ; and at nine in
the evening it had fallen to 78°. On the 30th of
December, when the temperature of the air was
35°, that in the hive was 73°. Bees also possess
the power of counteracting or throwing off su-
perabundant heat, by perspiration. HUBER ob-
served, that when crowded together in hot wea-
ther, they become much heated, and perspire so
copiously that those near the bottom seem per-
fectly drenched, and are for a time incapable of
flying from the moisture on their wings.

MOTION.

The motions of insects are performed through
the medium of an appropriate apparatus of mus-
cles, which move the head, trunk, abdomen, vis-

PHYSIOLOGY. 275

cera, and limbs, as in other parts of the animal
creation. The muscles of insects generally pos-
sess very great power, as may be seen by the
motion of the mandibles, and the propulsion of
the bee's sting. It is very strikingly evinced
also in the flea. LATREILLE gives an account of
one that dragged a silver cannon twenty-four
times its own weight, firing it off afterwards,
without exhibiting any symptom of fear. An
English workman also is said to have made an
ivory coach, with six horses, a coachman on the
seat with a dog between his legs, a postillion, four
persons in the coach, and four lacqueys behind, — r
the whole of which was dragged by a single flea.
A further evidence of the muscular power of the
flea is the extent of its leaps, which equal a space
of 200 times the length of its own body. This
calculation, or a very similar one, was made by
SOCRATES, who was much ridiculed for it by
ARISTOPHANES. The poet, however, did not con-
fine his ridicule to this minuteness of calculation,
but attacked likewise the character and precepts
of that great philosopher ; for the whole of which
satire he has justly incurred the censure of pos-
terity.

ORGANS OF REPRODUCTION.

These organs, in the drone, correspond in func-
tion and denomination with those of the higher

276 PHYSIOLOGY.

classes of animals : their chief peculiarity consists
in their size, in proportion to that of the insect,
and in their being more under the belly than in
other insects of this tribe ; — they are larger than
those of the humble-bee, and the two last scales
of the back and belly are larger than those of the
queen or workers.

The female organs consist principally of the
ovaries, the oviducts, the sperm-reservoir, and
the ovipositor. In the ovaries the eggs are ge-
nerated, and remain till rendered fit by impreg-
nation, and the other circumstances necessary for
their maturation, to pass through the oviducts.
According to Mr. Hunter, what are called ovaries
are really ducts ; the eggs therefore are not form-
ed as in other animals, in a cluster on the back,
but in those ducts, of which there are six on each
side. When full of eggs, they form a kind of
quadrangle ; these six ducts uniting on each side
into one duct, this latter enters a, duct common
to both sides, which may be called the vagina or
ovipositor. The common oviduct is the canal
through which the eggs pass from the ovaries as
they are called, to the ovipositor. The sperm-
reservoir is the organ which, according to Herold,
receives the impregnating sperm of the drone, the
modus operandi of which we are unacquainted
with. In the hive-bee and in some other insects,
the influence of this sperm continues so long

PHYSIOLOGY. 277

a time, and through so many generations, as
almost to exceed belief. ( Vide page 31). This led
DR. HAIGHTON to entertain the opinion that
actual contact betwixt the male sperm and the
egg was not necessary, but that impregnation was
effected by some unknown sympathetic influence.
MESSRS. KIRBY and SPENCE have recourse to the
old doctrine of an aura seminalis being all that
is required to vivify the egg, and which they think
may be retained for a long period. Upon this
subject I have entered at some length in page
25 et seq. The ovipositor places the eggs in
their appropriate situations, and is an instrument
of most curious structure. It consists of a long
tube, or rather several tubes, retractile within
each other, like the pieces of a telescope, and
serves not only to convey the extruded eggs to the
place of their destination, but acts also as a sheath
for the sting, having a sharp point which makes
the first impression when the creature intends to
use its sting, — indeed it appears to be itself the
sting. It has a slit near its extremity, through
which the sting and poison are allowed to pass
at the time of stinging. Some insects have occa-
sion to bore a hole in wood, or other hard sub-
stances, to obtain a proper nidus for their eggs ;
the ovipositor is their operating instrument, and
will either saw or bore a passage to the desired
place. Thus it appears that this curiously com-

278 PHYSIOLOGY.

plex apparatus, which in the bee is used both as
a weapon of defence and offence, is a hollow horny
tube or scabbard, inclosing two bearded darts,
which can be thrust a short way beyond the
sheath, though the whole appears to the naked
eye like the solid point of the minutest needle.

This apparatus is moved by muscles which,
though invisible to the eye, are yet strong enough
to force the sting to the depth of one twelfth of
an inch through the thick cuticle of a man's hand.
It is articulated by thirteen scales to the lower
end of the insect's body ; and at its root are situ-
ated two glands or ducts, from which the poison
is secreted : these glands uniting in one duct, eject
the venomous liquid along the groove formed by
the junction of the two piercers. There are four
beards on the outside of each piercer : when die
insect is prepared to sting, one of these piercers,
having its point a little longer or more in advance
than the other, first darts into the flesh, and being
fixed by its foremost beard, the other strikes in
also, and they alternately penetrate deeper and
deeper, till they acquire a firm hold of the flesh
with their hooks, and then follows the sheath en-
tering and conveying the poison into the wound.
The action of the sting, says PALEY, affords an
example of the union of chemistry and mechanism :
of chemistry, in respect to the venom which can
produce such powerful effects : of mechanism, as

PHYSIOLOGY. 279

the sting is a compound instrument. The ma-
chinery would have been comparatively useless
had it not been for the chemical process, by which
in the insect's body honey is converted into
poison ; and on the other hand, the poison would
have been ineffectual, without an instrument to
wound, and a syringe to inject it.

In consequence of the barbed form of its sting
the bee can seldom disengage itself without leaving
behind it the whole apparatus, and even part of
its bowels ; so that her life is usually sacrificed to
her passion.

" Illis ira modum supra est, laesseque venenum
Morsibus inspirant, et spicula caeca relinquunt,
Affixae venis, animasque in vulnera ponunt." VIRG.

The sting of the queen-bee is longer and stouter
than that of the working-bee, and bends a little
under her belly. She is not eager to employ it ;
and from what has been said above, of the fatality
which usually attends its use, conjecture has been
busy as to the cause of her extreme caution in
this respect. DR. EVANS observes, that it cannot
arise from any selfish consideration, founded on
an instinctive knowledge of the danger she thereby
incurs ; since the common bees, who run the same
risk when they sting, are ready to attack upon
the slightest provocation. "Is it owing," says
he, " to a consciousness of the importance of her

280 PHYSIOLOGY.

life to the community ? or may we rather ascribe
it to the dignified and generous forbearance so
frequently exemplified in the lion or English
mastiff?"

The reluctance of queens to eject their stings,
led Pliny and others to imagine that they did not
possess any. Their extreme caution in this re-
spect, and the fatal consequences usually attending
a departure from it, gave birth to the following
jeux d'esprit. In consequence of Pope Urban the
Eighth being suspected of a stronger attachment
to the French than to the Spaniards, a Frenchman
who had observed three lees quartered upon his
arms, wrote this Latin verse.

" Gallis mella dabunt, Hispanis spicula figent."
To this a Spaniard is said to have subjoined,
" Spicula si figant, emorientur apes.'*

To close the series, and to show his universal
paternal regard towards his flock, Pope Urban
is made to add the following distich :

" Cunctis mella dabunt, et nullis spicula figent,
Spicula rex* etenim figere nescit apum."

This caution of the queens is never more con-
spicuously evinced than in their combats with each

* The ancients supposed the sovereign of the bees to be
a male.

PHYSIOLOGY. 281

other, for they instantly separate if there be any
danger of mutual destruction from the darting
forth of their stings. HUBER gives a striking in-
stance of this. Two queens in one of his hives
having left their cells at nearly the same instant,
rushed together with great apparent fury. The
antennae of each were seized by the teeth of the
other, and the head, breast, and belly of both
were mutually opposed. Finding themselves how-
ever thus dangerously situated, and their curved
extremities on the point of meeting, each dis-
engaged itself and flew away ; when the other
bees, who had before receded, to make a clear
arena for the combatants, drove them together
again. This was done repeatedly, till at last the
stronger queen, seizing the other's wing, and
curling her extremities under her belly, inflicted
a mortal sting.

I think this observation of Huber puts a ne-
gative upon Dr. Evans's last question, and to as-
sent to his first would I apprehend raise her ma-
jesty too high in the scale of existence. I believe
we must here, as in many other similar cases,
acknowledge our ignorance, and refer the pro-
ceeding to instinct.

We have seen that where there is more than
one native queen in a hive, there is always a
combat between them, terminating in the death

PHYSIOLOGY.

of all but one. It was the opinion of SCHIRACH
and RIEM, that if a stranger queen were introduced
where there was a native one, the former would
be assailed by the workers, and by them stung to
death. The experiments of HUBER and DUNBAR
discountenance this opinion : indeed Huber says
that in the whole course of his experience he
never knew more than one instance of a queen's
being stung by a worker, and that was wholly
unintentional.

But though the experiments to which I have
just alluded, produced different results from what
we were led to expect by Schirach and Riem, yet
those of HUBER did not correspond with those of
DUNBAR. The former introduced two stranger
queens into hives containing native queens ; of the
latter, one was fertile the other a virgin, — the for-
mer were both fertile. Each of these introduc-
tions led to a single-combat between the queens,
and each terminated in the death of the stranger.
The latter gentleman also on two occasions in-
troduced stranger queens to the queens regnant,
in his mirror hive ; but in neither case were they
stung to death, either by the queen or workers,
but merely surrounded and confined by the latter,
and by that confinement either suffocated or
starved to death. SCHIRACH and RIEM had pro-
bably witnessed similar conduct on the part of the

PHYSIOLOGY. 283

workers, and were no doubt led thereby to con-
jecture that they dispatched the queens with their
stings.

From what has been said of the fatal conse-
quence to the bee itself when it makes use of its
sting for the annoyance of man and other animals,
it might be supposed that the darting of this
weapon by one bee into the body of another,
might cause the death of both ; but this is is not
usually the case, otherwise there would be a great
mortality amongst them, when the persecution of
the drones takes place. HUBER contrived, by pla-
cing several of his hives upon a glass table, to wit-
ness this scene of massacre ; on which occasion the
bees thrust their stings so deeply into the bodies
of the drones, (generally between the segments of
the abdomen,) as to be obliged to turn upon them-
selves, as upon a pivot, before they could extricate
them ; but by so doing they succeeded, as do the
queens also in their combats with each other.
Instances are related, of combats between workers
proving mutually destructive, from the victors
being unable to extricate their stings from the
wounds they have inflicted. MR. HUNTER saw
an instance of this : the bee was stung in the
mouth ; and he saw it running about afterwards,
with the sting and its appurtenances adherent in
the wound.

Indeed by allowing the bee to draw out her

284 PHYSIOLOGY.

sting gradually, when we ourselves are stung, —
which if we had sufficient firmness and presence
of mind to remain still, she would instinctively do,
by bringing the beards close down to the sides of
the darts, — the life of this valuable insect might be
preserved, and the pain in the wounded part be
much lessened : but the alarm of both parties
seldom admits of such forbearance. The wasp is
not so liable to leave its sting behind as the bee,
the beards of the former being rather shorter, and
the insect stronger and more active.

The sooner the sting is extracted the less venom
is ejected, and consequently less inflammation in-
duced. To alleviate the irritation, numberless
remedies have been proposed, of the most opposite
kind and uncertain effect ; as oil, vinegar, bruised
parsley, burnet, mallow, or the leaves of any suc-
culent vegetable (renewed as soon as warm, and
probably therefore operating by cold alone), honey,
indigo dissolved in water, &c. &c. The most effec-
tual remedy appears to be the Aq. Ammon. or
Spirit of Hartshorn : nor is this surprising, when
we consider that the venom of the bee, or wasp, is
evidently acid. If a humble-bee be irritated to sting
paper tinged with litmus, or any other of the vege-
table blues, the colour is changed by the acid of the
venom to a bright red; this acid appears not to
differ from the acid (bombic) of silk-worms, or
(formic) of ants. The acrimony of the latter

PHYSIOLOGY. 285

many have experienced when inadvertently sitting
down on an ant-hill. On this principle, a solution
of any alkali, or even lime-water, might answer
the same purpose ; and soap would have the
double advantage of neutralizing the acid and allay-
ing the inflammation, by the oil which would be dis-
engaged. Plunging the part stung into cold or
warm water would afford the same relief as in burns,
&c. and also dilute the acid acrimony. Quiet-
ness is the surest protection against being stung.
It has lately been affirmed, that a person is per-
fectly secure amidst myriads of bees, if he care-
fully keep his mouth shut, and breathe gently
through the nostrils only, the human breath being,
as it would appear, highly offensive to their de-
licate organs. (Fide Senses of Bees.) It is added
that with this precaution, hives may be turned
up, and even part of the combs cut out, while the
bees are at work, with perfect impunity.

Those who wish to view the sting of a wasp or
bee through a microscope, may cut off the end of
its tail, when by touching it with a needle or pin
it will thrust out the darts and their sheath, which
may be then snipt off with a pair of scissors and
reserved for observation. If the insect be caught
in a leather glove and provoked to eject its sting,
the same end will be answered ; as the sting being
detained by its barbs, will be left in the leather,
from whence, when the creature is dead (which in

286 PHYSIOLOGY.

the case of a wasp will not be for many hours),
the whole apparatus may, with care, be extracted.
" Upon examining the edge of a very keen
razor by the microscope, it appeared as broad as
the back of a pretty thick knife, rough, uneven,
and full of notches and furrows, and so far from any
thing like sharpness, that an instrument as blunt
as this seemed to be, would not serve even to
cleave wood*." "An exceedingly small needle
being also examined, the point thereof appeared
above a quarter of an inch in breadth ; not round,
nor flat, but irregular and unequal ; and the sur-
face, though extremely smooth and bright to the
naked eye, seemed full of ruggedness, holes, and
scratches. In short it resembled an iron bar out
of a smith's forgef ." But the sting of a bee,
viewed through the same instrument, showed
every where a polish most amazingly beautiful, —
without the least flaw, blemish, or inequality ; and
ended in a point too fine to be discovered : yet
this is only the case or sheath of instruments much
more exquisite, contained therein, as before de-
scribed.

THE POISON OF BEES.

The poison of bees, as also that of wasps, is a
transparent fluid : applied to the tongue it im-

* Hook's Microcosm.

f Philosophical Transactions.

PHYSIOLOGY. 287

parts a sweet taste, which is succeeded by a hot
acrid one. It gives a slight red tinge, as has been
already hinted, to litmus paper, and hence the
ABBE' FONTANA has concluded that an acid enters
into its composition, but in very small proportion.
The venom is so extremely active, that he con-
jectures a grain in weight would kill a pigeon in
a few seconds. It is this fluid which causes the in-
flammation consequent upon being stung. A punc-
ture from a needle that was charged with it, would
produce precisely the same effects. These effects
are very different in different persons ; for whilst a
single sting will produce alarming symptoms in
one individual, another may receive numerous
punctures without sustaining pain or inflamma-
tion in any considerable degree ; sometimes with-
out suffering either. The activity of the venom
varies according to the season of the year : a sting
received in winter produces much less inconve-
nience than one inflicted in summer ; the pain and
inflammation are neither so intense nor of such
long continuance. This may arise from there
being a more copious secretion of venom in summer
than in winter ; for during the former season, if
a bee inflict several wounds with its sting, the pain
and inflammation become progressively less at each
consecutive puncture : after three or four punc-
tures, it is rendered incapable of producing more
inconvenience than the point of a sharp needle.

288 PHYSIOLOGY.

If a bee be provoked to dart its sting against
glass, so as to eject its venom upon it, and the
glass thus charged be placed upon a double mi-
croscope, oblong pointed crystals will become vi-
sible ; these may be seen at first floating in the
venom, and gradually shooting into crystals as the
fluid part evaporates.

THE ANGER OF BEES.

I have already treated of the disposition of bees
to use their stings, when irritated, either by direct
interference with them, or by the approach of per-
sons to whom they have an antipathy. VIRGIL
has, in strong terms, noticed their irascibility : —
when once provoked, says he, they set no bounds
to their anger, but

" Deem life itself to vengeance well resign'd,
Die on the wound, and leave their stings behind."

Fatal consequences occurring from their wounds
are not often heard of, though such I believe have
occasionally happened. MESSRS. KIRBY and
SPENCE relate an instance of a violent fever being
produced, by the injury they inflicted, and in
which the person's recovery was for some time
doubtful. MUNGO PARK also mentions, in his
Travels, an instance of severe annoyance from
them, and states that he lost several asses in
Africa owing to their being attacked by bees.

PHYSIOLOGY. 289

MR. TALBOT, in his Five Years Residence in the
Canadas, states, that during the summer of 1820,
the Rev. Ralph Leeming having sent a fine horse
to grass at a neighbouring farmer's, who kept
about twenty stocks of bees, the animal got upon
the lawn where the hives were placed, and by ac-
cident overturned one of them, the bees of which
attacked him with great virulence. The horse,
rearing and kicking from agony, overthrew another
hive. Having thus doubled the number of his
assailants, his sufferings brought him to the ground,
and in less than five minutes from the commence-
ment of the attack the poor animal was literally
stung to death.

The anger of bees is not confined to man, and
other large animals ; it is sometimes vented upon
their own kind, not only in single combat, but in
conflicts of organized masses. Cases of the former
kind every observer must have noticed ; and of
the latter, several instances have been related by
REAUMUR, THORLEY, KNIGHT, and others. The
engagement, witnessed by THORLEY, lasted more
than two days, and originated in a swarm's at-
tempting to take possession of an already occupied
hive. Remarkable battles of this kind have also
been related by other writers. Whenever the
angry excitation is diffused through a whole com-
munity, a great accession of heat is produced in
the hive.

290 PHYSIOLOGY.

Notwithstanding bees are thus occasionally
animated by a most vindictive spirit, against what
they regard as a public enemy, they are not found
to display any peculiar hostility in the revenge of
a private injury, committed upon them at a di-
stance from their homes. This is a fact which has
been noticed both by MR. HUNTER and MR.
KNIGHT. The former observes also, that bees
never sting but in the neighbourhood of their
property, unless hurt; that they never contend
with each other for honey, unless it be placed
within the boundary of their own right, — but that
what they have collected they defend. The in-
disposition of bees to attack or be angry at a
distance has been confirmed by MR. KNIGHT,
who says, that, though the most irritable of animals
near home, he has seen them suffer themselves to
be patiently robbed of their loads by other bees,
and that he has witnessed this in the same bee
three times in succession. He says likewise, that
if the wasps in a nest have their communication
cut off from those that are abroad, the latter, on
their return, will not make any attack ; but that if
one escape from the interior, it evinces a very
different temper, and is ready to sacrifice its life
to avenge the injury. This MR. KNIGHT dis-
covered when a boy, and he has no doubt but
that if a similar proceeding were adopted towards
bees, they would observe the same conduct.

PHYSIOLOGY. 291

THE LANGUAGE OF BEES.

All creatures that live in society seem to possess
the power of communicating intelligence to one
another. "Brutes," says MR. KNIGHT, "have lan-
guage to express sentiments of love, of fear, and of
anger ; yet they seem unable to transmit any im-
pression they have received from external objects.
But the language of bees is more extensive : if not
a language of ideas, it is something very similar."
This faculty has been very remarkably illustrated
by HUBER in his Treatise on Ants ; and the bee
exhibits many strong evidences of it. HUBER
clearly shows that the communications of Ants are
made through the medium of their antennae ; he
has also proved very satisfactorily, that these
organs serve the same purpose in bees.

Being desirous of ascertaining whether when
a queen was removed from a hive, (a circumstance
which is communicated to the whole family within
an hour,) they discovered their loss by means of
smell, touch, or any unknown sense ; he accord-
ingly divided a hive into two portions, by means
of a grating which admitted a free circulation of
air, but denied a passage to the bees, or even to
their antennae : the consequence was, that the bees
contained in the half that had no queen, after they
had recovered from the agitation * always pro-

* This agitation usually continues two or three hours,
sometimes (though but seldom) four or five, — never longer.
o 2

PHYSIOLOGY.

duced under such circumstances, set about building
royal cells, just as they would have done if the
queen had been entirely removed from the hive.
He repeated this experiment, with a grating which
allowed the transmission of the antennae only.
Here the effect was quite different : for the bees
being able to assure themselves, by the frequent
crossing of their antennae with those of the queen,
that she was still amongst them, every thing re-
mained in order ; the brood were attended to, no
interruption took place in any of their labours,
nor were any royal cells commenced. From all
these experiments (and they were repeatedly
tried), it seems evident that the antennae of bees,
as well as of ants, possess the faculty of receiving
and conveying information. Bees receive some
kinds of intelligence through the medium of certain
sounds, as has been stated in another place.

The antennce, in addition to the uses already
ascribed to them, may serve to inform the bees of
the state of the atmosphere, and enable them to
discern the approach of a change in the weather.
The suddenness and rapidity of their flight towards
the apiary, often afford a hint to the observer of
their proceedings, that a storm is at hand, of which
he received no intimation from any other quarter.

" Inque vicem speculantur aquas et nubila cceli."

VIRGIL.

" That the bees," says DR. EVANS, " can foresee

PHYSIOLOGY.

bad weather, is a fact beyond denial ; though we
know not through the medium of what sense that
faculty is exerted. We are often surprised to
find, even with a promising appearance of the sky,
their labours suddenly cease, and that not a bee
stirs out ; or, on the contrary, that those which
are abroad, hurry home in such crowds that the
door is too small for their admission. But on
strictly examining the heavens, we may discern
some small and distant clouds, which, insensibly
collecting, soon after descend in rain." The Doctor
likewise says, that an observant friend of his,
foretells with confidence that rain will fall in the
course of a few hours, when he finds on a clear
summer's morning that his garden is wholly
deserted by his neighbour's bees. In this he
enjoys an advantage over their real owner, the
flowers near the apiary being crowded as usual by
these wary foragers. " If," says MR. KIRBY,
" they wander far from home, and do not return
till late in the evening, it is a prognostic to be
depended upon, that the following day will be
fine : but if they remain near their habitations, and
be seen frequently going and returning, — although
no indication of wet should be discoverable, clouds
will soon arise and rain come on. Ants also are
observed to be excellently gifted in this respect :
though they daily bring out their larvae to the
sun, they are never overtaken by sudden showers."

294} PHYSIOLOGY.

I have before stated that in the course of an
hour the important intelligence of the loss or
safety of a queen is known to a whole colony. It
seems highly improbable that in this time, 20,000
bees should have assured themselves of the pre-
sence and safety of their queen, by applying their
antennae to hers ; such an attempt would create a
state of complete confusion. Huber proved by
a very decisive experiment, similar to those already
related, that the queen is not distinguishable by
her subjects, in consequence of any emanation
from her person. There must then be some mode,
to which I have given the name of language, by
which those who have exchanged contact with
their antennae can communicate the tranquillizing
intelligence to their companions. It seems im-
possible to explain, in any other way, the concur-
rence of so many wills to one end ; or that sudden
interruption and restitution of harmony which are
often exhibited in every community of bees. It
is the opinion of MR. KNIGHT that bees are not
only capable of communicating intelligence to the
members of their own family, but that a friendly
intercourse sometimes takes place between neigh-
bouring colonies : the cases which he has related
in support of this opinion, however, can hardly be
said to bear him out in it ; for in each of them,
after the intercourse had continued for a few days,
it terminated in violent hostility. Such instances,

PHYSIOLOGY. . 295

though not of frequent occurrence, have been
occasionally noticed by others.

SLEEP OF BEES.

It is reasonable to suppose that every part of
animated nature needs occasional intervals of re-
pose. That this is the case with the bee seems
evident, from the almost motionless quietude of
the workers, which often occurs for fifteen or
twenty minutes together, each bee inserting its
head and thorax into a cell, where it might be
mistaken for dead, were it not for the dilatation
of the segments of its abdomen. The queen some-
times does the same in a drone's cell, where she
continues without motion a very long time, when
" the workers form a circle round her, and gently
brush the uncovered parts of her abdomen. The
drones while reposing do not enter the cells, but
cluster in the combs, and sometimes remain with-
out stirring a limb for eighteen or twenty hours."
HUBER says that he has seen the workers, even in
the middle of the day, when apparently wearied
with exertion, insert half their bodies into the
empty cells, and remain there, as if taking a nap,
for half an hour or longer ; at night they regularly
muster, in a sleep-like silence.

" The sun declining, through the murky air,
Home to their hives the vagrant bands repair,

296 PHYSIOLOGY.

There in soft slumber close their willing eyes,
And hush'd in silence, the whole nation lies."

MURPHY'S VANIERE.

LONGEVITY OF BEES.

The several members of a hive have very dif-
ferent periods of existence. The general law
among insects is, that both male and female shall
perish soon after sexual union ; in a few days or
weeks at furthest, according to the time, probably,
that the female occupies in maturing and deposit-
ing her eggs. By retarding sexual union, the
lives of some insects may be very much prolonged,
— even ephemerae have been kept alive by this
means for seven or eight days. Annual plants,
if prevented from] seeding, may be rendered bi-
ennial. The bee and some other insects are ex-
empted from this forfeiture of life after sexual
union, with the exception already alluded to in
page 33. The ancients were very deficient in
knowledge upon this subject. VIRGIL fixes the
term of a bee's existence at seven years*, having
probably copied from ARISTOTLE ; though Aristotle
says that bees who live to an extreme old age
may reach to nine or ten years. COLUMELLA f

* " Ergo ipsas quamvis angusti terminus aevi

Excipiat, neque enim plus septima ducitur aestas."
f " Durantque, si diligenter excultae sint, in annos decem."

COLUMELLA.

PHYSIOLOGY. 297

and PLINY * have been supposed to regard their
existence as extending to ten years ; though the
language of the former applies to the existence of
the community, and not to individual bees : and
provided the hive be never changed, nor the
combs renewed, it is not likely that any one family
should have its existence prolonged beyond that
period ; as the accumulation of silken pellicles
with which the breeding cells are successively
lined, would render them unfit for use in a very
few years. In addition to the diminution of the
cells by this succession of silken linings, they are
also diminished further by the excrement of the
larvae, which is never cleaned out, but confined
behind each lining : both together, therefore, soon
render the cells unfit for use as brood cells.
MR. HUNTER found three of these layers deposited
in a single season, and counted upwards of twenty
in the cells of an old comb ; which, upon an average
of three a year, would correspond with the period
fixed by the ancients ; though this observation by
no means proves that the hive upon which it was
made, or any other, might not have had a much
more protracted existence. MR. ESPINASSE tells
us that he once took a hive which had stood
fourteen years, having found that it had become

* " Alveos nunquam

Ultra decem annos durasse proditur." PLINY.
o5

298 PHYSIOLOGY.

weak : it had nevertheless sent off a swarm the
year previous. There is an instance or two on
record, of one family having continued in the
same hive for thirty years. One of these is
mentioned by REAUMUR, another by MOUFFET.
THORLEY speaks of a colony having occupied
the same domicile for 110 years. The spot chosen
was under the leads of the study of LUDOVICUS
VIVES in Oxford : the original swarm settled there
in 1520 and kept possession till 1630. Query, —
may not the bees when the combs become very old
and the cells much diminished in size, remove them
and construct fresh ones ? To those who may
wish for their own satisfaction to examine the
linings of a brood cell, I would observe, that MR.
HUNTER'S mode of proceeding was, to soak the
cell in water, till the linings were swelled, when
he had no difficulty in separating and counting
them : he found them separate most readily at the
bottom, on account of the inclosed excrement.

To common observers it might appear, that
the lives of the bees were coeval with the foun-
dation of the colony, presuming upon all the young
bees leaving the parent stock in swarms. But I
have already stated that all swarms consist of a
mixture of young and old bees ; the difference
between them is very distinguishable, those of the
present year being brown, plump, and clothed

PHYSIOLOGY. 299

with light hairs, whilst the old ones have red hairs,
notched and ragged wings, and are paler and more
shrunk in their bodies.

The cases which I have related, and others of a
similar kind, have led to the erroneous opinion
that bees are a long-lived race. But this, as DR.
EVANS has observed, is just as wise as if a stranger,
contemplating a populous city, and personally
unacquainted with its inhabitants, should on pay-
ing it a second visit, many years afterwards, and
finding it equally populous, imagine that it was
peopled by the same individuals, not one of whom
might be then alive. " Such strangers are we to
the honied hive, where, however quickly its gene-
rations may have passed away, the same face is
presented to the beholder."

" The race and realm from age to age remain,
And time but lengthens with new links the chain."
SOTHEBY'S GEORGICS.

The usual term of the male's existence is two
or three months only ; — -I say the usual term, for
his life is always cut off by violence, when no
peculiar circumstances arise to render his existence
any longer useful. Such circumstances having
arisen, as has been before observed, (page 44,) he
may be kept alive a much longer period, for a
year at least, but how much longer has not as yet
been ascertained.

300 PHYSIOLOGY.

With respect to the queen, by comparing what
has been said above, as to insects not dying till
their eggs are all matured, with what has been

oo r

stated in page 31 of a single sexual union serv-
ing to impregnate all the eggs laid for the two
succeeding years, it would appear that the period
of her existence could not, in general, be less than
two years ; and HUBER has proved very satisfac-
torily, that this is the fact : indeed he states that
he has known a queen live for five years. FE-
BURIER suspects that, like the males, the queens
are destroyed by the labourers, when they have
fulfilled their destination. The only ground of this
opinion, however, appears to be his having wit-
nessed an attack made upon a queen by six
labourers, from whom he with difficulty rescued
her. MESSRS. KIRBY and SPENCE, in like manner,
seem to think it not improbable that when the
workers become too old to be useful to the com-
munity, they are either killed or expelled the
society. Fide page 7. Reaumur also throws out
a hint to the same purpose.

The length of a working bee's life has not yet
been ascertained ; but the general opinion is that
it is short-lived. BUTLER says that " the bee is
but little more than a year's bird ;" and some think
the period of its existence shorter still. " The
bees of the present year," says BUTLER, "will
retain their vigour and youthful appearance till

PHYSIOLOGY. 301

(Gemini), about the 21st of May in the following
year, when they begin to decline, and from
(Cancer to Leo) June 21st to August 21st, the
ground in front of the apiary may be seen strewed
with them, some dead, some dying, and a few
alive but incapable of rising again, and by (Libra)
22d September, scarcely an old bee will be left."

302 SENSES OF BEES.

CHAPTER XXXII.

SENSES OF BEES.

IN considering the phaenomena of insect sensation,
little advantage can be derived from analogy ; the
physiology of the senses of bees, and other insects,
is therefore but imperfectly understood. Still
they must have credit for the possession of senses,
however differently modified from those of man.
Some of their senses may open avenues to know-
ledge, with wThich he must ever remain unac-
quainted. Arts which he is obliged to attain
by long labour and great diligence, they seem to
derive from nature, through the medium no doubt
of organs so exquisitely fine, as to elude not only
his search, but even his conception.

Of all the senses of bees, none appears to be so
acute as that of SMELL. It is this which, in all
probability, enables them to distinguish, not only in-
dividuals of their own species, but one human being
from another ; and also to discover honey-dews
and honey-bearing flowers, at a very considerable
distance ; (honey of all odorous substances, being
the most attractive to them :) it may tend likewise
to cause that neatness which they observe in
themselves and in their habitations. An experi-
ment, made by HUBER, demonstrates that they

SENSES OF BEES. 303

possess the faculty of smell. He placed vessels
of honey in boxes perforated with very small
holes, to allow the odorous effluvia to escape, but
not of sufficient size to permit a sight of the honey,
when the bees came directly to the boxes. He
also tried this experiment with the addition of
small card valves, which the bees, after examining
the boxes all round, contrived to raise up, that
they might get at the honey. MR. HUNTER states,
that he has seen great commotion produced in
a recent swarm in wet weather, when he sup-
poses the bees to have been hungry, by placing
honey on the floor of the hive. It was a glass
hive, which afforded him a good opportunity of
observing their proceedings, and he says that all
of them appeared to be upon the scent : even those
that were weak and hardly able to crawl, threw
out the proboscis as far as possible, to get at the
honey, which he thinks must have arisen from their
smelling and not from their seeing it.

This presumed nicety of their smell should in-
duce a carefulness that no offensive odours be
near an apiary. The notorious frequenting, by
bees, of the depositories of urine and the dung of
animals, might seem to render such carefulness
futile : but upon this subject I have written in a
former chapter, and have since had the pleasure
of seeing my opinion confirmed by that of MESSRS.
KIRBY and SPENCE. — Bees appear to have an

304 SENSES OF BEES.

antipathy to particular individuals. Their aver-
sion, in all probability, arises from the persons
disliked having some peculiar odour about them,
which though not unpleasant to man, may be so
to bees. Whatever the odour, it seems to be
transmitted by the breath : HUBER was of this
opinion. Speaking of the impunity with which his
assistant Francis Burnens performed his various
operations upon bees, he observes that "the gentle-
ness of his motions, and the habit of repressing
his respiration, could alone preserve him from the
wrath of such formidable insects."

The different reception which persons experi-
ence on approaching the domicile of bees is at-
tributed by some apiarians to the different degrees
of confidence manifested in the approach : they are
of opinion, that if visitors could avoid the exhibi-
tion of all apprehension, they would not be
attacked. My own experience has long convinced
me of the erroneousness of this opinion : and a
circumstance which occurred to MONSIEUR DE
HOFER, Conseilleur d'etat du GRAND Due DE
BADEN, strengthens my dissent from it. He had
for years been a proprietor and an admirer of bees,
and almost rivalled Wildman in the power he
possessed of approaching them with impunity : he
would at any time search for the queen, and taking
hold of her gently, place her upon his hand. But
having been unfortunately attacked with a violent

SENSES OF BEES. 305

fever, and long confined by it ; on his recovery he
attempted to resume his favourite amusement
among the bees, returning to them with all that
confidence and pleasure which he had felt on
former occasions ; when to his great surprise and
disappointment he discovered that he was no
longer in possession of their favour ; and that in-
stead of being received by them as an old friend,
he was treated as a trespasser : nor was he ever
able, after this period, to perform any operation
upon them, or to approach within their precincts,
without exciting their anger. Here then it is
pretty evident that some change had taken place
in the Counsellor's secretions, in consequence of the
fever, which though not noticeable by his friends,
was offensive to the olfactory nerves of the bees.
I had this anecdote from Monsieur de Hofer's son,
with whom I passed a very agreeable evening in
London at the house of my friend Joseph Hod-
getts, Esq.

The extreme sensitiveness of smell in bees is
evinced by their promptitude in resenting an
injury inflicted on any of their community. In
hiving, or performing any other operation upon
them, great caution should therefore be observed,
lest any of them be trodden upon or crushed to
death. It may be thought that this promptitude
to resent the injury I have here mentioned, may
not proceed from the acuteness of their smell,

306 SENSES OF BEES.

but from an effect produced upon some other
organ of sense. I infer that it proceeds from the
former, on account of their being so quickly
roused to anger from a state of tranquillity, by
having a fresh envenomed sting and its appendages
presented before the entrance of their dwelling.
This experiment, of presenting fresh poison to the
bees, was tried by HUBER in such a variety of
ways, as to prove beyond all doubt that it was
the penetrating odour of the poison only, and not
the manner of presenting it, that affected them ;
for when the poison had coagulated, the same
mode of presentation produced no sensible effect,
it might be offered them with perfect impunity.

Butterflies and Moths are supposed to be
directed by this sense to the discovery of their
mates. If the female of the eggar moth (Plialcena
quercus) be inclosed in a box, and placed in the
neighbourhood of the males, they are attracted to
the spot in such numbers as to show clearly that
they are sensible of her presence. We have
analogous instances of the existence of this faculty
in other insects. The flesh-fly (Musca vomitorid)
occasionally deposits its eggs on plants of the
Stapelia genus, no doubt from their odour re-
sembling that of putrefying flesh. This may be
regarded by some as an evidence of mistaken in-
stinct ; but from what I have said in the chapter
on Instinct, I think that my readers will consider

SENSES OF BEES. 307

this to be erroneous, and that it should rather be
regarded as affording presumptive evidence of
mistaken judgement. Instinct would direct the
creature to deposit its eggs where the larvae when
hatched would be furnished with the means of
subsistence, instead of thus exposing them to
perish. At all events it affords tolerably good
evidence of the existence of an organ of smell in
the insect.

The sense of TOUCH in bees, that is their active
or exploring touch, seems to be very acute. To the
nicety of this sense has been attributed their power
of commencing and carrying on their works amid
the darkness of the hives. The recognition of their
queen evinces the existence of some such sense ;
for the experiments related at page 292, indicate
that her presence is not ascertained either by the
organs of sight, hearing, or smell.

The ANTENNAE have generally been considered
as their organs of touch ; and indeed, in popular
language, they are usually called Feelers or horns ;
they have likewise assigned to them the office of
wiping and cleaning the eyes. The antennae, how-
ever, are not regarded as feelers by our leading
entomologists : at present their uses are not clearly
denned. Some have regarded them as organs of
smell ; others as organs of hearing ; a third party
have conceived that they perform some function
of which man has no definite idea, — supplying the

308 SENSES OF BEES.

insect with a sixth sense, an intermediate faculty,
according to MESSRS. KIRBY and SPENCE, between
hearing and touch, rendering it sensible of the
slightest movement of the circumambient air.
DR. EVANS designates the antennae as their sight-
supplying sense ;

" The same keen horns, within the dark abode,
Trace, for the sightless throng, a ready road,
While all the mazy threads of touch convey,
Shot inward to the mind, a semblant day."

EVANS.

The antennae, of which there are only a single
pair, proceed from the anterior part of the head
before the eyes.

The PALPI are generally considered as the true
feelers ; which, as well from their texture as from
the manner in which insects apply them to their
food before they begin to eat it, seems probable :
Cuvier and Lehmann were of this opinion. The
palpi are attached to the under jaws and lips, and
are four in number. In some respects they
bear analogy to the antennae ; but the latter,
being more articulated, have an extended power
of motion. Some insects with small antennae
are observed to have very large palpi, which
gives reason to suppose, that although their offices
may be different, they are intended to assist
each other.

SENSES OF BEES. 309

The antennae appear to be the more important
organs of the two ; as the palpi, when removedj
have not been found to occasion much apparent
inconvenience ; whilst from the experiments of
HUBER and others, it appears that the excision of
the antenna deprives the insect of the perfect
exercise of its functions. It seems immediately
to lose its instincts. The amputation of one
antenna produces no effect ; but if both be cut off
near the root, the bee no longer possesses the power
of guiding itself; it cannot direct its tongue to
receive food from its companions, nor take any
share in the operations of the family ; but exhibits
perfect indifference, and keeps near the entrance,
apparently for the sake of light ; when that is
withdrawn, it soon leaves the hive to return no
more. " Their departure," says HUBER, " must
be ascribed to the loss of that sense, which is em-
ployed to guide them in the dark."

That bees possess a fine sense of TASTE, may
be readily conceived from the delicious food which
they collect, and from their having a preference
for those flowers that afford the best honey, when-
ever such flowers grow abundantly in the neigh-
bourhood of the hives. Hence the superiority of
the honey of Narbonne, Hymettus, and Pontus.
HUBER regards Taste as the least perfect of the
senses of bees, but the reasons he gives for this
opinion are unsatisfactory. Indeed the tongue of

310 SENSES OF BEES.

• the bee is an organ so considerably developed, as
to afford very strong evidence of its power of
discrimination in the selection of food. CUVIER
considers it to be one of the primary functions of
its organization.

There is tolerably good presumptive evidence
that bees have a quick sense of HEARING, from
their being so sensibly affected by different sounds.
The voice of the queen, for instance, has according
to BONNER and HUBER an almost magical effect
upon them ; and the practice of making some
sort of noise at the time of hiving is founded upon
this opinion. HUBER is of opinion that if bees do
possess the sense of hearing it is differently modi-
fied from the same sense among beings of a higher
order. The consequences which ensue upon the
production of certain sounds either by themselves
or others, show that the vibrations of the air
make an impression upon some sense : HUBER, for
reasons which he does not well define, designates
it as a sense analogous to hearing, a something
acting in concert with and in aid of the antennae.

LINNAEUS and BONNET thought that insects do
not possess the sense of hearing ; but I think they
were mistaken. I have just stated the effect
produced by the voice of a queen bee, under par-
ticular circumstances ; and there are other evi-
dences, equally strong, to show that insects possess
this faculty. One grasshopper will chirp in re-

SENSES OF BEES. 311

«

sponse to another, and the female be attracted by
the voice of the male. BRUNELLI shut up a male
in a box, and allowed the female her liberty : as
soon as the male chirped she flew to him immedi-
ately. For further evidence of the existence of
this faculty in insects, see page 262. (Organs of
Sensation.)

The EYE-SIGHT of bees, notwithstanding the
wonderful mechanism of their eyes, seems less
perfect than their other senses : on some occasions
it scarcely serves them to distinguish the entrance
of their hives, when they come home loaded with
provision. WILDMAN says that he has observed
them go up and down, seeking the door of the
hive, and be obliged after alighting to rise again
in order to find it : he conceived that they see
better when flying than when on foot. I believe,
however, that this opinion of WILDMAN will not,
upon examination, be found quite correct. The
mere act of flying does not enable them to see
objects better ; but when on the wing, they are at
a greater distance from those objects, the eyes of
these insects being so constructed as to enable
them to see best at a moderate distance. As DR.
EVANS has justly remarked, therefore, "the poet's
disdainful allusion to a

Fly whose feeble ray scarce spreads

An inch around

should here be exactly reversed." DR. DERHAMHI

312 SENSES OF BEES.

his Physico- theology has observed, when speaking
of the eye of the bee and other insects, that "the
cornea and optic nerves, being always at one and
the same distance, are fitted only to see distantial
objects, but not such as are very nigh." This
visual orb, this seemingly simple speck, though
really complicated piece of mechanism, says DER-
HAM, " will be found upon examination to form a
curious lattice-work of several thousand hexagonal
lenses, each having a separate optic nerve minis-
tering to it, and therefore to be considered as a
distinct eye*. M. LEEWENHOECK, having properly
prepared and placed an eye of this kind betwixt
his microscope and a church steeple (299 feet
high and 750 distant), saw plainly the steeple in-
verted, through every different lens, though each
lens was not larger than a needle's point. Yet,
doubtless the insect perceives but a single object,
and that in an upright position. The hemispheric
arrangement of these lenses enables the bee to see
accurately in every direction, and without any
interval of time or trouble."

" Not huge Behemoth, not the Whale's vast form,
That spouts a torrent, and that breathes a storm,

• The multitude of hexagonal lenses which compose the
eye of a bee, make it appear, when viewed through a micro-
scope, exactly like honey-comb.

SENSES OF BEES. 313

Transcends in organs apt this puny fly,

Her fine-strung feelers, and her glanceful eye,

Set with ten thousand lenses." EVANS.

The eyes of all insects are immoveable, and
have neither iris nor pupil nor eyelids to cover
them : but this apparent defect is amply made up
to them in a variety of ways : in the case before
us, by the complex structure of the organs.
REAUMUR performed an experiment similar to that
which I have just related of LEEWENHOECK, and
with a like result. HOOKE computed the lenses
in the eye of a horse-fly to amount to nearly 7000.
LEEWENHOECK found more than 12,000 in that
of a dragon-fly ; and 17,325 have been counted in
the eye of a butterfly. The lenses are most
numerous in the beetle, and so small as not to be
easily discoverable under a pocket microscope,
except the eye be turned white by long keeping.

The peculiar construction of the bee's eye, for
seeing objects best at a moderate distance, will
account for the circumstance noticed by WILDMAN,
and also for the following observation of DR.
EVANS. " We frequently observe bees flying
straight homewards through the trackless air, as
if in full view of the hive, then running their heads
against it, and seeming to feel their way to the
door with their antennae, as if totally blind." SIR
C. S. MACKENZIE remarked the imperfect vision
of bees, and how very much puzzled they are to
p

314 SENSES OF BEES.

find the entrances to their hives, if the relative
position of the entrances be altered, or the hives
be removed two or three yards from the place
where they have usually stood. In cases of re-
moval, the bees do not during the first day fly to
a distance, nor till they have visited and recognized
neighbouring objects. MR. ROGERS, in his " Plea-
sures of Memory," has noticed this defective
vision in the bee. Having spoken of her excursive
flights to a distance, and referred to her bending
her course homewards again, he observes,

" That eye so finely wrought,
Beyond the search of sense, the soar of thought,
Now vainly asks the scenes she left behind ;
Its orb so full, its vision so confined !"

And he concludes that it is by the aid of memory
that she retraces her passage back to the hive, by
recognizing the scents of the various flowers
which she has passed or visited on her outward
journey, —

" The varied scents that charm'd her as she flew.*'

But this idea, as Messrs. Kirby and Spence have
observed, is more poetical than accurate, the bees
being always accustomed to fly to their hives in
right lines.

In consequence of this peculiarity of insect
vision, many of those bees that return homewards

SENSES OF BEES. 315

after dusk in the evening, are obliged to lie abroad
all night. The same peculiarity, added to the
acuteness of their smell, has given birth to various
contrivances for inducing bees of different hives
to mingle peaceably together, as mentioned at
page 154.

From the experiments of Swammerdam, Reau-
mur, Hooke and others, it seems that bees and other
insects, particularly those of the hymenopterous
order, possess organs of vision, besides those which
are properly called their eyes. These organs,
known by the name of STEMMATA, are three smooth,
glossy, hemispherical dots, placed in a triangular
position upon the vertex or top of the head. The
two reticular eyes of one of these insects having
been covered with fluid pitch, (the stemmata being
left open,) when placed under a glass, the insect
ran up and down, but without striking against the
sides of the glass. In a similar experiment upon
a dragon-fly (Libellula), the insect flew away,
but in its flight struck against walls and other
objects. The stemmata in another insect being
covered, and the reticular eyes left open, seemed
to cause no impediment to its usual proceedings,
\h appeared to see as well as before. But when
|both the stemmata and the eyes were covered,
|the insect seemed to be totally deprived of sight,
|it walked slowly under the glass, and when allowed

316 SENSES OF BEES.

its liberty, would not venture to fly. These ex-
periments being tried upon bees by Reaumur,
they remained immoveable, appearing uncertain
where to direct their flight : when their eyes only
were covered, they flew perpendicularly upwards
till they were out of sight, seeming to follow that
direction which the aid of the stemmata afforded
them. These stemmata may, from their situation,
assist the insect in performing its various opera-
tions in the interior of the hive ; may, as Reaumur
has observed, answer to them the purpose of
microscopes.

I cannot conclude this chapter on the Senses
of Bees without noticing the theory of that eminent
physiologist DR. VIREY. He has given it as his
opinion, that there are seven senses, which he thus
divides. Four physical, namely, Touch, Taste,
Smell, and Love ; three intellectual, namely,
Hearing, Sight, and Thought. (N. Diet. d'H'ist
Nat.) Whether Love and Thought should b
added to my enumeration of the senses of bee
I shall not now inquire : if they may be, this wor
will supply abundant evidence of both, if we com
prehend the whole community of bees ; for thong
physical love appears not to constitute any par
of the pleasure of the working bee, (except from
some accidental cause which has been alread)
explained,) there is presumptive proof of it

SENSES OF BEES. 317

possessing thought or intellect : and although it
may not be easy to adduce testimony in favour
of the queen's or the drone's possessing thought,
they both satisfactorily evince a susceptibility of
physical love.

318 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

CHAPTER XXXIII.
INSTINCTS OF BEES.

ALL creatures, of whatever size, that live together
in large communities, have long been observed to
display more knowledge and ingenuity than those
that do not congregate : this superiority is also
supposed to distinguish those which possess the
most exquisite sense of touch, and whose occupa-
tions require a continued exertion of their powers.
The insect tribe strongly confirm the truth of
these remarks.

Solitary insects may exhibit a single trait of
superiority, either in the catching of their prey,
as the spider does ; or in the securing of a well
protected habitation, as is instanced by the car-
penter bee, the mason bee, and some other lone
and non-associating insects : but the history of
those which unite in societies unfolds more of
insect energy and talent. In large communities a
combination of exertions is requisite, to procure
supplies for the general weal ; an intercourse of
mutual intelligence is kept up ; labour is regularly
divided ; the sphere of action is extended ; and in
cases of emergency, there is an unusual manifesta-
tion of insect power and intelligence. Instances of
all these faculties are eminently conspicuous in

INSTINCTS OF BEES. 319

the honey-bee ; — some of them I have before no-
ticed, and shall now advert to a few more.

The mental powers of bees, if I may be allowed
to use the term, have been included, by some
writers under the general name of Instinct* ;
others, considering the whole of their proceedings
to be fraught with intelligence, have regarded
them as evidences of a reasoning power. All the
pheenomena of insect life cannot I presume be ex-
plained without giving them credit for both.

" Deem not, vain mortal, that reserved for thee
Hangs all the ripening fruit on reason*s tree ;
Even these,the tiniest tenants of thy care,
Claim of that reason, their apportioned share :
Witness yon slaughtered snail, within their door,
Tomb'd like the first bold Greek on Ilion's shore.'*

EVANS.

A snail having crept "into one of M. Reaumur's
hives early in the morning, after crawling about for
some time, adhered by means of its own slime to
one of the glass panes, where, but for the bees,
it would probably have remained, till either a

* Huber has observed that the instinct of the humble-
bee is still more refined than that of the honey-bee. As an
instance of this, he states that the former when unable to
penetrate a flower through its natural cavity, makes an aper-
ture at the base of the corolla, or even of the calyx, and in-
sinuates its proboscis into the reservoir of honey, through
the opening it has made.

320 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

moist air or its own spume had loosened the ad-
hesion. The bees having discovered the snail,
immediately surrounded it, and formed a border
of propolis round the verge of its shell, which
was, at last, so securely fixed to the glass, as to
become immoveable, either by the moisture of the
air from without, or by the snail's secretion from
within.

" Nor aught avails that in his torpid veins,
Year after year, life's loitering spark remains* :
For ever clos'd the impenetrable door,
He sinks on death's cold arm to rise no more."

EVANS.

Maraldi has related a somewhat similar in-
stance. A houseless snail or slug, as it is called,
had entered one of his hives : the bees, as soon as
they observed it, pierced it with their stings, till
it expired beneath their repeated strokes ; after
which, being unable to dislodge it, they covered
it all over with propolis.

" For, soon in fearless ire, their wonder lost,
Spring fiercely from the comb th' indignant host,
Lay the pierc'd monster breathless on the ground,
And clap, in joy, their victor pinions round.

* In the Annual Register for 1775 some very extraordinary
instances are related of the protraction of life in snails. After
they had lain in a cabinet above fifteen years, immersing
them in water caused them to revive and crawl out of their
shells.

INSTINCTS OP BEES. 321

While all in vain concurrent numbers strive,
To heave the slime-girt giant from the hive, —
Sure not alone by force instinctive sway'd,
But blest with reason's soul-directing aid,
Alike in man or bee, they haste to pour,
Thick hardening as it falls, the flaky shower ;
Embalm'd in shroud of glue the mummy lies,
No worms invade, no foul miasmas rise." EVANS.

In these two cases, who can withhold his admi-
ration of the ingenuity and judgement of the bees ?
In the fast case, a troublesome creature gained
admission into the hive, which, from its unwieldi-
ness, they could not remove, and which, from the
impenetrability of its shell, they could not de-
stroy : here then their only resource was to deprive
it of loco-motion, and to obviate putrefaction;
both which objects they accomplished most skil-
fully and securely, — and, as is usual with these
sagacious creatures, at the least possible expense
of labour and materials. They applied their
cement, where alone it was required, namely,
round the verge of the shell. In the latter case,
to obviate the evil of putrescence, by the total
exclusion of air, they were obliged to be more
lavish in the use of their embalming material, and
to form with it so complete an incrustation or
case over the " slime-girt giant," as to guard them
from the consequences which the atmosphere in-
variably produces upon all animal substances,
that are exposed to its action after life has become
p 5

322 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

extinct. May it not be asked, What means
more effectual could human wisdom have devised,
under similar circumstances ? Indeed, many of
the proceedings of bees and other associated in-
sects seem traceable to a reasoning power ; for
they exhibit an adaptation of means to ends,
and vary them to suit particular emergencies, — the
judicious performance of actions with a view to
some proposed end, is the criterion by which we
judge of rationality.

On the other hand, the difficulty of ascribing
some of their actions to any other principle than
that which is known by the name of Instinct, has
led to a classification of the whole of their pro-
ceedings under that head.

INSTINCT is a faculty the exercise of which im-
plies an exquisitely fine mechanism of some of the
senses. It appears to operate independently of
all anticipation of consequences ; the avenues to
knowledge are, to be sure, less circuitous in these
and other animals than in man, neither experience
nor inductive reasoning seem to be at all essential
to the perfection of their operations ; they may be
said to have, what many an indolent human being
has wished to find, — a royal road to knowledge.

" If in the Insect, Reason's twilight ray
Sheds on the darkling mind a doubtful day,
Plain is the steady light her Instincts yield,
To point the road o'er life's unvaried field ;

INSTINCTS OF BEES. 323

If few those Instincts, to the destin'd goal,
With surer course, their straiten'd currents roll.'*

EVANS.

One writer, and that a very ingenious one, has
endeavoured to resolve all instincts into reason,
and has boldly hazarded the following conjecture.
"If we were better acquainted with the histories
of those insects that are formed into societies, —
as the bees, wasps and ants, — we should find that
their arts and improvements are not so similar and
uniform as they now appear to us, but that they
arose in the same manner (from experience and tra-
dition) as the arts of our own species ; though their
reasoning is from few ideas, is busied about fewer
objects, and is exerted with less energy*."

Since the Doctor wrote this passage, much light
has been thrown upon those very subjects on
which he laments our defective knowledge : but
whilst it strengthens what I have said as to the
possession of reason by insects, it confirms my
observations respecting their instinctive powers.

There are facts recorded, in HUBER'S researches
respecting ants, which exhibit in some at least
of those insects, (the Amazons,) a power of ac-
quiring habits and characters which cannot well
be regarded as merely instinctive. The Amazons
take advantage of an improvement in their con-

* Darwin.

324 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

dition, and avail themselves of that strength,
which sometimes accrues to them, in consequence
of a large accession to their numbers. To relieve
themselves from labour, they enslave, by a coup
de main, a feeble colony of ants of another species,
and transporting it to their own domicile, impose
upon the captives the task of collecting provi-
sion, rearing the young, repairing the formicary,
&c. &c. The Amazons become a complete ari-
stocracy, and like ladies and gentlemen, have ser-
vants to wait upon them.

I shall not attempt to determine the point where
intellect begins to dawn, nor to assign the boun-
dary where instinct assumes the characteristics of
reason. For it is no where more difficult to dis-
criminate between the regular operation of im-
planted motives, and the result of acquired know-
ledge and habits, than in studying the phaenomena
presented by the bee. For the present therefore
I must be allowed to regard the provinces of rea-
son and instinct as undefinable ; indeed it seems
highly probable that our limited faculties may never
enable us to acquire a knowledge of them. Still
the facts which I have related, and those which I
shall proceed to detail, afford such apparently strong
evidences of a reasoning faculty, that without in-
troducing that faculty as their source, I shall be
at a loss to explain the phaenomena. DR. DARWIN
in his Zoonomia, relates an anecdote of apparent ra-

INSTINCTS OF BEES. 325

tiocination in a wasp, which had caught a fly nearly
as large as itself. Kneeling down, the Doctor
saw the wasp dissever the head and tail from the
trunk of the fly, and attempt to soar with the
latter : but finding when about two feet from the
ground that the wings of the fly carried too much
sail, and caused its prize and itself to be whirled
about, by a little breeze that had arisen, it drop-
ped upon the ground with its prey, and delibe-
rately sawed off with its mandibles, first one wing
and then the other : having thus removed these
impediments to its progress, the wasp flew away
with its booty, and experienced no further moles-
tation from the wind.

Some of the proceedings of bees in glass hives
cannot be referred to their instinctive faculties,
— glass being a substance which would never be
presented to them in their natural state. " Having
frequently observed," says DR. EVANS, " on the
inside of my glass hives, prior to the formation of
cells, a number of gluey spots ranged at regular
distances, I supposed them at first to be intended
as a kind of land-marks, pointing out the divisions
of the future streets, &c. On re-examination,
however, I found them evidently used as so many
footstools on the slippery glass, each bee resting
on one of these with its middle pair of legs, while
the fore-claws were hooked with the hind ones of

326 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

the next above ; thus forming a living ladder, by
which the workers were enabled to reach the top,
and pursue their favourite plan of commencing
their combs there."

A very striking illustration of the reasoning
power of bees occurred to my friend MR. WALOND.
Inspecting his bee-boxes at the end of October
1817, he perceived that a centre comb, burthened
with honey, had separated from its attachments,
and was leaning against another comb, so as to
prevent the passage of the bees between them.
This accident excited great activity in the colony,
but its nature could not be ascertained at the time.
At the end of a week, the weather being cold and
the bees clustered together, Mr. W. observed,
through the window of the box, that they had
constructed two horizontal pillars betwixt the
combs alluded to, and had removed so much of
the honey and wax from the top of each, as to
allow the passage of a bee : in about ten days
more there was an uninterrupted thoroughfare ;
the detached comb at its upper part had been
secured by a strong barrier and fastened to the
window with the spare wax. This being accom-
plished, the bees removed the horizontal pillars
first constructed, as being of no further use.
" During this laborious process," says Mr. W.
" the glass window in the box was as warm as I

INSTINCTS OF BEES. 327

had felt it during any part of the summer, and
the bees were as active within the box."

M. P. HUBER of Lausanne, in his Observations
on Humble-bees^ published in the sixth volume of
the Linnaean Transactions, has given a curious
detail of some experiments in which the bees con-
ducted themselves somewhat similarly to those of
Mr. Walond. Having inclosed twelve humble-
bees in a bell-glass, upon a table, he gave them
a part of their cones or chrysalids, containing
about ten silken cocoons, and freeing the latter as
much as possible from wax, he fed the bees for
some days with pollen only. The cells contain-
ing the cones being very unequal, the mass was
so unsteady as extremely to disquiet the bees.
Their affection for their young led them to mount
upon the cocoons, to impart warmth to the in-
closed larvae : they could not do this without
causing the comb to totter or lean on one side, and
having no wax for fastening the work to the table,
they had recourse to the following ingenious ex-
pedient. Two or three bees got upon the comb,
and descending to the lower edge of it, with their
heads downwards, hung from it by the hooks of
their hind feet, and clung to the table by those of
the second pair, which are very long ; thus did
they keep this piece of cell-work steady by their
own muscular strength. When fatigued by this

328 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

constrained and irksome position, they were re-
lieved by their comrades ; even the queen assisted.
Having kept the bees in this state till nearly the
end of the third day, and shown them to several
persons, Huber introduced some honey, to enable
them to form wax : they soon constructed pillars,
extending from the most projecting parts of the
cell- work to the table, and kept the cell- work
in a firm position. The wax, however, getting
gradually dry, the pillars gave way ; when the poor
insects adopted their former straining expedient
for steadying the comb, and continued, perseve-
ringly, to sustain it in this manner, till Huber took
pity on them and glued the cake of comb firmly
to the table. Could the most intelligent architect
have more judiciously propped a tottering edifice,
till adequate supports could be applied ?

The resources of bees, when attacked by the
Sphinx Atropos or Death's head hawk-moth are
much in point. In this case, according to HUBER,
they construct small archways and various other
ingenious barricadoes, with a mixture of wax and
propolis, so as just to allow the egress and ingress
of one or two workers, and effectually to exclude
their marauding enemy. The bees do not, as if
guided by mere instinct, commence their fortifica-
tions on the first attack of the Sphinx, nor until
they have been robbed of nearly their whole stock

INSTINCTS OF BEES. 329

of honey. This therefore seems to be a case in
which reason is taught by experience, and which
admits in all its particulars of a direct compa-
rison with human reason and human contrivance.
Moreover, on the cessation of danger, and when
honey-flowers were abundant, the colony pros-
perous and swarms prepared to issue, these saga-
cious engineers demolished the fortifications, in
order to give room for the exit and entrance of
the bees. A colony that had been thus attacked
in 1804, and was tardy in its defensive prepara-
tions, having derived instruction from the past,
constructed fresh ramparts speedily, on the re-
appearance of the Sphinx in 1 807, and thus guard-
ed itself from impending danger.

From what has been said in page 296, it seems
probable that the lives of the working bees do not
extend beyond a year, at the utmost : if therefore
my inference be legitimate, the information of the
colony of 1807 must have been traditional, or
else derived from a queen which had reigned over
them from 1804. On the subject of traditional
information, see Memory of Bees. It is further
remarkable, as a confirmation of this process of
ratiocination and reflection, that if the apiarian
apply proper guards before the entrances to the
hives, when the Sphinx makes its appearance, the
bees, finding that they are anticipated, devise no
measures of security.

330 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

I shall adduce another instance in support of
my position that insects are endowed with reason,
and that they mutually communicate and receive
information. " A German artist of strict veracity,
states, that in his journey through Italy, he was
an eye-witness to the following occurrence. He
observed a species of Scarabceus busily engaged,
in making for the reception of its egg a pellet of
dung, which when finished, the insect rolled to the
summit of a hillock, and repeatedly suffered it to
tumble down the slope, apparently for the purpose
of consolidating the pellet by the adhesion of
earth to it in its rotating motion. During this pro-
cess, the pellet unluckily fell into a hole, out of
which the beetle was unable to extricate it. After
several ineffectual attempts, the insect went to an
adjoining heap of dung, and soon returned with
three companions. All four applied their united
strength to the pellet, and at length succeeded in
pushing it out, when the three assistant beetles
left the spot, and returned to their own quarters*."

MR. HUNTER speaks rather sarcastically, upon
the subject of reason being one of the attributes
of insects. " Reason," says he, " has been ascribed
to bees ; they have been supposed to be legislators,
and even mathematicians ; and though there is
some show of reason for these suppositions, there is

* Kirby and Spence, vol. ii. p. 522.

INSTINCTS OF BEES. 331

much more of imagination." To show how far
the excursive fancy of apiarians had sometimes
carried them, Mr. H. selected a very unfortunate
instance, namely, the assertion, as he calls it, that
workers' eggs may be converted into queens, — a
fact which has since been established by a series
of the most satisfactory experiments. DR. VIREY,
in his Nouvelle Dictionnaire d'Histoire Naturelle,
denies that insects possess any portion of intellect,
and attributes all their operations to mere instinct,
which he considers as the result of pure mecha-
nism, depending upon the construction of their
nervous systems, in the same manner as the tune
played upon a barrel organ, is dependent on the
notes which the cylinder successively presents to
its keys. DES CARTES, and others before him,
held a similar opinion, considering insects as being
simply susceptible of external impressions, and
through the medium of that susceptibility stimu-
lated to act. If this doctrine be correct, instinct
is possessed alike by animals and vegetables ; in
short by every thing that has life, the difference
being not in quality, but in quantity.

BUFFON attempted to explain the phaenomena
of insect life by the simple laws of mechanism,
conceding to the insects at the same time a power
of distinguishing and choosing between plea-
sure and pain. Some have even ventured to as-
sert that the invariable exactness of the cell-work
of bees is a proof of their stupidity, and " that

332 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

the wonders of the honey'd reign," no more be-
speak the agency of mind or intellect, than the
configuration of salts into their respective crystals.

" Shall then proud sophists arrogant and vain,
Spurn all the wonders of the honey'd reign,
And bid alike one mindless influence own
The social bee, and crystallizing stone ?
Each link they trace in animation's round,
Dashes their poison'd chalice to the ground.'* EVANS.

If this theory respecting insects were just, it
should elucidate all the phenomena which it un-
dertakes to explain, otherwise it is injurious to
science. Examination will prove it to be a mere
hypothetical opinion, ingenious, and at first sight
plausible, but completely unsatisfactory. This
theory is the natural consequence of denying to
insects any portion of intellect, and its erroneous-
ness is shown by their capability of instruction.
Instinct itself cannot be a purely mechanical pro-
cess, or it would be incapable of modification, and
would, under like circumstances, always act in the
same manner. SIR JOSEPH BANKS'S spider that,
on being crippled, changed from a sedentary web-
weaver to a hunter, is an instance of modified in-
stinct*. The well known fact that birds build

* The account of this spider was sent to Dr. Leach by
Sir Joseph Banks. An interesting history of it is given in the
Linnsean Transactions, vol. ii. page 393. It had lost five
of its legs, which were afterwards reproduced, but the new
legs were shorter than those for which they were substituted.

INSTINCTS OF BEES. 333

their nests differently, where climate and other
circumstances require a variation, is another in-
stance. A dog may be restrained from obeying
its instincts, by the intimidating recollection of a
beating which it had formerly received ; a bee,
if alarmed, will quit the nectary of a flower : — here
the intellect of the creatures counteracts their in-
stincts. There are other instances in which the
intellect appears to direct the instincts. When the
bee makes excursive flights in quest of pasture,
its senses serve to guide it, and enable it, by the aid
of memory, to retrace its passage home again. At
the conclusion of its outward and homeward jour-
neys, its instincts immediately begin to operate ; in
the one case, teaching it to imbibe nectar, collect
pollen, &c. ; in the other, to store and apply those
materials to their respective uses.

M. REIMAR has denied that the lower animals
possess memory, properly so called ; and has given
it as his opinion, that they are only influenced
by past events, in consequence of having present
objects before them, — never by reflection or know-
ledge of the past, as being past. But that, with
them, a former impression may be renewed, with-
out being recollected ; that it is thus rendered pre-
sent to the imagination, but has no place in the
memory. For arguments and instances in sup-
port of their being endowed with memory, see
page 260. (Organs of Sensation.)

334* INSTINCTS OF BEES.

The possession of the organs of sense implies
the possession of some portion of intellect, for
without intellect those organs would seem inca-
pable of being employed to the greatest advan-
tage. " There is this difference," says MR.
SPENCE, "between intellect in man, and the rest
of the animal creation. Their intellect teaches
them to follow the lead of their senses, and to
make such use of the external world as their ap-
petites or instincts incline them to, — and this is
their wisdom : while the intellect of man, being as-
sociated with an immortal principle, and connected
with a world above that which his senses reveal to
him, can, by aid derived from heaven, control those
senses, and render them obedient to the govern-
ing power of his nature ; and this is his wisdom"
A distinction has been made, and very properly,
between wisdom and knowledge. The former
alone can be possessed by the lower animals, man
can possess both. The distinction between them
has been very accurately marked by COWPER,
though in making it he has confined himself to
man only.

€t Knowledge and wisdom, far from being one,
Have oft times no connection. Knowledge dwells
In heads replete with thoughts of other men,
Wisdom in minds attentive to their own."

It will, I think, be evident to my readers, from
the general tenour of this chapter, that though I

INSTINCTS OF BEES. 335

make a distinction between the instinct and the
reason of bees, I do not confound their reason
with the reason of man. But to obviate all pos-
sibility of misconception, I will at once define
my meaning, when I use the terms insect reason
and instinct.

By reason, I mean the power of making deduc-
tions from previous experience or observation, and
thereby of adapting means to ends. Instinct I
regard as a disposition and power to perform cer-
tain actions in the same uniform manner, without
reference either to observation or experience.
Those who have attended to this subject, will be
aware that insect reason as above defined, is more
restricted in its functions than the reason of man ;
to which is superadded the power of distinguishing
between the true and the false, and, according to
some metaphysicians, between right and wrong.
Reason, in man, has a regular growth, and a slow
progression ; all the arts he practises evince skill
and dexterity, proportioned to the pains which
have been taken in acquiring them. In the lower
links of creation, but little of this gradual im-
provement is observable ; their powers carry them
almost directly to their object. They are perfect,
as BACON says, in all their members and organs
from the very beginning.

" Far different Man, to higher fates assign'd,
Unfolds with tardier step his Proteus mind,

335 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

With numerous Instincts fraught, that lose their force
Like shallow streams, divided in their course ;
Long weak, and helpless, on the fostering breast,
In fond dependence leans the infant guest,
Till Reason ripens what young impulse taught,
And builds, on sense, the lofty pile of thought ;
From earth, sea, air, the quick perceptions rise,
And swell the mental fabric to the skies." EVANS.

" Every manufacturing art," says DR. REID,
" was invented by some one man, successively im-
proved and perfected by others ; and when thus
perfected, known only by those to whom it has
been taught: while in the arts of animals no in-
dividual can claim the invention. Every animal of
the species has equal skill from the beginning,
without teaching, without experience, or habit."

" Both Instinct and Reason," says DR. EVANS,
" appear to lose their intensity, in proportion as
their rays diverge from their proper focus ; and
as they are less frequently aroused to action. A
domesticated fowl is furnished with the same ap-
paratus as her wild sisters on the waste, for ren-
dering her feathers impenetrable to water : yet,
living principally under cover, she secretes much
less of the oily fluid, destined for that purpose,
and makes, when accidentally wet, a most ridicu-
lous appearance. The force of instinctive pro-
pensities, when directed to one object, and unin-
fluenced by reason, is strongly exemplified in the
idiot bee-eater of Selborne, mentioned by MR.

INSTINCTS OF BEES. 337

WHITE, in his History of Selborne. The collected
powers of reason, when concentred in a single
focus, is no less finely instanced in the immortal
NEWTON."

To those readers who have not seen Mr. White's
account of the bee-eater, the following abstract of
it may prove acceptable.

The boy was a resident in Selborne, about the
year 1750. He took great notice of bees from his
childhood, and at length used to eat them. In
summer, his few faculties were devoted to the
pursuit of them, through fields and gardens.
During winter, his father's chimney corner was
his favourite haunt, where he dozed away his time,
in an almost torpid state. Practice made him so
expert, that he could seize honey-bees, humble-
bees or wasps, with his naked hands, disarm them
of their stings, and suck their honey-bags, with
perfect impunity. Sometimes he would store the
bees in bottles, and even in his shirt bosom. He>
was the terror of the surrounding bee-keepers
whose gardens he would enter by stealth, and
rapping on the outsides of their hives, catch the
bees as they came out to see what was the mat-
ter. If in this way he could not obtain a sufficient
number to supply his wants, so passionately fond
was he of honey, that he would sometimes over-
turn the hives to get at it. He was accustomed to
hover about the tubs of the mead-makers, to beg

338 INSTINCTS OF BEES.

a draught of bee-wine, as he called it. As he
ran about the fields he made a humming noise
with his lips, resembling that of bees. The lad
was lean in his person, and of a cadaverous un-
healthy aspect: he died before he reached the
a^e of maturity.

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 339

CHAPTER XXXIV.
ON THE ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

" Quel abime aux yeux du sage qu'une ruche d'abeilles ?
Quel sagesse profonde se cache dans cet abime! Quel
philosophe oserale fonder !" — BONNET.

THE combs of a bee-hive comprise a congeries of
hexagonal cells, formed by the bees, as recepta-
cles for honey or for embryo bees, A honey-
comb is allowed to be one of the most striking
achievements of insect industry, and an admirable
specimen of insect architecture. It has attracted
the admiration of the contemplative philosopher
in all ages, and awakened speculation not only
in the naturalist, but also in the mathematician :
so regular, so perfect, is the structure of the cells,
that it satisfies every condition of a refined pro-
blem in geometry. Still a review of their proceed-
ings will lead to the conclusion, as HUBER has
observed, that " the geometrical relations, which
apparently embellish the productions of bees, are
rather the necessary result of their mode of pro-
ceeding, than the principle by which their labour
is guided." " We must therefore conclude, that
the bees, although they act geometrically, under-

340 ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

stand neither the rules nor the principles of the
arts which they practise so skilfully, and that
the geometry is not in the bee, but in the great
Geometrician who made the bee, and made all
things in number, weight and measure*."

Before the time of HUBER, no naturalist had
seen the commencement of the comb, nor traced
the several steps of its progress. After many
attempts, he at length succeeded in attaining the
desired object, by preventing the bees from form-
ing their usual impenetrable curtain, by suspend-
ing themselves from the top of the hive ; in short,
he obliged them to build upwards, and was thereby
enabled, by means of a glass window, to watch
every variation and progressive step in the con-
struction of comb.

Each comb in a hive is composed of two ranges
of cells backed against each other : these cells,
looking at them as a whole, may be said to have
one common base, though no one cell is opposed
directly to another. This base or partition between
the double row of cells is so disposed as to form
a pyramidal cavity at the bottom of each, as will
be explained presently. The mouths of the cells,
thus ranged on each side of a comb, open into two
parallel streets (there being a continued series of
combs in. every well filled hive). These streets

* Reid.

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 341

are sufficiently contracted to avoid waste of room
and to preserve a proper warmth, yet wide enough
to allow the passage of two bees abreast. Apertures
through different parts of the combs are reserved
to form near roads, for crossing from street to
street, whereby much time is saved to the bees.

" These in firm phalanx ply their twinkling feet,
Stretch out the ductile mass, and form the street,
With many a cross- way path and postern gate,
That shorten to their range the spreading state."

EVANS.

The bees, as has been already observed, build
tJieir cells of an hexangular form, having six
equal sides, with the exception of the first or upper-
most row, the shape of which is an irregular pen-
tagon, the roof of the hive forming one of the
members of the pentagon, thus :

" There are only three possible figures of the
cells," says DR. REID, " which can make them all
equal and similar, without any useless interstices.
These are the equilateral triangle, the square and
the regular hexagon. It is well known to mathe-
maticians that there is not a fourth way possible,

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

in which a plane may be cut into little spaces that
shall be equal, similar, and regular, without leaving
any interstices." Of these three geometrical
figures, the hexagon most completely unites the
prime requisites for insect architecture. The
truth of this proposition was perceived by PAPPUS,
an eminent Greek philosopher and mathematician,
who lived at Alexandria in the reign of Theodo-
sius the Great, and its adoption by bees in the
construction of honey-comb was noticed by that
ancient geometrician. These requisites are ;

First, (Economy of materials. There are no
useless partitions in a honey-comb, each of the
six lateral pannels of one cell forms also one of
the pannels of an adjoining cell ; and of the three
rhombs which form the pyramidal base of a cell,
each contributes one-third towards the formation
of the bases of three opposing cells, the bottom or
centre of every cell resting against the point of
union of three pannels that are at the back of it.

Secondly, CEconomy of room ; no interstices
being left between adjoining cells.

Thirdly, The greatest possible capacity or in-
ternal space, consistent with the two former de-
siderata.

Fourthly, CEconomy of materials and ceconomy
of room produce ceconomy of labour. And in ad-
dition to these advantages, the cells are constructed
in the strongest manner possible, considering the

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

quantity of materials employed. Both the sides
and bases are so exquisitely thin, that three or
four placed on each other are not thicker than a
leaf of common writing-paper ; each cell, sepa-
rately weak, is strengthened by its coincidence
with other cells, and the entrance is fortified with
an additional ledge or border of wax, to prevent
its bursting from the struggles of the bee-nymph,
or from the ingress and egress of the labourers.
This entrance border is at least three times as
thick as the sides of the cell9 and thicker at the
angles than elsewhere, which prevents the mouth
of the cell from being regularly hexagonal, though
the interior is perfectly so.

" On books deep poring, ye pale sons of toil,
Who waste in studious trance the midnight oil,
Say, can ye emulate with all your rules,
Drawn or from Grecian or from Gothic schools,
This artless frame ? Instinct her simple guide,
A heaven-taught Insect baffles all your pride.
Not all yon marshal'd orbs, that ride so high,
Proclaim more loud a present Deity,
Than the nice symmetry of these small cells,
Where on each angle genuine science dwells,
And joys to mark, through wide creation's reign,
How close the lessening links of her continued chain."

EVANS.

I have just adverted to the ingenuity of the
bees in thickening, and thereby strengthening the
mouths of the cells. Additional strength is also

344 ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

derived from the bees covering the whole surface of
the combs, but more particularly the edges of the
cells, with a peculiar kind of varnish, which they
collect for the purpose. At first the combs are
delicately white, semitransparent, and exceedingly
fragile, smooth but unpolished : in a short time
their surfaces become stronger, and assume more
or less of a yellow tint. The deepening of the co-
lour of honey-combs has been supposed, by some,
to be the effect of age ; and in part it may be : but
it is principally owing to the coat of varnish with
which the bees cover them. This varnish strongly
resembles propolis, appearing to differ from it
only in containing the colouring material which
imparts to wax its yellow hue. The source of
this colouring matter has not been discovered : it
is insoluble in alcohol ; but the manufacture of
white wax shows that it is destructible by light.
— But to return to the construction of the cell-
work.

The pyramidal basis of a cell is formed by the
junction of three rhomboidal or lozenge- shaped
portions of max ; thus,

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 345

the apex of the pyramid being situated where the
three obtuse angles of the lozenges meet. To the
exterior edges and angles are attached the six
pannels or sides of each cell. The apex of each
pyramidal bottom, on one side of a comb, forms
the angles of the bases of three cells on the oppo-
site side, the three lozenges respectively concurring
in the formation of the bases of the same cells.
This will I hope explain what is meant by " each
cell separately weak, being strengthened by coin-
cidence with others." The bottom of each cell
rests upon three partitions of opposite cells, from
which it receives a great accession of strength.

As it is desirable that the reader should
thoroughly comprehend this subject, I will re-
state it in other words. — The partition which
separates the two opposing rows of cells, and
which occupies, of course, the middle distance
between their two surfaces, is not a plane but a
collection of rhombs, there being three at the
bottom of each cell : the three together form in
shape a flattened pyramid, the basis of which is
turned towards the mouth of the cell ; each cell
is in form therefore an hexagonal prism, termi-
nated by a flattened trihedral pyramid, the three
sides of which pyramid are rhombs, that meet at
the apex by their obtuse angles. The plates un-
derneath, represent the opposite surfaces of the
pyramidal bases of adjoining cells, and will, I
Q 5

346

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

trust, enable the reader to understand the fore-
going description.

The union of the lozenges in one point, in ad-
dition to the support which it is the means of
affording to the three partitions between opposing
cells, is also admirably adapted to receive the
little egg and to concentrate the heat necessary
for its incubation.

Each obtuse angle of the lozenges or rhombs
forms an angle of about 1 1 0°, and each acute one,
an angle of about 70°. M. MARALDI found by
mensuration that the angles of these rhombs
which compose the base of a cell, amounted to
109° 28' and 70° 32' ; and the famous mathe-
matician KOENIG, pupil of the celebrated Ber-
nouilli, having been employed for that purpose
by M. REAUMUR, has clearly shown, by the me-
thod of infinitesimals, that the quantity of these
angles, using the least possible wax, in a cell of
the same capacity, should contain 109° 26' and

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 347

70° 34f. This was confirmed by the celebrated
MR. MCLAURIN, who very justly observes, that
the bees do truly construct their cells of the best
figure, and with the utmost mathematical ex-
actness.

The construction of several combs is generally
going on at the same time. No sooner is the
foundation of one laid, with a few rows of cells
attached to it, than a second and a third are
founded on each side, parallel to the first, and so
on, (if the season give encouragement to the
operations of the bees,) till the hive is filled with
their works ; the first constructed comb or combs
being always in the most advanced state, and
therefore the first to be completed.

The design of every comb is sketched out, and
the first rudiments are laid, by one single bee.
This founder-bee forms a block, out of a rough
mass of wax, drawn partly from its own resources,
but principally from those of other bees, which
furnish materials, in quick succession, from the
receptacles under their bellies, taking out the
plates of wax with their hind feet, and carrying
them to their mouths with their fore feet, where
the wax is moistened and roasticated, till it be-
comes soft and ductile.

Thus, " filter' d through yon flutterer's folded mail,
Clings the cool'd wax, and hardens to a scale.
Swift, at the well-known call, the ready train
(For not a buz boon Nature breathes in vain,)

348 ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

Spring to each falling flake, and bear along
Their glossy burdens to the builder throng."

EVANS.

The architect-in-chief, who lays, as it were, the
first stone of this and each successive edifice,
determines the relative position of the combs, and
their distances from each other : these foundations
serve as guides for the ulterior labours of the
wax -working bees, and of those which sculpture
the cells, giving them the advantage of the mar-
gin and angles already formed.

The expedients resorted to by that ingenious
naturalist, HUBER, unfolded the whole process.
He saw each bee extract with its hind feet one
of the plates of wax from under the scales where
they were lodged, and carrying it to the mouth,
in a vertical position, turn it round ; so that every
part of its border was made to pass, in succession,
under the cutting edge of the jaws : it was thus
soon divided into very small fragments ; and a
frothy liquor was poured upon it from the tongue,
so as to form a perfectly plastic mass. This
liquor gave the wax a whiteness and opacity
which it did not possess originally, and at the
same time rendered it tenacious and ductile.
The issuing of this masticated mass from the
mouth was, no doubt, what misled Reaumur, and
caused him to regard wax as nothing more than
digested pollen.

The mass of wax, prepared by the assistants,

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 349

is applied by the architect-bee to the roof or
bottom of the hive, as the case may be ; and thus
a block is raised of a semi-lenticular shape, thick
at top and tapering towards the edges. When of
sufficient size, a cell is sculptured on one side of
it, by the wax-working bees, who relieve one
another in succession, sometimes to the number
of twenty, before the cell is completely fashioned.
At the back and on each side of this first cell,
two others are sketched out and excavated. By
this proceeding the foundations of two cells are
laid, the line betwixt them corresponding with
the centre of the opposite cell. As the comb
extends, the first excavations are rendered deeper
and broader ; and when a pyramidal base is finish-
ed, the bees build up walls from its edges, so as to
complete, what may be called, the prismatic par
of the cell. Every succeeding row of cells is
formed by precisely similar steps, until there is
sufficient scope for the simultaneous employment
of many workers.

" These, with sharp sickle, or with sharper tooth,
Pare each excrescence, and each angle smooth,
Till now, in finish'd pride, two radiant rows,
Of snow-white cells, one mutual base disclose.
Six shining pannels gird each polish'd round,
The door's fine rim, with waxen fillet bound,
While walls so thin, with sister walls combin'd,
Weak in themselves, a sure dependence find."

EVANS.
The pyramidal bases and lateral plates are

350 ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

successively formed, with surprising rapidity : the
latter are lengthened as the comb proceeds, for
the original semi-lenticular form is preserved till
towards the last, when if the hive or box be filled,
the sides of all the cells receive such additions as
give them equal depth.

The cells intended for the drones are considerably
larger, and more substantial, than those for the
working bees, and, being later formed, usually
appear near the bottom of the combs. Last of all
are built the royal cells, the cradles of the infant
queens : of these there are usually three or four,
and sometimes ten or twelve, in a hive, attached
commonly to the central part, but not unfrequently
to the edge or side of the comb. MR. HUNTER
says that he has seen as many as thirteen royal
cells in a hive, and that they have very little wax
in their composition, not one-third, the rest he
conceives to be farina. Such is the genuine loyalty
of bees, that the wax which they employ with so
much geometric ceconomy, in the construction of
hexagonal cells, is profusely expended on the
mansions of the royal bee-nymph, one of these
exceeding in weight a hundred of the former.
They are not interwoven with them, but sus-
pended perpendicularly, their sides being nearly
parallel to the mouths of the common cells,
several of which are sacrificed to support them.

" No more with wary thriftiness imprest,
They grace with lavish pomp their royal guest,

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES. 351

Nor heed the wasted wax, nor rifted cell,
To bid, with fretted round, th' imperial palace swell."

EVANS.

The form of these royal cells is an oblong
spheroid, tapering gradually downwards, and
having the exterior full of holes, somewhat re-
sembling the rustic work of stone buildings. The
mouth of the cell, which is always at its bottom,
remains open till the maggot is ready for trans-
formation, and is then closed as the others are.

Immediately on the emergence of a ripened
queen, the lodge which she inhabited is destroyed,
and its place is supplied by a range of common
cells. The site of this range may always be
traced, by that part of the comb being thicker
than the rest, and forming a kind of knot ; some-
times the upper portion of the cell itself remains,
like an inverted acorn-cup, suspended by its
short peduncle.

" Yet no fond dupes to slavish zeal resign'd,
They link with industry the loyal mind.
Flown is each vagrant chief? They raze the dome,
That bent oppressive o'er the fetter'd comb,
And on its knotted base fresh garners raise,
Where toil secure her well-earn'd treasure lays."

EVANS.

In this mutilated state only, and not in the
breeding season, could Mr. Hunter have seen this
cradle of royalty ; for he describes it as the half
of an oval, too wide and shallow to receive its

352 ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

supposed tenant. The following sketch affords
a representation of the hexagonal cells of a comb,
and also the attachment of the royal cradles.

I have spoken of the perfect regularity in the
cell-work of a honey-comb ; — particular circum-
stances, however, induce a departure from this
exactness : for instance, where bees have com-
menced a comb with small cell-work, and after-
wards wish to attach to it a set of large cells, as
in the case of drone- cells being required to be
appended to workers-cells. These deviations
from the usual regularity renew our admiration
of bee-ingenuity, though Reaumur and Bonnet
have regarded them as examples of imperfection.
They effect their object by interposing three or
four series of, what may be called, cells oftransi-

ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

353

tion, the bottoms or bases of which are composed
of two rhombs and two hexagons, instead of three
rhombs ; the rhombs and hexagons gradually
varying in form and relative proportion, till the
requisite size, namely that of the cells which they
are approaching, has been attained. The following
outlines will serve to convey to the reader the
regular steps in this progressive increase.

The same gradation is observed when returning
to smaller cells. Every apparent irregularity is
therefore determined by a sufficient motive, and
forms no impeachment of the sagacity of the
bee.

The common breeding-cells of drones or workers
are, occasionally, (after being cleaned,) made the
depositories of honey ; but the cells are never made
so clean, as to preserve the honey undeteriorated.

354- ARCHITECTURE OF BEES.

The finest honey is stored in new cells, constructed
for the purpose of receiving it, their configuration
resembling precisely the common breeding-cells :
these honey-cells vary in size, being made more
or less capacious, according to the productiveness
of the sources from which the bees are collecting,
and according to the season of the year : the cells
formed in July and August vary in their dimen-
sions from those that are formed earlier ; being
intended for honey only, they are larger and
deeper, the texture of their walls is thinner, and
they have more dip or inclination : this dip di-
minishes the risk of the honey's running out,
which from the heat of the weather, and the con-
sequent thinness of the honey, at this season of the
year, it might otherwise be liable to do. When
the cells, intended for holding the winter's pro-
vision, are filled, they are always closed with waxen
lids, and never re-opened till the wrhole of the
honey in the unfilled cells has been expended.
The waxen lids are thus formed ; — The bees first
construct a ring of wax within the verge of the
cell, to which other rings are successively added,
till the aperture of the cell is finally closed with
a lid composed of concentric circles.

The brood-cells, when their tenants have at-
tained a certain age, are also covered with waxen
lids, like the honey-cells ; the lids differ a little,
the latter being somewhat concave, the former

ARCHITECTURE OP BEES. 355

convex. The depth of the brood-cells of drones
and working bees is about half an inch ; their dia-
meter is more exact, that of the drone-cells being
3^- lines *, that of the workers 2f lines. These,
says Reaumur, are the invariable dimensions of
all the cells, that ever were, or ever will be
made.

From this uniform, unvarying diameter of the
brood-cells, when completed, their use has been
suggested, as an universal standard of measure,
which would be understood, in all countries, to
the end of time.

" While heav'n-born Instinct bounds their measured view,
From age to age, from Zembla to Peru,
Their snow-white cells, the order' d artists frame,
In size, in form, in symmetry the same." EVANS.

* A line is the twelfth part of an inch.

556 BEES-WAX.

CHAPTER XXXV.

AN INQUIRY INTO THE SOURCE AND
NATURE OF BEES-WAX.

IT has long been very generally and implicitly
believed, that the yellow matter (in other words,
the pollen or farina of flowers,) which bees visibly
collect upon their thighs, is the prime constituent
of wax, the material of the honey-comb. Even
BONNET and REAUMUR were of this opinion. BUT-
LER, PURCHAS, RUSDEN and THORLEY have argued
against its identity with wax ; and I trust that
the observations and experiments which I am
about to detail, will convince the dispassionate
inquirer of the fallacy of this old opinion.

In the first place, It is to be observed, that
where no more comb can be built, as in old hives,
the bees carry in the greatest quantity of this
yellow matter.

Secondly, That it differs materially from wax,
the latter when examined between the fingers
being adhesive, the former crumbly ; the latter
also liquefying on the application of heat, whilst
the former burns to ashes.

Thirdly, That the wax of new combs, from
whatever source collected, is uniformly white ;
whereas the farina, as gathered by the bees, is

BEES-WAX. 357

always black, yellow, or red, agreeing in colour
with the anther dust of the flowers in blossom at
the time of its collection. Moreover, the farina,
after it has been stored in the cells, retains its
original colour, whilst wax invariably changes,
first to a yellow, and lastly to a blackish tint.
Layers of different-coloured farina are generally
found in the cells, if slit down ; and every hive,
at the season of deprivation, possesses a store
of it.

Fourthly, That fresh colonies carry in very
little, if any, of this matter, for some days after
swarming, though combs are formed within that
period. I noticed this fact in my first colony:
the swarm issued from the parent hive on the
18th of May ; — five days of rainy weather suc-
ceeded : during this period the bees were pre-
vented from flying abroad ; I fed them nightly
with sugared ale, and before the return of fine
weather a considerable quantity of comb was
formed. Now excepting such materials as the
bees might have brought with them from the
parent hive, in this case, the sugared ale alone
must have been the source of the wax. HUISH
has remarked that unless bees have access to
water, and also to sugar or honey, no comb can
be formed. Again, it may be observed, that upon
the storifying plan, when fresh works are com-
menced in the duplets or triplets, if the farina

358 BEES-WAX.

were the basis of the combs, an increased quan-
tity should be carried in. On the contrary, though
I have watched the bees very minutely on these
occasions, I scarcely ever witnessed the introduc-
tion of farina ; and in such rare instances as I did
observe it, it might fairly be regarded as food for
the young larvae of the bees contained in the full
box or boxes.

" No pearly loads they bear ; but o'er the field
Round flower and fruit the lithe proboscis wield,
From meal-tipp'd anthers steal the lacquer* d crown,
And brush from rind or leaf the silvery down.
Nay oft, when threaten'd storms or drizzling rain,
Close in their walls, th' impatient hosts detain,
E'en from the yellow hoard's nectareous rill,
Their tubes secerning can a stream distil,
Clear and untinctur'd as the fountain wave,
That glides, slow trickling, thro' the crevic'd cave.
But, as that welling wave, around the stone,
In rings concentric, wreathes its sparry zone,
So filter'd thro' yon flutterer's folded mail,
Clings the cool'd WAX, and hardens to a scale."

EVANS.

The observations of MR. JOHN HUNTER tended
to confirm this view of the matter ; still more so,
those of M. HUBER and SON. In order to de-
termine the point with greater precision, Huber
instituted many experiments. He lodged a recent
swarm in a straw hive, leaving at its disposal only
a sufficiency of honey and water for its consump-
tion, and preventing it from going beyond the

BEES-WAX. 359

precincts of a room, so closed as to admit only a
renewal of the air. At the end of five days as
many cakes of beautifully white, though very
fragile wax, were suspended from the roof; the
honey had totally disappeared. Still however, as
there was a possibility that the thighs and sto-
machs of the bees might have conveyed pollen
from the parent hive, he withdrew these five
combs, and replaced the bees in the hive with a
fresh supply of honey and water ; they renewed
their toil with unabated industry, and soon fabri-
cated new combs : these last were taken from them ;
when the patient and indefatigable insects com-
menced a third structure of comb. Five times
in succession were their works thus completed
and removed, although during the whole of this
period they were fed merely with honey and
water, and could not possibly have had access to
farina.

These experiments, so uniform in their results,
give indubitable validity to the fact, — that honey,
through the organic intervention of bees, may be
converted into wax. A contrary experiment was
made, by abundantly supplying a hive with fruit
and pollen only : but during eight days confine-
ment the bees produced no wax whatever, nor
exhibited any plates under their abdominal rings ;
no combs were formed, nor was an atom of farina
touched, — a clear proof that farina supplies neither

360 BEES-WAX*

wax nor sustenance to adult bees. The impro-
bability of this indeed is evinced by its abundance
in hives whose tenants have died of famine. And
as to its being the constituent of wax, REAU-
MUR calculated that a well stocked hive might
collect at least 100 pounds of pollen in a season,
whereas the weight of wax fabricated in the same
time would not exceed two pounds.

Experiments have proved the excellence of
sugar as a substitute for honey, and in some in-
stances its superiority for the formation of wax.
It might otherwise have been supposed that bees
might form comb from some particles of wax
accidentally present in the honey, and that these
afforded the pabulum for this secretion. To prove
therefore that the saccharine principle alone ena-
bled the bees to produce wax, being still confined,
they were supplied with a syrup made with Ca-
nary-sugar and water, and at the same time
comparative experiments were made in another
hive, where the bees were fed on honey and
water. The syrup-fed bees produced wax sooner
and more abundantly than the honey-fed bees.
Another fact was also incontrovertibly elicited ;
namely, that in the old hives the honey is ware-
housed, and that in the new ones it is consumed
and transmuted into wax.

The experiments of HUBER have been con-
firmed by those of M. BLONDELU, of Noyau,

BEES-WAX. 361

who addressed a memoir upon this subject to the
Society of Agriculture at Paris, in May 1812.
HUISH has critically examined these experiments
of Huber, but without being convinced by them :
for having observed pollen on the thighs of bees
when swarming, and upon dissection, in their
stomachs also, he considers that pollen, elabo-
rated in the second stomach of the bee, " contains
in itself the principle of wax." Were this the
case, what a store of pollen must the bees have
reserved, in Huber's experiments, wherein they
formed five successive sets of comb, without access
to fresh pollen ! The pollen or bee-bread, which
Huish discovered on the thighs and in the sto-
machs of some of his bees, was most likely in-
tended for larva-food ; they were probably bees
that had been abroad, and joined the swarm on
their passage home, before they had deposited
their freight in the parent hive. With this pollen
(or ambrosia, as it has been called), after conversion
into a sort of whitish jelly by the action of the
bee's stomach, where it is probably mixed with
honey, and then regurgitated, the young brood,
immediately upon their exclusion and until their
change into nymphs, are fed by the nursing-
bees several times a day. The opinion that
pollen is the prime constituent of wax was held
by BUFFON, and remains uncontradicted in an
edition of his Works so late as 1821. ARTHUR

362 BEES-WAX.

DOBBS, Esq., in the Philosophical Transactions
for 1752, instead of considering wax as digested
pollen discharged from the stomach of the bee,
regards it as being emitted per anum ; and as he
speaks of its discharge in husks or shells, doubt-
less he saw it in that form, which it is now
known to assume when moulded upon the body
of the bee. Indeed he says that he has had swarm-
ing bees alight upon his hand, and drop warm
wax upon it. Its being secreted only by the under
side of the belly might easily deceive, and lead
him to regard it as alvine excrement.

I will here subjoin some more proofs of the
non-identity of wax and pollen. So long ago as
1768, the LUSATIAN SOCIETY (called Societe des
Abeilles, founded at little Bautzen, a village in
Upper Lusatia, under the auspices of the Elector
of Saxony,) knew that wax was not discharged
from the mouths of bees, but was secreted in thin
scales among their abdominal rings or segments.
About 1774, MR. THORLEY caught a bee just
entering its hive, and found, among the plaits of
its belly, no less than six pieces or scales of solid
wax, perfectly white and transparent, and he
oftentimes saw wax in the same situation. M.
DUCHET, in his Culture des Abeilles, quoted by
WILDMAN in 1778, declares that wax is formed
of honey ; and relates in proof of it, that he has
seen a broken comb of an overset hive, which

BEES-WAX. 363

was repaired during bad weather, when the bees
could not acquire any other material. This state-
ment of Duchet corresponds with my own obser-
vation, as stated in page 357, but is not so con-
clusive. In Duchet's instance there might have
been other materials in the hive besides honey ;
whereas in my case the bees had access to no ma-
terials whatever, excepting the sugared ale and the
honey which they had conveyed from the parent
hive, the swarm having been just hived. WILD-
MAN, in his Treatise on the Management of Bees,
states his having seen pieces of wax, like fish
scales, on the hive floor of a fresh swarmed
colony, part of which he thinks must at least
have been formed upon the body of the bee ; some
flakes might have fallen from the combs then
constructing, but there were many pieces among
them which were concave on one side and con-
vex on the other, as if moulded on the insect's
belly. Flakes were likewise seen, hanging loose,
between the abdominal scales of the bees. In
1792, MR. JOHN HUNTER, apparently unacquaint-
ed with antecedent conjectures, detected the ge-
nuine reservoir of wax under the bee's belly.
He considered wax as an external secretion of
oil, formed and moulded between the abdominal
scales of the insect. DR. EVANS confirms the
testimony of Wildman and Hunter, having been
an eye-witness to the formation of wax into
R 2

364 BEES-WAX.

flakes. " One or more bees," he remarks, " may
be often seen before the door of the hive, sup-
porting themselves by their two fore feet, flutter-
ing their wings, and agitating the hind parts of
their bodies. They are then evidently moulding
the wax between their abdominal scales, the motion
of the wings serving to preserve their balance, and
as a signal for their companions within to come
and carry off the falling flakes." In the Philo-
sophical Transactions for 1807, MR. KNIGHT states
that there is no such secretory process ; that the
wax is laid on the scales of the abdomen for the
convenience of carriage, and to receive warmth
preparatory to cell-building.

To complete the evidence however, to me so
irresistible, in favour of the wax-secreting faculty
of the bee's body, I observe finally, that in 1793,
M. Huber's observations led him to the same
conclusion as Mr. Hunter's, relative to the nature
of the laminae under the abdominal scales : but
Huber slumbered not there, he prosecuted the
inquiry more successfully than any preceding na-
turalist, and at length demonstrated the secreting
organs which had eluded the scrutiny of Swam-
merdam, Hunter, and other acute anatomists.
He found that these laminae were contained
in distinct receptacles, on each side of the
middle process of the scales ; he examined with
great care the form and structure of these se-

BEES-WAX. 365

creting cavities, which are peculiar to working
bees. Each working bee has eight of these or-
gans, sacklets or small compartments. Their
general shape is an irregular pentagon, and the
plates of wax, being moulded in them, exhibit
accordingly the same form. A perforation of
their lining membrane on the side next to the
abdomen, started a jet of transparent fluid, which
congealed on cooling ; in this state it resembled
wax, and became again fluid on the application
of heat. Comparative experiments were made
with the substance contained in the pouches and
with the wax of fresh combs : a great similarity
between these two substances was discerned ;
the latter appeared somewhat more compound,
having probably received some additional in-
gredient, while employed as the material for
building. The secreting function of the mem-
brane on the inner surface of these cavities, was
further evinced, by a more minute examination
of its structure, which exhibited a number of
folds, forming an hexagonal net-work, analogous
to the inner coat of the second stomach of ru-
minating quadrupeds. Huber does not appear
to have known the observations either of Duchet
or of Wildman on this subject, although they
were made long prior to Mr. Hunter's ; for he
quotes only from the latter.

When combs are wanted, bees fill their crops

366 BEES-WAX.

with honey, and retaining it in them, hang together
in a cluster from the top of the" hive, and remain
inactive about twenty-four hours. During this
time the wax is secreted, and may be seen in
laminae, under the abdominal scales, whence it is
removed by the hind legs of the bee, and trans-
ferred to the fore legs ; from them it is taken by
the jaws, and after being masticated as described
in Chap, xxxiv, page 347, the fabrication of comb
commences.

" To see the wax-pockets in the hive-bee, you
must press the abdomen, so as to cause its dis-
tention ; you will then find, on each of the four
intermediate ventral segments, separated by the
carina or elevated central part, two trapeziform
whitish pockets, of a soft membranaceous texture :
on these the laminae of wax are formed, in differ-
ent states, more or less perceptible*."

MESSRS. HUBER and SON ascertained that the
office of collecting honey, for the elaboration of
wax, is filled by a particular description of bees
or labourers, to which they have given the name
of wax-workers. These bees are susceptible of an
increase in size, as is evident from the state of
their stomachs, when quite full of honey. Dis-
section has shown that their stomachs are more
capacious than those of the bees that are differ-

* Kirby and Spence.

BEES-WAX. 367

ently occupied. Bees not possessed of this ex-
panding stomach, gather no more honey than is
necessary to supply the immediate wants of them-
selves and their companions, with whom they
readily share it : these are called nursing-bees,
their principal duty being to attend the eggs and
larvae. The task of storing the hive with pro-
visions devolves upon the wax-workers, who,
when not occupied in the construction of comb,
disgorge their honey into those cells which are
intended for its reception. By marking the
bees, it was found that they never encroached
upon each other's employment : this strict adjust-
ment of duty is the more remarkable, since the
power of producing wax is common both to the
nursing- and wax-working bees, a small quantity
of wax being really found in the receptacles of
the nursing-bees.

In the foregoing experiments for ascertaining
the sources of wax, the bees had borne their con-
finement without evincing the least impatience ;
but on another occasion, when shut up with a
brood of eggs and larvae, and without pollen,
though honey was copiously supplied, they mani-
fested uneasiness and rage at their imprisonment.
Fearing the consequence of this state of tumult
being prolonged,, Huber allowed them to escape
in the evening, when too late to collect provisions ;

368 BEES-WAX.

the bees soon returned home. At the end of five
days, during which this experiment was tried,
the hive was examined : — the larvae had perished,
and the jelly that surrounded them on their in-
troduction into the hive had disappeared. The
same bees were then supplied with a fresh brood,
together with some comb containing pollen : very
different indeed was their behaviour with this
outfit ; they eagerly seized the pollen and con-
veyed it to the young ; order and prosperity were
re-established in the colony ; the larvae underwent
the usual transformations ; royal cells were com-
pleted and closed with wax, and the bees showed
no desire to quit their habitation. These expe-
riments afford indisputable evidence of the origin
of wax and the destination of pollen.

Though the wax of honey and brood-comb
be an original secretion from the body of the bee,
wax is also considered by some as a vegetable
substance existing abundantly in nature. Ac-
cording to PROUST, it forms the silvery down on
the leaves, flowers and fruit of many plants, and
resides likewise in the feculae of others. DR.
DARWIN, in his Phytologia, supposes that wax is
secreted to glaze over the fecundating dust of the
anthers, and prevent its premature explosion
from excessive moisture : to an unseasonable
dispersion of anther-dust he ascribes the failure

BEES-WAX. 369

of orchard and corn crops in summers of extreme
humidity. The wax-tree of Louisiana* (Myrica
cerifera) contains immense quantities of wax. In
this respect there appears an identity betwixt
animal and vegetable secretion, which may be
viewed as indicative of simplicity in the structure
of the bee : a still simpler organization exists in
the aphis, which extracts the saccharine juices
from the leaves and bark of trees, and expels
them again nearly unchanged f.

* ride Part I. Chap. 28. f We Part I. Chap. 5

R 5

370 POLLEN.

CHAPTER XXXVI.
POLLEN.

POLLEN and Farina, in the language of Botanists,
are terms applied to the powdery particles dis-
charged by the anthers of flowers in warm dry
weather, and which hang about the stamina. The
colour, as well as the structure of pollen, varies
in different plants. Its use, in fecundating the
germens of flowers, is well known : the services
of bees, towards that end, will be noticed in a
separate chapter. The sixth volume of the Lin-
nean Transactions contains an interesting paper
upon this substance, from the pen of MR. LUKE
HOWARD.

Pollen has a capsular structure, varying its
shape in different flowers, insomuch as to be a
popular object for the microscope. Each grain
consists commonly of a membranous bag, which,
when it has come to maturity, bursts on the ap-
plication of moisture : this bursting is naturally
effected by the honey-like exudation of the stigma ;
but if extraneous moisture accomplish it prema-
turely, the pollen is rendered useless for the pur-
pose of fructification. Whenever moistened, the
bag explodes with great force, and discharges a
subtile vapour or essence, which, when released

POLLEN. 371

by the peculiar moisture of the stigma, performs
effectually its final purpose.

This substance was once erroneously supposed
to be the prime constituent of wax ; but the ex-
periments of HUNTER and HUBER have proved
that wax is a secretion from the bodies of wax-
working bees*, and that the principal purpose of
pollen is to nourish the embryo-bees ; (it has
been called the ambrosia of the hive). Huber
was the first who suggested this idea, and it well
accords with what we observe among other parts
of the animal kingdom ; — birds, for instance, feed
their young with different food from what they
take themselves. Mr. Hunter examined the sto-
machs of the maggot-bees, and found farina in
all, but not a particle of honey in any of them.
Huber considers the pollen as undergoing a pe-
culiar elaboration in the stomachs of the nursing-
bees, to be fitted for the nutriment of the larvae.

" In spring," says DR. EVANS, " which may be
called the bee's first carrying season, scarcely one
of the labourers is seen returning to the hive,
without a little ball or pellet of farina, on each of
its hinder legs. These balls are invariably of the
same colour as the anther-dust of the flowers then
in bloom, the different tints of yellow, as pale,
greenish or deep orange, being most prevalent.'5

* Vide Chap. XXXV.

372 POLLEN.

The bees may frequently be observed to roll their
bodies on the flower, and then, brushing off the
pollen which adheres to them, with their feet,
form it into two masses, which they dispose of in
the usual way. In very dry weather, when pro-
bably the particles of pollen cannot be made to
cohere, I have often seen them return home so
completely enveloped by it, as to give them the
appearance of a different species of bee. The
anther-dust, thus collected, is conveyed to the in-
terior of the hive, and there brushed off by the
collector or her companions. REAUMUR and others
have observed, that bees prefer the morning for
collecting this substance, most probably that the
dew may assist them in the moulding of their little
balls. " I have seen them abroad," says Reau-
mur, " gathering farina before it was light ;" they
continue thus occupied till about ten o'clock.

" Brush'd from each anther's crown, the mealy gold,
With morning dew, the light fang'd artists mould,
Fill with the foodful load their hollow' d thigh,
And to their nurslings bear the rich supply." EVANS.

This is their practice during the warmer months ;
but in April and May, and at the settlement of
a recent swarm, they carry pollen throughout the
day ; but even in these instances, the collection is
made in places most likely to furnish the requisite
moisture for moulding the pellets, namely, in shady
and sometimes in very distant places.

POLLEN. 373

When a bee has completed her loading, she re-
turns to the hive, part of her cargo is instantly
devoured by the nursing-bees, to be regurgitated
for the use of the larvae, and another part is stored
in cells for future exigencies, in the following
manner. The bee, while seeking a fit cell for her
freight, makes a noise with her wings, as if to
summon her fellow-citizens round her ; she then
fixes her two middle and her two hind legs upon
the edge of the cell which she has selected, and
curving her body, seizes the farina with her fore
legs, and makes it drop into the cell : thus freed
from her burthen, she hurries off to collect again.
Another bee immediately packs the pollen, and
kneads and works it down into the bottom of the
cell, probably mixing a little honey with it, judg-
ing from the moist state in which she leaves it ;
an air-tight coating of varnish finishes this storing
of pollen.

From the uniform colour of each collection, it
is reasonable to suppose that the bee never visits
more than one species of flower on the same jour-
ney ; this was the opinion of ARISTOTLE, and the
generality of modern observers have confirmed it.
REAUMUR, however, supposed that the bee ranged
from flowers of one species to those of another
indiscriminately. MR. ARTHUR DOBBS, in the
Philosophical Transactions for 1752, states that
he has repeatedly followed bees when collecting

374 POLLEN.

pollen ; and that whatever flowers they first alighted
upon decided their choice for that excursion, all
other species being passed over unregarded :
BUTLER had previously asserted the same thing.
Here we see the operation of a discriminating in-
stinct, which in the first place leads the insect to
make an aggregation of homogeneous particles,
which of course form the closest cohesion ; and in
the next place prevents the multiplication of
hybrid plants. This remark was made by SPREN-
GEL, who has confirmed the observations of Dobbs,
Butler, and others. The bees, which Reaumur
observed to visit flowers of different species,
might have been in quest of honey as well as of
pollen.

PROPOLIS. 375

CHAPTER XXXVII.
PROPOLIS.

BESIDES the honey and pollen which are ga-
thered by bees, they collect a resinous substance,
that is very tenacious, semitransparent, and which
gives out a balsamic odour, somewhat resem-
bling that of storax. In the mass, it is of a red-
dish brown colour; when broken, its colour ap-
proaches that of wax. Dissolved in spirit of
wine or oil of turpentine, it imparts, as varnish,
a golden colour to silver, tin, and other white
polished metals. Being supposed to possess
medicinal virtue, it was formerly kept in the
shop of the apothecary. According to Vauquelin,
propolis consists of one part of wax and four of
pure resin; in which respect, and in its yield-
ing the same acid, (the benzole,) it resembles bal-
sam Peru. It also contains some aromatic prin-
ciples.

With propolis, bees attach the combs to the roof
and sides of their dwelling, stop crevices, fasten
the hives or boxes to the floors and roofs, strength-
en the weak places of their domicile, and varnish
the cell-work of their combs. The chapter on
Instincts details the modes in which bees employ
it for their protection against intruders into their

376 PROPOLIS.

hives. From its being used for the firm attach-
ment of combs to the roofs of hives, it must be
the first matter collected by a recent swarm. The
term Propolis is derived from the Greek, and
signifies ' before the city,' bees having been ob-
served to make use of it, in strengthening the
outworks of their city.

Reaumur was unable to discover its vegetable
source. It is generally supposed to be gathered
from the resinous exudations of the poplar, alder,
birch, and willow ; according to Riem, from pines
and other trees of the fir tribe ; though some au-
thors have alleged that bees can produce it where
no such trees are near them, and that turpentine
and other resins have been disregarded when
laid before them. A recent experiment of Huber
has solved this question : he planted in spring
some branches of the wild poplar, before the
leaves were developed, and placed them in pots
near his apiary : the bees alighting on them sepa-
rated the folds of the largest buds with their for-
ceps, extracted the varnish in threads, and loaded
with it, first one thigh and then the other ; for
they convey it like pollen, transferring it by the
first pair of legs to the second, by which it is lodged
in the hollow of the third. Huber examined the
chemical properties of this varnish, and identified
it with the propolis which fastens the combs to
the hives.

PROPOLIS. 877

With respect to the absence of fir-trees, &c. in
the neighbourhood of the hives, it is to be recol-
lected, in the first place, that bees will fly about
three miles (some say five,) for what they may
want : HUBER thinks that the radius of the circle
they traverse does not exceed half a league, yet
says that the question is undecided. In the second
place, that a balsamic and tenacious secretion is
found upon the buds of several plants and trees,
which are often crowded with these insects ; such
for instance as the tacamahac, horse-chesnut, and
hollyhock. Dr. Evans says that he has been an
eye-witness of their collecting the balsamic varnish
which coats the young blossom buds of the holly-
hock, and has seen them rest at least ten minutes
on the same bud, moulding the balsam with their
fore feet and transferring it to the hinder legs, as
above stated. When finally moulded, the pellets
of propolis are of a lenticular form.

" With merry hum the Willow's copse they scale,
The fir's dark pyramid, or Poplar pale,
Scoop from the Alder's leaf its oozy flood,
Or strip the Chesnut's resin-coated bud,
Skim the light tear that tips Narcissus' ray,
Or round the Hollyhock's hoar fragrance play.
Soon temper'd to their will through eve's low beam,
And link'd in airy bands the viscous stream,
They waft their nut-brown loads exulting home,
That form a fret-work for the future comb,
Caulk every chink where rushing winds may roar,
And seal their circling ramparts to the floor." EVANS.

378 PROPOLIS.

As to the bees refusing resinous substances,
when presented to them, as substitutes for pro-
polis, MR. KNIGHT has assured us, in the Philo-
sophical Transactions, that this is not the fact ; as
he had seen them carry off a composition of wax
and turpentine, which had been laid over the de-
corticated parts of his trees.

The bees blend this substance with wax in
different proportions, as occasion may require.
Among the ancients, it bore different names, ac-
cording to the quantity of wax it contained. Vir-
gil made this distinction, though MR. MARTIN con-
ceives that his narcissi lachrymce, cera [cum qua]
— " spiramenta tenuia linunt," — and gluten, all
mean the same thing : this is probably a mistake.
It seems much more likely that VIRGIL should mean
metys, pissoceron and propolis, the three names
by which PLINY says that the varieties of pro-
polis were distinguished in his time.

I have before alluded to the fortification of the
weak places of hives with propolis. M. Reaumur,
whose hives consisted of wooden frames and panes
of glass, wishing to put this talent of the bees to
the test, carelessly fastened the glass of a hive
with paper and paste, before putting in a swarm ;
the bees soon discovered the weakness of his
paste-work, and indignantly gnawing to pieces
this feeble fence, secured the glass with their own
cement.

PROPOLIS. 379

I have already observed, that the sage bee
chooses the morning for collecting pollen, on
account of the dew's enabling her to compress it
better ; but, as moisture would render propolis less
coherent, she gathers this substance when the day
is somewhat advanced, and when the warmth of the
sun has imparted to it softness and pliancy. These
qualities are however soon lost, after it has been
detached from the secreting surfaces, and exposed
to the oxygenizing power of the air. So rapid is
this hardening process, that the bees which store
it, oftentimes find some' difficulty in tearing it
with their jaws from the thighs of its collectors.

380 FRUCTIFICATION OF FLOWERS.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

IMPORTANCE OF BEES TO THE FRUCTI-
FICATION OF FLOWERS.

HONEY is regarded by modern naturalists as of
no other use to plants but to allure insects, which,
by visiting the nectaries of their flowers to pro-
cure it, become instrumental to their fertilization,
either by scattering the dust of the stamens upon
the stigmata of the same flower, or by carrying it
from those which produce only male blossoms to
those that bear female ones, and thereby rendering
the latter fertile.

No class of insects renders so much service in
this way as bees ; they have however been accused
of injuring vegetables, in three ways : 1st, by pur-
loining for their combs the wax which defends
the prolific dust of the anthers from rain ; 2ndly,
by carrying off the dust itself, as food for their
young larvae ; and 3dly, by devouring the honey
of the nectaries, intended to nourish the vegetable
organs of fructification*.

In defence of his insect protegees, DR. EVANS
has observed :

" First, That the proportion of wax collected

* Darwin's Phytologia.

FRUCTIFICATION OF FLOWERS. 381

from the anthers is probably very trifling, it being
so readily and abundantly obtainable from honey.
" Secondly, That for any depredations committed
on the farina, they amply compensate, by their
inadvertent yet providential conveyance of it, on
their limbs and corslets, to the female organs of
monoecious or dioecious plants ; whose impregna-
tion must otherwise have depended on the un-
certain winds. This is exemplified in the prac-
tice of our gardeners, who in early spring, before
they dare expose their hotbeds to the open air,
and consequently to the access of insects, insure
the fertility of the cucumbers and melons, by
shaking a male blossom over each female flower.
For the same purpose, and with the same success,
a gentleman in Shropshire substitutes a male
blossom, in place of the female one, at the top of
his embryo cucumber, which instantly adheres,
and falls off in due time. To the same kind in-
trusion of insects we owe the numberless new
sorts of esculents and endless varieties of flowers
in the parterre :

' Where Beauty plays
Her idle freaks ; from family diffus'd
To family, as flies the father dust
The varied colours run.' THOMSON.

" Thirdly, That in a great many instances, the
honey-cups are completely beyond the reach of
the fructifying organs, and cannot possibly be

382 FRUCTIFICATION OF FLOWERS.

subservient to their use. Hence SIR J. E. SMITH
believes the honey to be intended, by its scent, to allure
these venial panders to the flowers, and thereby
shows how highly he estimates their value to ve-
getation. See his Introduction to Botany. In
the same work, the author observes that SPRENGEL
has ingeniously demonstrated, in some hundreds
of instances, how the corolla serves as an attrac-
tion to insects, indicating by various marks, some-
times perhaps by its scent, where they may find
honey, and accommodating them with a conve-
nient resting-place or shelter while they extract
it. This elegant and ingenious theory receives
confirmation from almost every flower we ex-
amine. Proud man is disposed to think that

' Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,'

because he has not deigned to explore it ; but we
find that even the beauties of the most sequestered
wilderness are not made in vain. They have
myriads of admirers, attracted by their charms,
and rewarded by their treasures, which would be
as useless as the gold of a miser, to the plant
itself, were they not the means of bringing insects
about it."

Thus the bee, by settling upon and collecting
honey from a thousand different flowers, is
thereby assisting the great purpose of vegetable
reproduction, at the same time that the loads she

FRUCTIFICATION OF FLOWERS. 383

carries home enable her to construct receptacles
for the reproduction of her own race.

" For the due fertilization of the common Bar-
berry, it is necessary that its irritable stamens
should be brought into contact with the pistil, by
the application of some stimulus to the base of
the filament; but this would never take place
were not insects attracted, by the melliferous
glands of the flower, to insinuate themselves
amongst the filaments, and thus, while seeking
their own food, unknowingly to fulfil the intentions
of Nature in another department." In some cases
the agency of the hive-bee is inadequate to produce
the required end; in these the humble-bee is the
operator : these alone, as Sprengel has observed,
are strong enough for instance, to force their way
beneath the style-flag of the Iris Xiphium, which
in consequence is often barren. Other insects
besides bees are instrumental in producing the same
ends ; indeed they are necessary instruments : and
hence according to the same naturalist, in some
places, where the particular insect required is not
to be met with, no fruit is formed upon the plant
which is usually visited by it, where, it is indige-
nous ; for he supposes that some plants have par-
ticular insects appropriated to them. The American
Aristolochia Sipho, though it flowers plentifully,
never forms fruit in our gardens, probably for the
reason just assigned. The Date Palm affords a

884 FRUCTIFICATION OF FLOWERS.

striking instance of the necessity of extraneous
intervention to perfect fructification ; male and
female flowers are borne on separate trees, and
unless the two sorts be in the neighbourhood of
each other, the fruit has no kernel and is not
proper for food. There was a tree of this kind,
bearing female flowers, at Berlin, for the fructifi-
cation of which, a branch, with male flowers upon
it, was once sent by post from Leipsic, (20 German
miles,) and being suspended over some of the
pistils, the tree afterwards yielded fruit and seed
in abundance. PROFESSOR WILLDENOW has stated
a very curious circumstance, concerning the Ari-
stolochia Clematitis. He observes that the stamens
and pistils of the flower are inclosed in its globular
base, the anthers being under the stigma, which
thereby requires the intervention of an insect, to
convey the pollen to it. The Tipula penni-
cornis accomplishes this object; it enters the
flower by its tubular part, which is thickly lined
with inflected hairs, so as readily to admit the
fly, but totally to prevent its release, till by the
fading of the corolla the hairs have fallen flat
against its sides. Hence the insect in struggling
to effect its escape, brushes off the pollen and ap-
plies it to the stigma, thereby accomplishing the
fertilization of the flower.

INDEX.

Page.

Anatomy of the bee 249

The head 251

The proboscis ib»

lips 253

tongue ib.

pharynx 254

oesophagus or gullet .... ib.

mandibles . , 255

maxillae ........ ib.

antennae 255, 292, S07

palpi 256, 308

eyes 256

The trunk 250, 256

The wings 256

legs 257

The abdomen 251, 258

The honey-bag 258

venom-bag ib.

anus . . • ib.

ovipositor ib.

sting ib.

organs of reproduction .... ib.

Anger of bees 288

not apt to be excited at a distance from home . 290
fatal consequences of ........ 288

s

386 INDEX.

Page.

Animation of bees suspended 202

Antenna 255, 292, 307

effects of their excision 309

organs for communicating information . . 292

for receiving meteorological intelligence ib.

Antipathies of bees • 303

Ants, anecdotes respecting 183, 205

(Amazon) anecdote of 323

enslaved . 324

their milch cattle 74

white, wonderful fertility of 40

Aphides 72

principal source of honey-dew ib.

their willing subserviency to bees and ants . 75

wonderful fertility of 32

Apiary 48

best aspect for ib.

Bonner's 51

circumstances to be avoided in 48

to be desired in ib.

Apparatus for deprivation 107

Architecture of bees 339

commencement and progress of a comb first

observed by Huber 340

construction of a cell 34O

of cells of transition .... 353

of drone-cells ; 35O

of royal-cells 351

geometrical accuracy of cell-work .... 342
demonstrated by Maraldi, Kcenig,

and McLaurin 346

honey-comb, description of 352

varnish for strengthening cell-work . . . 344

Armour of defence against bees, &c 175

Aurelia. Vide Pupa.

INDEX. 387

Page.

Bee, honey, comprises three descriptions of individuals 1
Bee, anatomy of. Vide Anatomy.

Bee-boxes * < • •« « 83

compared with hives 100

dimensions of 83

Dunbar's 102

observations therein 103

history of 109

Huber's 102

Hunter*s tfc.

materials for, best 83

Gedde's .... * Ill

Hartlib's . VV^ir*.'^.. '*. 110

Mew's 1 •»'£"• . . . . . ib.

Reaumur's .;• %j : •;" . . . 102

Thorley's Ill

Warder's . . ..-• *xk,9-i., #•

White's ib.

centre-boards 88

floor-boards 87

reference to venders of 89

Bee bread. . . «.>,.. ....... 9,371

dress . . . o 175

eater of Selborne . .1 ..*.',.;: 337

0 flowers. Vide Pasturage.

house 52

shed 99

Bees, adherence of to life . 202

anger of 288

protection against 177

animation of, suspended 201

antipathies of 303

attachment to queen 140

ballasting themselves (erroneous) .... 48

black 7

s2

388 INDEX.

Page.

Bees, brooding (erroneous) 6

build combs sometimes under resting.boards . 125

their contests with each other 289

by single combat ib.

by general engagement ..... ib.

corsair 207

death, sudden, from effluvia of Rhus Vernix 1 97

diseases of. Vide Diseases of Bees.

drone. Vide Drones.

duration, extraordinary, of a colony . . . 298

education of 260

embryo 10

development of, affected by temperature 14
enemies of. Vide Enemies of Bees.

evolution of ab ovo 10

excursions of 377

exotic. Vide Exotic Bees.

excrement of 188,194

fructifiers of flowers. Vide Fructification of
Flowers.

generation, absurd theory of 35, 48

harvest season of . 119

impatient of cold 114

indisposition to ascend with their works . . 112
instincts of. Vide Instincts of Bees.

intellect of 319

intoxicated sometimes 60

language of. Vide Language of Bees.

longevity of » . . . . 296

mode of approaching 177

mortality of, extraordinary in 1762 . ... 186

numbers in a hive 3

number of stocks in some situations . . 234, 235

nymph . ]2

origin, ancient notion of . 48 ^

INDEX. 389

Bees, overstocking of 235

perspiration of 273

poison of 286

in the pupa state 12

purchase of 80

queen. Vide Queen.

regurgitating power of 229

removal from, hives to boxes 148

respiration of 266

scouts. Vide .Providers.

secretions of . . . . 273

senses of. Vide Senses.

sexes of . 20

sleep of «... 295

stinging of 284

stingless 210

stock, criterions of a good one ..... 81

suffocation of 174

sulphuring of ib.

swarming of. Vide Swarming of Bees.

swarming, not apt to sting 138

striking instance of it 139

of the contrary . . ib.
transportation of. Vide Transportation.

wax 220

average quantity in a hive 221

criterions of good 220

difference from myrtle- wax 224

annual consumption of 222

secretion of, promoted by electricity . 232

separation of from honey . . . . . 216
source and nature of. Vide Source and
Nature of Bees-wax,

white 221

Bees, working 3

390 INDEX.

Page.

Bees, working, collectors from birth . • • . « |5

compared with drones 5

destroy the drones 44

fertile sometimes '23

office of . , . . 3

sex of 3, 24

Cuvier's remarks on . . . • 24

Jurine's dissections of ib.

usual number in a hive ..... 3

Braggot, or common mead . . . • ....?. 245

Breeding, commencement of 37

signs of 118

early, to promote 119

Hubbard's opinion of 117

Cells, construction of. Vide Architecture.
Chrysalis. Vide Pupa.

Circulation 271

Clustering 123

Cocoons 11, 12

Cold, effect of on bees 117

in diminishing the consumption of honey . 185

Combs, construction of 34O

constructed sometimes under resting-boards . 125
Comparative advantages of storifying and single-
hiving 122

", of wooden boxes and straw-
hives 100

Deprivation 162

to be exercised cautiously 163

possible accident at the time of ... 165

modes of performing 167

Isaac's 170

INDEX. 391

Page.

Deprivation, modes of performing, Keys's . . . 170

Dovaston's . . 171

Evans's . . . 172

proper periods for 162

Diseases of bees 184

Dysentery 188

Vertigo 189

Tumefaction of Antennae . . . . 192

Pestilence or Faux couvam .... ib.

probable causes of ib.

remedies ib.

preventive 195

review of different theories of ... ib.

Dividers and other implements 107

their use in deprivation 167

Drones, their use ••.•••.•.-. 5, SO

evolution of ab ovo 14

massacre of 43

how effected 44

not found in all swarms 4

number usual in a hive 3

occasional preservation of 44

sitting upon the eggs . 6

opinion of Mr. Morris ib.

of Fabricius . ib.

of Kirby and Spence .... ib.

Dunbar's observations in his mirror-hive . . . . 8, 21

Eggs — drone, royal, worker ........ 8

first laying of . . • •. ' 37

great laying of 116

misplaced, devoured by workers .... 42
number of, laid in a given period ... 39, 4O

period at which each sort is laid .... 37

transportation, opinion of 42

392 INDEX.

Page.

Eggs, worker, may be rendered royal 19

Electricity, effect on secretion of wax and honey . . 232

Enemies of bees 199

protection against 203

Excrement of bees 188, 194

Exotic bees 210

their honey-cells ib.

of Guadaloupe ib.

Guiana 211

India ib.

South America ib.

Basil Hall's Account . . . ib.

Eye of the bee, peculiar construction of. Vide Senses. 312

Farina 370

collecting of 371

time of '. . . 372

confined to one species of flower on

each journey 373

Reaumur's opinion ib.

Dobbs, Butler and Sprengel's 373, 374

conveyance of 372

food of larvae, and not the constituent of wax 371

fructifying power of 370

preparation of for use 37]

source of 370

storing of 373

structure of 370

Feeding 179

importance of ] 93

syrup for . j6

modes of . ISO

times of 182

Fermentation, conduct of . 240

Fertility of insects 32, 40

INDEX. 393

Page.

Flies in Madeira wine 201

Fly, flesh, erroneous judgement respecting .... 306

Food of larvae 10

Fructification of flowers . . ... . . . . . 380

instrumentality of bees to that end • . ib.
bees attracted to flowers by their

nectar ib.

accused by Dr. Darwin of injuring

flowers ib.

defended by Dr. Evans . • . ib.

Opinion of Sir J. E. Smith . . 382

of Sprengel 383

not the only insects that

promote fructification . ib.
in the Barberry for instance^ the Iris
Xiphium, the Aristolochia Sipho of
America, the A. Clematitis, and the

Date Palm ib.

Hawk- moth, Death's Head 208

ravages committed by it in the apiary . ib.

resources of the bees ib.

Hearing, sense of. Vide Sensation, organs of; and Senses.

Hives 95

Chelmsford and Hertford 96

compared with boxes 100

construction of, best ... . . . . . 97

dimensions of 96

distances at which they should stand from each

other . . . . . -.«. •;,».- 49

Dunbar's 102

his observations therein .... 103

heat occasional in 39

usual in . . . ......... . . ib.

materials proper for 95

s5

394 INDEX.

Page.

Hives, leaf 102

Moreton 96

Huber's 91

Huish's 90

preparation of 137

Reaumur's .'..... 92

situation proper for 49

straw 96

Thorley's 92

Wildman's 93

with glasses • . . ib.

Hiving of swarms 136

Super- and Nadir- 124, 151

Honey 226

analysis of 233

animalization of 227

candying of 196

contrivances of bees to keep it in open cells . 228

Corsican, not mulcted by the Romans ... 63

criterions of good 232

deleterious 65, 190, 230

flavour affected by pasturage 65, 229

by season 232

by mode of separation . . . ib.

harvests of 165

preservation of 233

qualities of 231

quantity required for winter consumption . .162

average afforded by a colony .... 226

sometimes taken ib.

secretion of, promoted by electricity .... 232

separation of, from wax 216

taken by means of dividers ^ "167

Honeycomb 339

Honey-dew 71

INDEX. 395

Page.

Honey-dew, ancient opinions of 71

modern ditto 72

Gilbert White's 71

Dr. Evans's 72

Dr. Darwin's ib.

Mr. Curtis's ib.

Sir J. E. Smith's 73

Boissier de Sauvages's 79

trees addicted to it 77

yields a great harvest to the storifyer . 78

Humble-bees 207, 209, 319, 327

Humming, causes of 270

Idiot bee-eater 337

Jelly, royal 20

Imago 13

Implements, bee 107

Impregnation. Vide Queen.

Instinct 318

definition of 335

most remarkable in creatures that congregate . 318

of humble-bees ib.

all the phenomena of insect life not referable

to it 322

Darwin's opinion 323

Hunter's 330

Virey's 331

Des Cartes' ib.

Buffon's ib.

circumstance noticed by Dr. Evans .... 325

by Mr. Walond ... 236

Huber's humble-bees 327

Amazon ants 323

bee fortifications 328

anecdote of a beetle 330

396 INDEX.

Page.

Instinct may be directed by intellect 333

modified and counteracted by intellect ib.

instanced in birds' nests ib.

in Sir J. Banks's spider . . 332

in dogs 333

Maraldi's Slug 320

Reaumur's Snail 319

Reimar's opinion of memory 333

weakened by domestication ....*. 336

strengthened by concentration ib.

Intellect of bees 319

capable of modifying and counteracting instinct 333

capable of directing instinct ib.

J urine, Miss, dissections of 24

Knowledge distinguished from Wisdom .... 334

Language of bees 291

Mr. Knight's opinion ib.

M. Huber's ib.

his experiments . . . ib.

Larvae 10

food of ib.

progressive growth of 12

motions of - 15

voraciousness of 12

inclosure or sealing up of 11

commencement of spinning cocoon ... ib.

worker may become royal 19

Leaf-hives 102

Dunbar's 103

Huber's ' . . 105

Hunter's 102

. Reaumur's ib.

INDEX. 397

Page.

Leaven, artificial 242

natural 240, 242

Locusts, female, destroyed by males 46

Longevity of bees 296

extraordinary duration of a colony . . . 298

Mead, antiquity of « 236

Braggot, or common 245

directions for making ........ 244

esteemed by our ancestors 237

ideal nectar of the Scandinavians .... ib.

Memory of bees 260,314

Reimar's opinion 333

Metys ...•"* • ;••• 378

Mortality among bees and wasps 186

Moth-wax .... i- v 199

eggar, anecdote of 306

hawk. Vide Hawk-moth.

Motions of insects 274

instances of extraordinary power of . . 275

Nadir-hiving 124, 151

Nutrition . # . , 272

Nymph ...«.,.. 12

resemblance to a mummy 13

Palpi 256

Pasturage 55

effect on the flavour of honey . . .66, 230

ancient opinion of 65

Baithelemy's ib.

Duppa's 230

noxious 67, 230

Xenophon's opinion of .... 67
Tournefort's ib.

398 INDEX.

Page.

Pasturage, noxious, Darwin's opinion of .... 68

Barton's 68, 231

Pellets, moulding of J 372

Perspiration . 273

Pissoceros 378

Poison of Bees 286

its nature ib.

crystallizes in drying ib.

Pollen. Vide Farina,

Propolis 375

analysis of ib.

mode of conveying 376

source of ib.

Huber's experiments ib.

Evans's observations 377

. Knight's 378

form of its pellets 377

variously compounded with wax .... 378

time of gathering 379

uses of 375

substitutes sometimes used for .... 378

Reaumur's experiment ib,

Providers, or Scouts 131

Warder's opinion of 1 32

Butler's ib.

Knight's ib.

Evans's > ib.

Duchet's ib.

Reaumur's ib.

Buffon's ib.

Bonnet's ib.

Huber's ib.

Bonner's 135

Pupa 12

resemblance of to a mummy 13

INDEX. 399

Page.

Queen-bees, artificial .......... 20

discovery attributed to Schirach . . . ib.

said to have been long known ... 20

opinions of Vogel and Monticelli ... ibm

experiment of D unbar . .... 22

not mute as Huber supposed .... 23

attachment of workers to 141

enmity towards, and combats with each

other 281

evolution of ab ovo 14

homage paid to 144

impregnation of 25

opinions concerning . . ib.
Bonner's ... 28
Bonnet's ... 29
Butler's ... 36
Debraw's ... 27
Dobbs's ... 26
Fleming's . . 32
Hattorf's ... 28
Huber's . 27,etseq.
Huish's ... 27
Hunter's . . 30, 33
Linnaeus's . . 33
Lombard's . . 29
Maraldi's ... 26
Reaumur's . . 26
Schirach's . . 28
Swammerdam's . 25
Wildman's . . 36
objections to Hu-
ber's theory . ib.

impregnation retarded 37, 41

intercourse with drones .... 30, et seq.
probable duration of fertilizing

influence 31

400 INDEX.

Page.

Queen-bees, laying, commencement of 37

affected by temperature ... ib.

loss of, its consequences 144

mode of depositing eggs 8

mode of searching for when a stock has

been suffocated 174

mutilated, lose their instincts .... 309

prescience (supposed) of 118

prisoners when very young 17

reason of this ib*

virgin, when first seek the drones ... 34

voice of, authoritative 128

when imprisoned .... 19

Reason, human, definition of 335

insect, definition of ib.

presumptive evidence of 322

difference between human and insect . . . 335

observations of Reid ........ 336

of Evans . « ib.

Regurgitating power of bees 229

Reimar's opinion of memory ....;... 333

Reproduction, organs of 275

ovaries 276

oviducts ib.

ovipositor 277

sperm reservoir ib.

Respiration, organs of 266

evidences of their existence . . 267
stigmata, spiracles or breathing

pores 266

tracheae ib.

Riem's discovery 23

Salt, of use to bees 186

Schirach's discovery 20

INDEX. 401

Page.
Scouts. Vide Providers.

Secretions of bees 273

Sensation of bees 258

medium of its communication . . . . 259

its seat #•

bees have a common sensorium .... ib.

evidences of it ib.

protracted vitality ib.

memory • . • • 260

instances of ib.

Reimar's opinion of 333

susceptible of instruction 26 1

instances of ib.

organs of 258

antennae 262

opinions of their offices .... ib.

facts in support of them . . 263

palpi ib.

uses ascribed to ib.

Senses of bees 302

smell ib.

instances of its acuteness . » 303, et seq.

touch 307

analogy from ants 291

taste 309

hearing 310

evidences of ib.

sight . . . . Sll

not very perfect ib.

Dr. Virey's theory 316

Sensorium 259

Separation of wax and honey 216

Shed for bees 99

Sleep of bees . . 295

Source of bees-wax . , 356

402 INDEX.

Page.

Source and nature of bees-wax ; pollen formerly sup-
posed to be the prime constituent of it . . 356
striking difference between them . . ib.
wax proved to be a secretion from the body of

the bee 362

experiments and observations of Huber, Thor-
ley, Duchet, Wildman, Hunter and Evans

362, et seg.

regular division of labour 367

hence wax>working and nursing-bees . ib.
experiment to show the designation of pollen ib.

other sources of wax 368

Sphinx Atropos. Vide Hawk-moth.

Spider, anecdotes of 261

fertilization of 31

Sir Joseph Banks's 332

Stemmata 31.5

experiments of Swarnmerdam, Reaumur, &c. 315

Sting of working -bee 277

fatal consequences attending its use . . 278, 283
not apt to be used when the bee is distant from

home 289

of queen*bee 279

her cautious use of it .... 286
compared with sharp instruments .... ib.

Stinging, remedies for 284

precautions against, when attacked . . . 285

Storifying 109

will not always prevent swarming . . . 124

compared with single-hiving 122

Suffocating or sulphuring of bees 174

Sugar an excellent substitute for honey 360

Super-hiving 124, 151

Swarming 115

causes of ib.

INDEX. 403

Page.

Swarming, usual periods of 119

best periods of . ib.

instance of very early ib.

disadvantages of early and late .... 120

heat produced by 39, 273

bees not apt to sting at this time .... 138

striking instance of this .... 139

instance to the contrary .... ib.

importance of queen at the time .... 14O

experiments in proof of it . 141, et seq.

Swarms, number thrown off in a season 115

intervals betwixt successive 116

hiving of 136

union of 154

causes of 115

period usual of 118

best 119

early ib.

late ib.

led off by senior queen 31

symptoms preceding 127

Syrup for feeding bees 179

Temperature of a well-stocked hive of bees . . . 274

oecasional ditto ib.

Touch 307

Transportation of bees 159

Isaac's success from ib.

practised in Egypt, France, Italy and
Greece 159—161

Ventilation 268

how accomplished • ib.

Vitality protracted 259

404 INDEX.

Page.

Union of swarms or stocks 154

Mr. Walond's method of 157

methods practised by others ... 1 54

Wax. Vide Bees-wax.

myrtle 223

its difference from bees- wax .... 224

pockets 365

working-bees 366

Wasps, formidable enemies of bees 1 99

importance of destroying queens in spring . 45, 206

fact respecting them noticed by Mr. Knight . 290

extraordinary dearth of in 1806, 1815 and 1824 186

Wildman's feats 155

Wine-making, general principles of 240

elements necessary to its formation .... 240

sweet ib.

dry 241

fining . . . • • . . . . 246

stumming ib.

Wisdom as distinguished from Knowledge . . , 334

Working-bees. Vide Bees.

THE END.

Printed by Richard Taylor,
Shoe-Lane, London.

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