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HUMBLE CREATURES;
PART II.
THE HONEY-BEE.
This day is Published , Price 3s. 6 d.,
A SECOND EDITION OF
THE EARTHWORM
AND
THE COMMON HOUSEFLY.
Forming Part I. of
HUMBLE CREATURES.
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JRONTISPI.E
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C E.
THE HONEY-BEE;
ITS NATURAL HISTORY, HABITS, ANATOMY,
AND
MICROSCOPICAL BEAUTIES.
WlfH
TINTED ILLUSTRA T I O N S.
BY
JAMES SAMUELSON,
ASSISTED BY
J. BRAXTON HICKS, M.D., Lonil, F.L.S., &c.
ALSO
TWO CHAPTERS ON INSTINCT AND REASON;
BEING AN INTRODUCTION TO THE
STUDY OE COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY,
BY' THE SAME AUTHOR.
Past <Enid)ia3 Huy.
LONDON:
JOHN VAN VOORST, PATERNOSTER ROW.
MDCCCLX.
“ So work the honey-bees ;
Creatures that, by a rule in Nature, teach
The art of order to a peopled kingdom.
They have a king, and officers of sorts,
Where some, like magistrates, correct at home ;
Others, like merchants, venture trade abroad ;
Others, like soldiers, armed in their stings,
Make boot upon the summer’s velvet buds,
Which pillage they with merry march bring home
To the tent royal of their emperor ;
Who, busied in his majesty, surveys
The singing masons building roofs of gold ;
The civil citizens kneading up the honey ;
The poor mechanic porters crowding in
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate ;
The sad-eyed justice, with his surly hum,
Delivering o’er to executors pale
The lazy yawning drone ! ”
Shakspeare.
PRINTED KY TAYLOR AND FRANCIS, RED LION COURT, FLEET STREET.
TO
WILLIAM B. CARPENTER, ESQ.,
M.D., F.K.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c. &c.,
REGISTRAR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON,
AND AUTHOR OF
•
“ HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY,” “ COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY,” AND
MANY OTIIEE VALUABLE CONTEIBUTIONS TO OUE
SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE,
THE FOLLOWING WORK
IS, WITH PERMISSION, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
The favour with which, owing to the daily increasing
demand for popular scientific literature, the author’s
first publication was received, has encouraged him to
make additional efforts, in the following pages, to
convey to the reader accurate scientific information
in easy and popular language; and although the
work has no pretensions to erudition, yet it is to be
hoped that some of the features described in con¬
nexion with the Bee’s anatomy may prove new and
interesting even to advanced students of Natural
History. It is also right to remark that some in¬
accuracies which crept into the former work have
been corrected in the present one ; and in this por¬
tion of his labours the author has received consider¬
able assistance from his scientific friends.
Dr. Hicks, whose aid is acknowledged on the title-
page, supplied him with several valuable sketches,
Vlll
PREFACE.
and much useful information connected with the
anatomy of the eyes, antennae, and internal organs
of the insect; and Mr. Tegetmeier, the esteemed
Secretary of the Apiarian Society, provided him with
several specimens of Bees, &c. &c., from the Society^
collection of hives at Muswell Hill.
The assistance thus received, as well as that de¬
rived from Mr. Purkiss’s excellent preparations and
from those kindly lent to him by private friends, the
author thinks it right to acknowledge before com¬
mencing his agreeable labours.
Liverpool, July I860.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Introductory . page 1
CHAPTER n.
The Insect Races and their Characteristic Attributes. —
The Bee’s place in the Animal Kingdom. — General ap¬
pearance and peculiarities of the Worker, Drone, and
Queen. — Head of the Bee. — Wonderful Structure of its
Eyes. — The Ocelli, or Compound E}^es. — Stemmata, or
Simple Eyes. — Lessons conveyed by their examination. 11
CHAPTER III.
The Antennae or Feelers of the Bee ; their Structure, and
Anecdotes concerning their Employment. — The remark¬
able Masticating Apparatus ; its Saw-like Jaws, Cutting-
Blades, and exquisite Ligula or Tongue ; their Uses. —
The Thorax or Chest. — The Legs : wonderful construc¬
tion of the Bee’s Hind-legs ; the Pollen-basket and Pliers.
— How the Bee collects its Provender. — Wing of a Bee
and its Component Parts. — Curious contrivance for lock¬
ing the Wings together. — Uses of the Wings. — The
Sting ; its Barbs and Poison-bag. — Summary . JO
CHAPTER IV.
Internal Anatomy of the Bee. — Organs of Digestion. — Gas¬
tric Teeth. — Respiratory System. — Spiracles or Breath¬
ing-holes, and Tracheae or Air-tubes. — Their beautiful
X
CONTENTS.
construction and distribution through the Body. — Nerv¬
ous and Circulating Systems : their relative position in
the Bee. — Dorsal Vessel and Phenomena of Circulation.
— Nervous System. — Organs of Reproduction in the
Queen-bee. — Ovaries, &c. — Method whereby the Eggs
are Fertilized, and remarkable power of Reproduction
in the Virgin Queen. — Sting. — Unity of Design in the
Bee’s Structure . jiage 50
CHAPTER V.
The Man and the Bee. — The Bee and the Poets. — Consti¬
tution of a Hive. — The Queen and her Duties. — The
Drones, are they Men about Town P Their Fate. — The
Workers. — Wax, its Composition and Uses. — Honey,
its Constituents ; Adulteration, Detection by the Micro¬
scope. — Kinds of Honey, Beverages made from it. —
Anecdotes concerning Poisoned Iloney. — Bee-bread, its
appearance under the Microscope, &c. — Propolis, how
collected and employed ; Kirby and Spence’s (Huber’s)
account of its Application. — How the Bees entombed a
dead Mouse and a living Snail with Propolis. — Nature
and Occupations of the Worker Bee. — Wax-makers and
Bee-nurses. — Construction of Cells. — Miraculous powers
attributed to the Bee in this respect. — Various Theories
concerning Hexagonal Form of Cells : comparison of
these Theories, and deductions. — The Honeycomb. —
Worker-, Drone-, and Queen-cells, and their Uses. —
The little Honey-gatherer, how she Fertilizes Plants. —
Has the Creator formed any Animal in vain P — Life at
the Ilive-gates. — Arrival and departure of Excursionists
and Traders. — A Peep inside. — Living Ventilators. —
The Bee and the Man again. — Internal Economy of the
Hive. — Apiarian Board of Health, and Burial Board. —
The Art of Fortification amongst the Bees . 65
CHAPTER VI.
The Queen. — Her method of laying Eggs. — 'Wonderful
Phenomena accompanying the Instinctive Deposition of
CONTENTS.
XI
the Eggs of Workers, Drones, and Queens in their re¬
spective Cells. — Dzierzon’s Discoveries and Theories. —
Siebold and Owen on the laying- of Unfertilized Ova. —
Interesting Experiment by Huber, and Review of the
Theories of Dzierzon, Siebold, and Huber. — Partheno¬
genesis, or Power of the Virgin Queen to produce Per¬
fect Offspring. — The Larva ; its Organization. — Meta¬
morphosis into the Pupa and Imago. — Operations of the
Nurse-bees during the Transformation. — Reflections on
the Development of the Bee and that of the Man. —
Operations of Workers after the Bees leave the Cells. —
Birth of Young Queen. — Unnatural Conduct of the
Parent. — Vogt’s Interesting Account of a Combat be¬
tween two Queens. — The Drones. — Bee Courtship
and Matrimony. — Artificial Production of a Queen by
Workers. — Principle upon which they operate. — Sum¬
mary . page 94
CHAPTER Vn.
Various Definitions of Instinct. — Addison’s Opinion ; Dr.
Darwin’s. — The Theory of Sensation. — Spence’s Sum¬
mary. — Dr. Carpenter’s Views of Instinct and its Limits.
— Archbishop Tillotson’s Exposition of the Instinctive
Moral Propensities of Man. — Comparison of these views ;
Analysis of an Instinctive Action, illustrated by the
mode in which a Flesh-fly Oviposits ; Summary and
Definition of Instinct. — Complicated Acts of Insects;
how they may be explained. — Difficulty of distinguish¬
ing between Instinct and Reason. — Story of the Gold-
wasp and Mason-bee, and Comments upon the act per¬
formed by the Bee. — Is there a definite Boundary-line
between Instinct and Reason P — Necessity for the Study
of Comparative Psychology, or the Science of Mind in
Animals . 117
CHAPTER VIII.
Vegetable Life. — Motile Plants. — Absence of Mental Pro¬
perties in the Lowest Types of Animal Life. — Unity in
Xll
CONTENTS.
the Progressive Development of Mind and Body in the
Animal Kingdom. — Sensation the first indication of
Mind. — Psychical Properties of the Sea- Anemone. — The
Actinia and the Human Infant. — “ Animal” or “ Na¬
tural Instinct.” — Its universality in the Animal Kingdom.
— The Insect Paces : their Higher Psychical Powers ;
Fitness of these for the uses of their various Organs,
Members, and Actions. — Necessity of the Higher Psy¬
chical Powers of Insects. — The Bee. — Its Emotions. —
Experiment to prove the presence of its Feeling of
Anger. — Do Bees think F — Absence of Educability in
Instinct. — “Rational Instinct.” — “Reason,” or Intel¬
ligence : its Relations to the Cerebrum. — Educability
and Design, or Conscious Motive, two of its Charac¬
teristics. — The two Crows and the Dog. — “ Instinctive
Intelligence.” — The Domesticated Animals and Man. —
Nature of the Dog. — Its Moral Worth; its Sense of
Duty. — Treatment of Domesticated Animals and Chil¬
dren. — Attributes of Perfect Animals compared with
those of Imperfect Men. — Characteristics of Humanity,
the Analogues of the Nobler Traits in the Higher Ani¬
mals. — Tillotson’s Views of the Moral Instincts of Man
confirmed by Comparative Psychology. — The Dog and
the Man. — Man and the Deity. — Summary of the Mental
Attributes of Animals. — Retrospect. — Are the Worm,
the Fly, and the Bee commonplace and uninteresting ? —
Which is the most indispensable? — The care of the
Almighty for all His Works. — The various means em¬
ployed by Him to attain similar ends. — His care of us.
— The Relation of the Humble Creatures to ourselves,
and our Relation to God. — Conclusion . page 13
INDEX TO PLATES.
Pl. I. Frontispiece.
Pl. II . page 16
Fig. 1. Worker-bee: a , head; b, thorax; c, abdomen.
1, 2, 3, legs ; 4, 5, wings ; 6, antennae ;
7, sting.
Fig. 2. Queen-bee : a, b, c, head, thorax, and ab¬
domen ; o, sting.
Fig. 3. Drone : the letters as in fig. 2.
Pl. Ill . 20
Fig. 1. Head of Worker-bee : a, a , compound eyes ;
b, b, b, simple eyes ; c, antennae ; d, closed
mandibles.
Fig. 2. Lateral view of abdomen.
Fig. 3. Ventral view of ditto.
Fig. 4. Gastric teeth of Worker.
Pl. IV . 28
Fig. 1. Portion of compound eye of Bee : a, a, a, cor¬
neal lenses ; 1 1 and 1 2, their component
lenses ; b , b, conical lenses ; c, c, intermediate
spaces (diaphragm) ; d, d, d, piginentum ni¬
grum (dark colouring-matter for isolation of
lenses) ; e, e, e, expansions of optic nerves.
XIV
INDEX TO PLATES.
Fig. 2. Portion of the cornea, showing the lenses,
with subjacent colouring-matter.
Fig. 3. Section of the eye, showing the arrangement
of the lenses and nerves.
Fig. 4. Simple eyes ( stemmcita ) : a, lens, behind which
is seen the optic nerve.
Fig. 5. Portion of cornea, showing circular and hex¬
agonal facets.
Fig. 6. Papillae, or bulbous expansions of optic nerve
of the stemmata.
Pl. V . page 38
Fig. 1. Head of the Bee, mounted for microscopic in¬
vestigation : a, antennae or feelers ; b, b, man¬
dibles, or first pair of jaws ; c, c, maxillae, or
second pair of ditto ; c', c\ ribs of maxillae ;
cl, ligula, or tongue ; cl', terminal disc of
tongue ; e, labial palpi.
Fig. 2. Antenna : a, the large second joint.
Fig. 3. Portions of antenna highly magnified, showing
u sensory organs ” and nerves (a).
Fig. 4. Portion of segment still more highly magni¬
fied, showing sensory organs.
Fig. 5. Part of the -wings : b, anterior wing with bar,
to which the hooks of the posterior wing
adhere.
Pl. VI . 46
Fig. 1. Hind leg of Worker-bee : a, coxa, or hip ; b, tro¬
chanter; c, femur; cl, tibia; e, e', tarsus
e', last joint of tarsus, provided with claws ;
j, junction of tibia and tarsus (pollen-basket).
Fig. 2. Pollen-basketmagnified,showingtkeprongs,a,.
Fig. 3. Last joint of tarsus magnified, showing claws
and cup-shaped cushion, a.
Fig. 4. Fore and hind wing with hooklets, h.
INDEX TO PLATES.
XV
Fig. 5. Anatomy of sting : a , sheath ; b, piercers ;
<?, site of poison-hag.
Fig. 6. Termination of piercer (of sting) highly mag¬
nified.
Pl. VII . page CO
Fig. 1. Digestive organs of Bee : a, oesophagus, or
gullet ; b, crop, or honey-bag ; c, stomach ;
d, biliary tubes ; e, colon.
Fig. 2. Respiratory and nervous system (the por¬
tion to the left is one half of the respiratory
system, similar organs being situated on the
right side) : a, a', respiratory sacs ; 6, thoracic
duct and larger tracheae ; c, abdominal duct ;
d, respiratory saccidi ; — (the white portion
beneath the respiratory organs represents
the nervous system) : a, a , cephalic ganglia ;
b, infra-cesophageal ganglion ; c, thoracic
ganglion ; d, e, f, g, h, abdominal ganglia ;
o, optic nerves ; n a , nerves of antennae ;
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, nerves of members of loco¬
motion.
Fig. 3. Stigma, or respiratory aperture.
Fig. 4. Portion of trachea, or respiratory tube.
Fl.VIII . . . 102
Fig. 1. Ovaries of Queen-bee in situ : a, narrow ends,
and b, wide ends of ovarian tubes.
Fig. 2. Outline of ovaries, showing ( a & b, as above) :
c, c , proper oviducts ; e, common oviduct ;
s, spermatheca ; /, l, secreting tubes of ditto ;
p, poison-secreting tube.
Fig. 3. Portion of ovary : d, ova arrested in their pro¬
gress, before passing through tubes, at b, into
the proper oviduct, c.
XVI
JNDEX TO PLATES.
Fig. 4. Crystals of sugar and honey : a, honey crystal ;
b, sugar crystal ; c, sugar crystal, found par¬
tially dissolved in honey. (These are taken
from Lankester’s 1 Half Hours with the Mi¬
croscope. ’)
Figs. 5 & 6. Portion of brood-comb, showing ordinary
hexagonal cells, and q c, queen-cells.
Fig. 7. Larva of Bee (worker).
Fig. 8. Pupa of ditto (ditto).
ERRATA.
Page 3, line 2, after finding insert it.
,, 9, „ 15, for figs. l,e, & 3 read figs. 1, e', & 3.
„ 30, „ G from bottom, for antennae read antenna.
„ 31, „ 11, for PI. IY. read PI. V.
„ 47, last line but one, for fig. 20 read fig. 2, o.
THE
HONEY-BEE.
CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.
It would be paying but a poor compliment to those
talented authors who have at various times sought to
interest and instruct mankind through the publication
of works on the natural history of the Common Hive-
Bee, if we were to justify our selection of this insect
as the subject of our second little Treatise on Humble
Creatures, on the ground that we deemed it necessary
for the purpose of rendering it familiar to the popular
mind.
Hundreds of such works, including several of
marked excellence, have been given to the world ; but
recent improvements in the microscope, and our daily
increasing store of physiological knowledge, con¬
stantly lead to the revelation of new facts in regard
to this and other insects, in addition to those already
ascertained ; and every day we find old and apparently
B
HUMBLE CREATURES.
O
<w
well-established theories fading away and giving place
to others of a totally different character ; so much so,
that it may with justice be said that we are still
engaged in studying the introduction to this branch
of natural science.
The Bee, too, is peculiarly adapted not only for the
investigation of insect anatomy, but also to aid in
that of the progressive mental development of the
animal races. Its structure, external as well as in¬
ternal, is extremely beautiful and complicated, pre¬
senting numerous features, suited to its well-known
habits of life, that are found in no other creature;
and without reference to its wax- and honey-making
properties, which render it especially interesting to
man, we may add that its highly developed instinct¬
ive faculties, which constitute the moving spring of
its various natural operations, cause it, in this respect,
to hold the first rank in the invertebrate province of
the Animal Kingdom; indeed some of its acts, if
performed by man instead of by one of the lower
animals, would be esteemed little short of miracles.
You may perhaps be disposed, reader, to regard
this last assertion as somewhat exaggerated; but if
you will accompany us in the consideration of a few
of the phenomena of Bee-life, you will find that it is
fully borne out by well- acknowledged facts.
Suppose yourself transported on board of one of
those huge American steamers plying up and down
the Mississippi, and that, falling short of provisions,
you are some fine morning set on shore by the cap-
INTRODUCTORY.
3
tain and told that there is a town somewhere a few
miles distant, in which, if you can succeed in finding,
you will he able to procure a meal, but that you
must be sure to return by a certain hour, else the
steamer will proceed on her course without you.
Picture to yourself the perplexity you would ex¬
perience when you set foot upon the strange land,
not knowing in which direction to turn in search of
the locality that would have to be reached before
your appetite could be appeased. In the absence of
positive information you would probably seek some
eminence from whence to survey the surrounding
landscape, in order to trace, if possible, a road, or any
other guide, to the desired goal.
If even you were so far successful, you would regard
your position as a very awkward one, and would be
apt to look upon the accomplishment of your journey
within the prescribed period as little short of a
miracle. But wonderful as it might appear in your
case, in the Bee such a feat would be nothing un¬
usual, and it is one that its instincts enable it to
perform without the slightest difficulty. You have
but to change the scene from the Mississippi to the
Nile, and the society of human beings for a collection
of inhabited bee-hives, and an opportunity will at
once be presented for the consideration of one of the
remarkable incidents in Bee-life. In Egypt, as well
as in many other countries, including France, it is a
common practice for Bee-owners, in whose vicinity
there is not a sufficiently rich pasturage for their
4
HUMBLE CREATURES.
winged flock, to entrust their hives to the care of
boatmen who make a trade of transporting great
numbers from place to place down the rivers, resting
by day in order that the Bees may sally forth in
search of honey, and continuing their course at night.
The Bee accomplishes its object by means some¬
what similar to those we suggested to yourself under
the like circumstances, but with far greater accuracy
and precision. No sooner does it quit the hive in
the strange locality, than it mounts in the air, and
having attained a sufficient eminence, flies off at
once in the right direction, guided by its unerring
instinct. This instinct also serves it on its return to
the hive ; and although it may not be permitted to
sojourn in the same locality for two days together,
yet it goes and comes apparently without any more
difficulty or hesitation than we ourselves feel in de¬
parting from or returning to our homes during the
performance of our daily duties. In this operation
it is no doubt aided by its wonderful eyes, the beau¬
tiful structure of which we shall presently have an
opportunity to examine, and then indeed you will no
longer be surprised at the end that their possessor is
thereby enabled to attain.
Remarkable as is this instinct in the Bee, which
renders it capable of discovering its food at a distance,
there is another phase in its history that is quite
beyond our comprehension, and which appears almost
supernatural when considered in relation to so insig¬
nificant and diminutive a creature.
INTRODUCTORY.
O
You are of course well aware that in various stages
of infancy the human being requires and receives a
modification of his food, which becomes more solid
as he advances in years; first he is provided with
milk, then with farinaceous compounds, and finally
with the ordinary food of an adult.
Smile not, reader, when we tell you that the young
Bees (that is to say, the larvae) are treated by their
“ nurses ” very much after the same fashion.
In order to render this comprehensible, wre shall
have to enter into some of the details of the Bee’s
natural history ; but as we shall, in so doing, touch
upon two or three of its most interesting traits, we
trust that no apology is necessary for dwelling on
this part of the subject.
As you doubtless know, there are three varieties of
Bees composing a hive; namely, a single queen, the
mother of the hive ; numerous workers , or unfruitful
females ; and the males, or drones. In speaking ot
the queen as the “ mother ” of the hive, we are
borrowing a German expression, and a most appro¬
priate one ; for she deposits the eggs from which pro¬
ceed all the inhabitants of the hive — workers, drones,
and future queens, laying the ova in three distinct
kinds of cells : those of the workers and drones are
the ordinary hexagonal cells, varying a little in size ;
whilst the queen-eggs are placed in large oval ones,
called royal cells, specially prepared by the worker-
bees for their reception. (PI. VIII. figs. 5 & 6.)
Here already, as a little reflection will show, we
6
HUMBLE CREATURES.
have presented to us a number of strange phenomena.
How do the workers know that the drone-cells must
he constructed (as they are) of larger dimensions
than the worker-cells, and that those intended for
the reception of the young queens must he still
larger and of a different shape? The eggs deposited
by the queen, from which the three varieties proceed,
are all alike in appearance; nay, those which pro¬
duce queens and workers are precisely the same in
every respect : that can therefore be no guide to the
workers in the construction of the cells. Again, how
does the queen know when and where to deposit each
particular kind of egg ?
“ Instinct ” will doubtless be your answer. Pre¬
cisely so; and although we know but little in this
respect, still we may be able to give you, farther on,
some information on the subject that you will find
new and interesting.
However, let us suppose the cells made, and the
eggs deposited therein and hatched. The larvae, or
grubs, do not leave the cells, but are fed by a class of
the worker community called by naturalists “Nurse-
bees;” and how do you think they are nourished ?
First, in their earliest infancy, with honey, which
we shall find hereafter to be a kind of food that has
undergone a partial digestive process in the organs
of the worker ; then, as the days of the young ones
increase in number, the sagacious nurses mix, and
administer to them along with the honey, a quantity
of bee-bread, consisting of the pollen of flowers, a
INTRODUCTORY.
7
substance that afterwards serves as the food of the
fully- developed Bee !
Thus you see that this t( instinct ” answers the
same purpose, and leads to the same results in the
Bee, as does reason in man.
But this is the least wonderful part of the story.
The change of nourishment to which we have just
referred also alters the very nature of the insects ; for
it is in consequence of their being thus fed, first on
honey and then on a coarser food, that certain of
the Bees (the greater proportion indeed) remain
workers, their growth being stunted and the repro¬
ductive organs remaining undeveloped; whilst the
queen is fed throughout her larvahood upon honey,
or, as it is called by apiarists, royal paste. And,
reader, the Bees know this : else, how is it, that, when
they accidentally run short of a queen, they instantly
seize upon a worker- larva and transfer it to a royal
cell, hastily constructed for the purpose ? This they
actually do, and feed it upon royal paste during the
remainder of its larval existence, until, instead of a
worker-bee, they metamorphose the larva into a
queen !
Instinct (a power or quality that we are unable
clearly to define) is their guide in these and many
other interesting operations ; and if the psychical or
mental endowments of the Bee are thus remarkable
and perfect, equally so, both as regards their beauty
and fitness for the end to be attained, shall we find
the various organs and members with which the little
8
HUMBLE CREATURES.
insect lias been furnished. Take for example the
eyes that guide it in its flight to the distant pas¬
turage in search of honey, and which enable it to
seek out the appropriate cell in which to store the
liquid treasure on its return to the dark recesses of
the hive.
The South American Condor soars up as high
again as the highest peak of the Andes — ten miles
above the level of the sea, until it assumes in the
eyes of the beholder the appearance of a mere speck.
This feathered denizen of the air possesses only one
pair of eyes, and yet, we are told, its vision is so
powerful, that, when it is elevated to this height, it
embraces an area equal to that of the whole of Ger¬
many, and can detect, and launch itself directly upon,
any mass of carrion in the plains below. What
wonder then that the little Bee, provided as it is
with some thousands of perfect organs of vision,
varying in power and range, should rise up high in
the air, and then fly off in a direct line to distant
flower-beds, or with equal precision return to its
habitation laden with pollen and honey !
Again, you will not be surprised to hear that the
creature whose whole life is spent in collecting these
last-named materials, should be furnished with in¬
ternal as well as external receptacles wherein to store
and convey home its precious treasures; but when
you come to investigate their structure, and see how
perfectly they are adapted to their respective uses,
you will certainly be astonished to find how amply
INTRODUCTORY.
9
even this humble little insect has been provided with
contrivances necessary for the fulfilment of its task in
creation. The same observation applies also to those
instruments situated at the mouth, that aid it in the
construction of its honeycomb. There you will dis¬
cover powerful toothed shears (PI. Y. fig. 1, b b) for
clipping and sawing, as well as trowel-shaped blades
(PI. Y. fig. 1, c c) for plastering and moulding the wax
and propolis ; and in these operations it is also as¬
sisted by the long delicate tongue (PI. V. fig. 1, dd),
wherewith it rolls the thin riband-like bands of wax
that serve it in the construction of its cell-walls : nor
must we forget those remarkable claw-shaped pincers
(PI. YI. figs. l,e, &3), situated upon the extremity of
its feet, with which it manipulates the various mate¬
rials needed in its industrial occupations. Thus you
see that the experienced little artisan is provided with
every implement requisite for the prosecution of its
calling, and for the performance of what we shall
hereafter find to be no easy task.
Having thus drawn your attention to a few points
of interest connected with the habits and structure
of the Bee, we shall conclude these brief introductorv
remarks by referring to a phenomenon in its history
to which we find no parallel in nature ; and this time,
reader, you may arm yourself with an ample stock of
scepticism.
Suppose we were to place in your hand the newly -
laid egg of a fowl, and to put the question, “Will
the chick that is to be hatched from this egg be a
b 5
10
HUMBLE CREATURES.
cock or a hen?” would you not laugh at the absurd
inquiry , supposing that you believed it to be serious ?
Yet, if we are to credit the testimony of Professor
Siebold — one of the first physiologists of the day, —
accepted and endorsed by the opinion of our own
great anatomist Professor Owen, and others, such an
inquiry would be perfectly rational, were we to sub¬
stitute the egg of a Bee for that of a hen. Por we
are told that by the aid of the microscope it is pos¬
sible to distinguish in a fresh-laid Bee’s egg such
phenomena as will easily enable the observer to de¬
termine whether the larva that would have been pro¬
duced would be a drone or a worker (we say ivould
have been , because the experiment necessitates that
the yolk should be expressed), — in other words, to
determine whether it would have been a male or a
female.
Now this is only one of a series of recent discoveries
that have invested the history of the Bee with great
additional interest, and these various phenomena we
shall endeavour in the succeeding Chapters to render
as clear and explicit as possible. Meanwhile, as there
is, no doubt, somewhere within your reach a peopled
hive, whatever may be the locality in which you re¬
side, we would advise you to provide yourself with a
few specimens of the insect, so that you may be able
to examine the various parts as we describe them,
and thus derive additional pleasure from the investi¬
gation.
THE BEE.
11
CHAPTER II.
THE INSECT RACES AND THEIR CHARACTERISTIC ATTRIBUTES.
— THE BEE’S PLACE IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. — GENERAL
APPEARANCE AND PECULIARITIES OF THE WORKER, DRONE,
AND QUEEN. - HEAD OF THE BEE. — WONDERFUL STRUCTURE
OF ITS EYES. — THE OCELLI, OR COMPOUND EYES. — STEM-
MATA, OR SIMPLE EYES. — LESSONS CONVEYED BY THEIR
EXAMINATION.
It is now so well understood wliat an insect is, as
well as what it is not (for a great number of those
forms that were popularly termed insects really be¬
long to other divisions of the Animal Kingdom), that
it would hardly appear necessary to refer at any
length to the various attributes that characterize the
class. We shall, however, glance cursorily at its
typical features, leaving those who desire a more par¬
ticular account of it, to consult one of the numerous
zoological works that treat upon the subject.
An insect is an articulated animal ; that is, an
animal not possessing an internal skeleton, but en¬
veloped in a thick integument or case composed of
a number of articulations or rings connected together
by a thinner membrane. When fully developed, it
invariably possesses six annulated legs, whereby it is
distinguishable from all other articulated animals ;
12
HUMBLE CREATURES.
for the Arachnidae, or spider tribes, are furnished with
eight ; the Crustacea, or crab-like races, usually with
ten ; and the Myriapoda, or millipedes, with an inde¬
finite number of these members.
With its six legs, constructed for progression on
terra firma or in the water, there are coupled, as a
general rule, one or two pairs of wings for flight in
the air : and we may here observe, that in order that
the body may be rendered lighter whilst moving in
this element, the insect races do not breathe, as we
do, by means of lungs, but are provided internally with
numerous tubes and receptacles, of various dimen¬
sions, termed tracheae, in which the air freely circu¬
lates, diminishing the specific gravity of the trunk.
Insects are furthermore rendered conspicuous by
their antennae or feelers, of which they possess a single
pair, situated in front of the head, and composed
of a series of rings or joints, in conformity with the
structure of the rest of the bodv. These feelers serve
to aid them in their numerous instinctive actions.
Lastly, the insect races usually undergo a more or
less complete metamorphosis before arriving at the
perfect state. In some cases they pass from one
stage to the other without any marked change in
their external appearance ; in others, however, as in
the Bee, they are subjected to a complete transition
from the vermiform or worm-shaped grub or larva to
the winged insect or imago , and spend a portion of
their lives intermediate between these two stages in
a quiescent, and apparently a lifeless state, enclosed
THE BEE.
13
in a tough and hermetically sealed case : this period of
their existence is known as the pupa or chrysalis state.
This metamorphosis, so well exemplified in the
common Butterfly, is perhaps the most remarkable
phenomenon in animated nature; and it has been
compared by the poetic mind of Rogers to the final
transition that takes place in ourselves when our
soul wings its upward flight to heaven. He has ex¬
pressed himself in language so sublime, that we can¬
not refrain from introducing his verses, which will
serve to relieve the monotony of our physiological
studies : —
u Child of the Sun ! pursue thy rapturous flight,
Mingling with her thou lov’st in fields of light ;
And where the flowers of paradise unfold,
Quaff fragrant nectar from their cups of gold.
There shall thy wings, rich as an evening sky,
Expand and shut with silent ecstasy.
Yet thou wert once a worm, a thing that crept
On the hare earth, then wrought a tomb and slept !
And such is man, — soon from his cell of clay
To burst a seraph in the blaze of day ! ”
The animals called Insecta, or insects, then, are
characterized by the possession of a horny external
case or envelope composed of rings, and are furnished
s
with three pairs of articulated legs, one pair of arti¬
culated feelers, and usually one or two pairs of
wings, whilst their life-history is marked by a more
or less complete transition from the imperfect or
larval to the perfect or imago form.
Let us now glance rapidly at the classification of the
14
HUMBLE CREATURES.
insect races, and seek that group to which our com¬
mon Hive-Bee belongs. The division of the Class by
naturalists into subclasses and orders has been effected,
first, by a reference to the degree of metamorphosis
that the group undergoes ; and, secondly, to the
absence or presence of wings, and, where these are
present, to their number and character.
Thus, one group or subclass that undergoes no
apparent change is called Hmetabola ; a second, in
which the metamorphosis, though perceptible, is not
complete, Hemimetabola ; and the third, or highest
subdivision, in which there is a complete transition
from the worm-like or larval state, first to the pupal
or motionless stage, and next to the imago or perfect
insect, when the actual metamorphosis is effected,
and the creature bursts forth from its tomb, fully
fitted, both internally and externally, for its aerial
existence : — this subclass is called Uo/ometabola ; and
here we shall find our Honey-Bee, along with the
Beetle, Fly, and many other insects.
On examining the wings of the Bee, wre shall per¬
ceive them to be four in number (PL II. fig. 1) : but
this is not a sufficiently unique feature in its organiza¬
tion to enable us to determine the Order to which it
appertains ; for there are several other orders, of widely
different types, such as the Coleoptera (Beetles), Le-
pidoptera (Butterflies), &c., all of which possess two
pairs of wings. We must look therefore at the cha¬
racter of the wings themselves, and shall find them
to be of a firm, parchment-like texture hence it is that
THE BEE.
15
the Order has received its name, Hymenoptera, from
two Greek words, denoting the membranons structure
of these organs. To this Order belongs not only the
Bee, but also the Wasp, the Ant, and some other insects,
all remarkable for their highly developed instinct.
These minor groups are termed families ; and that
which includes the Bee is the family of Apidce , or true
Bees, — the Honey- or Hive-Bee being scientifically
known as Apis mellifica .
The former designation (Apis) is that of its genus,
and the latter (mellifica) of its species ; but although
its specific name is derived from a Latin word de¬
noting its honey-making properties, it is not because
it is the only species of Bee that produces this de¬
licious substance (for there are others possessing the
same attribute), but it is because to us its hive-labours
render it par excellence the Honey-Bee. Once more,
then, Apis mellifica , the Honey-Bee, belongs to the
family Apidce, or true Bees, included in the Hyrnen-
opterous (membranous-winged) order, of the class
Insecta or insects, and in that subdivision of the Class
known as Metabola or Holometabola, in consequence
of the contained forms undergoing a complete meta¬
morphosis ; whilst (to complete our classification) the
Insecta themselves occupy the highest rank as a class
in that province of the Animal Kingdom known as
the Articulata or Arthropoda (articulated feet), which
are in their turn included in the great subkingdom of
Invertebrata, or animals not possessed of an internal
vertebrated skeleton.
16
HUMBLE CREATURES.
Having thus acquitted ourselves of our obligations
in the cause of systematic Zoology, and traced the
correct position of our little Hive-Bee in the Animal
Kingdom, let us now proceed to the less formal and
more agreeable task of examining our subject with
the aid of the lens, and endeavour to form a nearer
acquaintance with its beautifully constructed organs
and members. As there are three different kinds of
inhabitants in a hive — the queen or perfect female,
the drones or males, and the workers or partially
developed females, — you might perhaps be puzzled
which to select for investigation ; for although they
resemble one another to a great extent, yet each has
its marked peculiarities. Inasmuch, however, as the
worker is the most easily obtainable, and possesses
some interesting features in its external anatomy that
are wanting in the queen and drone, we shall choose
it as the more immediate object of our study, and,
as we proceed in its investigation, shall refer cursorily
to the diversities of structure presented by the two
last-named types.
In considering with the naked eye the general ap¬
pearance of the worker-Bee (Pl. II. fig. 1), we cannot
fail at once to notice that, in common with nearly all
insects, its body is divided into three distinct parts or
sections — the head («), the thorax or chest (b), and the
abdomen (c), which appear to be connected together as
though they were strung upon a thread ; and a very
slight scrutiny will suffice to show that nearly all the
members or appendages of the body are disposed on
PLATE II.
■ a/ JI
\ dByl #
Iums Samuvlsonj delY.
Worker, Queen & Prone of Honey Bee.,
Johb Tfcn 'Voorst-, land my
G.H JluixJ-, Iztfo.
THE BEE.
17
the middle or thoracic region. On the under side of
this section we find the three pairs of legs (1, 2, 3)*,
and on the dorsal surface the two pairs of wings (4, 5) .
The only prominent members, or rather organs, visible
upon the head, are the delicate antennse or feelers (6) ;
whilst the posterior or abdominal segment appears
perfectly free from all appendages, unless the sting (7)
happen to be protruded.
And now as to the form and composition of the
three sections themselves. In order to consider these,
we will ask you to lay the insect on the palm of your
hand, so that the dorsal surface, or back, is opposite
you, as shown in the illustration (PI. II. fig. 1). You
will then perceive that the head presents an irregular
flattened oval appearance, and is placed horizontally
upon the thorax, which is nearly circular ; whilst the
posterior or abdominal segment, comprising at least
half of the body, is of an elongated oval form, and
distinctly divided into what appears to be perfect rings
or articulations. But now reverse the position of the
insect, so that the back is in contact with your palm,
and you will at once observe that the rings of the abdo¬
men are not perfect and continuous (PI. III. figs. 2 & 3),
but are composed of two rows of belts, a dorsal and a
ventral series. The former or dorsal belts are by far
the longest, reaching a little way round the body on
either side, and overlying the ventral series, as shown
* The posterior legs appear in the Plate as though they
were appended to the hinder segment, hut this arises from the
direction that they take ; they are attached to the chest.
18
HUMBLE CREATURES.
in PL III. fig. 3, which represents an under view, and
in fig. 2, the lateral view of the abdominal segment ;
and this overlapping of the dorsal belts gives to them,
when viewed from above, the appearance of perfect
rings. The ventral belts are not so regularly curved
as the others, but form a figure somewhat resembling
a breastplate with an obtuse angle in front (PI. III.
fig. 3). Not only do the dorsal rings overlie the
ventral ones, but they (as well as the latter) overlie
one another like the tiles on the roof of a house, and
so the whole abdomen is enclosed in an almost im¬
penetrable coat of mail, — an armature, however, that
we shall find hereafter is not invulnerable to the ter¬
rible sting of the enemy.
The under-sides of the head and thorax are so
covered with hairs, and the latter by the members of
locomotion, that it is impossible to distinguish with
the naked eye the peculiarities presented by the sur¬
face. But let us now see in what respect the general
form of the worker differs from that of the queen
and drone.
Both the latter are of larger dimensions than the
worker, the queen (PI. II. fig. 2) being considerably
longer, and the drone (PI. II. fig. 3) both longer and
stouter. On comparing the heads of the three kinds,
it will be found that those of the worker and queen
closely resemble one another both in size and shape,
whilst that of the drone is much increased in dimen¬
sions by its enormous oval compound eyes, which
meet on the back of the head. The thorax of the
THE BEE.
19
queen is longer and more oval than that of the worker,
whilst that of the drone is shield- shaped. But the
abdomen is the part of the body which presents in the
three types the greatest dissimilarity : in the worker
it is small and oval, in the queen much longer and
thicker, tapering to a point, whilst that of the drone is
short, stout, and oblong in shape, being fringed at the
posterior part with long stout hairs (PL II. figs. 1, 2,3).
The prominent characteristics of the three varieties
are : 1st, in the drone , the thickset body, covered all
over with long hairs, especially at the termination of
the abdomen, and the large oval eyes, meeting on the
back of the head ; 2nd, in the queen, the long, pointed
abdomen and comparatively shorter wings; 3rd, in
the worker, the smaller size of the insect, globular
thorax, and the absence of those peculiarities which
characterize the queen and drone*.
Let us now return to the consideration of the
worker; and we shall ask you once more to change
its position, and, viewing it in front, to obtain a survey
of its physiognomy.
If you regard it in this aspect, aided we will say
by a magnifying lens of about 10 or 20 diameters,
you will find that the head of the worker-Bee closely
resembles a card heart in shape (PI. III. fig. 1) ; in the
bulging sides of which (fig. 1, a) you will probably
recognize its crescent-shaped compound eyes , whilst
* A detailed description of the three varieties will be found
in Messrs. Kirby and Spence’s work on Entomology, p. 358,
note. (Cheap Edition.)
20
HUMBLE CREATURES.
between these you will, on removing a few of the
hairs, at once detect the three simple eyes ( b , b), so
disposed as to form a triangle with the apex or
point downwards, and each consisting of a single
bright lens.
From the apex of the inverted triangle, that is to
say, from the lowest of the three simple eyes, a furrow
proceeds downwards, terminating about the middle
of the face, or rather branching off at that point into
two similar indentations that are continued obliquely
downwards until they reach either side of the face, so
that the whole presents a forked appearance (PI. Y.
i)-
At the junction of these furrows the antennae or
feelers take root, one on each side of the medial line
(PI. HI. fig. 1, c).
These organs appear to the naked eye like two
short fragments of dark thread bent to a knee about
the middle; and they are, as before remarked, the
only visible external appendage to the head. The
point of the head, however, will be seen, on closer
examination, to be split like the nibs of a pen (PI. III.
fig. 1 ,d)3 and this we shall presently find to be the
external part of the oral apparatus or mouth.
But let us now descend to a more minute investi¬
gation of these various organs of sense connected
with the head of the Bee, commencing with its pro¬
minent compound eyes.
The object in nature that occurs to us as most
nearly approximating the eye of the worker-Bee in
PLATE III.
v> i v s';
Eg-2-
s's
W'W
\"
>/
N\s'
Eig. 3.
Pig. 4.
■amnds'n X'TEchs, ddt
Bead, Abdomen, k, Gastric leetK of 'Worker.
.?. it terd. htk .
John* Van Voorst/, lonnLoru
THE BEE.
21
shape and appearance, is one of the leaves of chaff
that surround a grain of wheat. It is of an elon¬
gated form — not oval, but pointed at one end; and
the similarity between the two objects goes still far¬
ther, for both have a bright external appearance.
But here the resemblance ends ; and what a contrast
is revealed by an examination of the two objects
under the microscope !
The piece of chaff presents a uniform glazed sur¬
face, whilst in the eye of the Bee, which is much
darker in colour, the brightness referred to arises
from its peculiar structure ; in fact, it is owing to
the presence of about 3500 small but perfect hexa¬
gonal lenses fitting closely together, and disposed in
regular rows over the whole circumference.
You will not be surprised, after this statement, to
hear that the compound eye of a Bee is one of the
most exquisitely constructed instruments in nature
(we are almost tempted to say the most exquisite),
and one which, small though it be, displays the power
and wisdom of the Omnipotent in as striking a
manner as do His most imposing and majestic
works.
Let us therefore solicit your careful attention,
whilst we endeavour to describe the details of its
wonderful structure ; and we can promise that you
will be well requited for the trouble of accompanying
tis in the investigation.
In order to afford some idea of the general charac¬
ter and operation of one of these compound eyes, we
22
HUMBLE CREATURES.
shall compare it to a bundle of telescopes (3500, re¬
member !), so grouped together that the large ter¬
minal lenses present an extensive convex surface,
whilst, in consequence of the decreasing diameter of
the instruments, their narrow ends meet and form a
smaller concentric curve. Now, if you can imagine
it possible to look through all these telescopes at one
glance, obtaining a similar effect to that of the stereo¬
scope, you will be able to form some conception of
what is probably the operation of vision in the Bee.
This comparison, however, presents but a crude and
imperfect idea of the organ in question, and we shall
now accurately describe one of these “ telescopes,”
as we have popularly termed them.
Each of the eyelets or u ocelli ,” which, aggregated,
constitute the compound eye of a Bee, is itself a per¬
fect instrument of vision, consisting of two remark¬
ably formed lenses, namely an outer “ corneal ” lens
(PL IV. fig. 1, a a a), and an inner or “ conical”
lens (b) . The “ corneal” lens ( a ) is a hexahedral or
six-sided prism, and it is the assemblage of these
prisms that forms what is called the “ cornea ” of
the compound eye.
This “ cornea ” may easily be peeled off, and if the
whole, or a portion, be placed under the microscope,
the grouping of the beautiful lenses becomes di¬
stinctly visible. In PI. IV. fig. 2, which represents a
portion of the cornea magnified, a little of the sub¬
jacent layer of colouring-matter ( pigmentum nigrum),
of which we shall speak hereafter, has also been re-
THE BEE.
23
tained, and is distinguishable behind some of the
lenses.
But, stay ! we must not yet part company with the
corneal lens of the Bee’s eyelet ; for, on closer inves¬
tigation, we shall perceive that it is not a simple , but
a compound lens, — a fact of considerable importance,
that has, we believe, been overlooked by physiologists.
It is composed of two plano-convex lenses (PI. IV.
fig. 1, 11, 12) (that is, as you doubtless know, lenses
having a plane and a convex surface) of different den¬
sities or refracting powers, and the plane surfaces of
these lenses being adherent, it follows that the pris¬
matic corneal lens is a compound double convex lens*.
The effect of this arrangement is, that if there
should be any aberration or divergence of the rays of
light during their passage through one portion of the
lens, it is rectified in its transit through the other.
Now' it is nothing new to find in the eye of an animal
lenses of different densities, but we do not recollect
ever having heard of any other instance where one
compound lens has been found consisting of two ad¬
herent ones of this description f. How remarkable,
then, that we should discover such a phenomenon in
so humble an animal as the Bee ! Aye, reader ; and
how remarkable, too, that we should find such a con¬
trivance adopted by man in the construction of what he
at present considers the most perfect microscopic lens !
* We believe the credit of this discovery is due to Dr. J. B.
Hicks.
t It is not unlikely that the eyes of other insects are simi¬
larly constructed.
24
HUMBLE CREATURES.
With untiring patience and perseverance his mind
was directed to the attainment of this end, namely
to correct the aberration of light, which caused his
lenses to colour and distort the objects under inves¬
tigation, until he found that, by employing com¬
pound lenses of varying densities, this evil effect was
counteracted ; and now we see that the Creator had,
probably before man was brought into existence, con¬
structed the eye of the Bee on the same principle.
There is one thought that cannot fail to present
itself to the reflecting mind in connexion with this
analogy between the eye of the Bee and the achro¬
matic lens, confirmatory of the great declaration that
“ God made man in His own image,” — Has not man
invented, what He no doubt suggested, but not alone
through the medium of the external senses ? for man
knew nothing of the compound lens in the Bee’s
eyelet when the idea occurred to him to construct an
achromatic lens for his microscope, and yet it is ob¬
vious that he hit upon one of the most perfect means
of attaining the desired end !
A word more regarding the corneal lenses of the
Bee.
It appears to us questionable whether the normal
shape of these lenses is hexagonal, or whether this
form is not rather a necessity of growth ; that is to
say, we think they are normally round, but assume the
hexagonal shape during the process of development
in consequence of their agglomeration. If this sur¬
mise he correct, it applies equally to the compound
THE BEE.
25
eyes of all insects, and our inference in tliis respect
is drawn —
1. From the exceptional character of hexagonal or
any other than circular lenses in the eyes of all ani¬
mals, and from the fact of the simple eyes of insects
themselves being circular (PL I Y. fig. 4) .
2. From the circumstance that, in the insect races,
the conical lenses of the ocelli (PI. IY. fig. 1, b) (to be
described presently), which do not impinge one upon
another, are not hexagonal, but round.
3. Because, in the posterior angle of the compound
eye of the worker-bee, we often find some of the
corneal or external lenses of a smaller size, and not
adherent (PL IV. fig. 5), but having a little inter¬
mediate space surrounding each, and these facets are
invariably round.
4. From the fact that in one insect at least, the Sheep
tick, Melophagus ovinus , which ranks very low in the
scale of development, we find all the external facets
of the compound eyes non-adherent and circular*.
So much, then, for the corneal lens of the ocellus
of the Bee, a compound hexahedral prism with double
convex surfaces. Following the course of a ray of light
after it has passed through this lens, we find that it
traverses a vacant space (Pl. IV. fig. 1, c) before enter¬
ing the conical lens ( b ), this space being surrounded
by the dark pigment already referred to (d), and con¬
stricted or narrowed midway into the form of a round
* A careful examination of the eye in the pupa, whilst in
process of development, confirms the opinion here expressed.
c
26
HUMBLE CREATURES.
hole, on the same principle as the diaphragm in the
eye-piece of a microscope or in the Coddington lens.
This natural diaphragm is so formed, that the
amount of light which is permitted to pass, is to some
extent limited, and any remaining tendency to aber¬
ration in this wonderful instrument is thereby com¬
pletely corrected. The same layer of dark colouring-
matter is continued downwards (PI. IV. fig. 1, d' d' d'
& fig. 3) between the conical lenses, so that these are
effectually isolated, and the rays cannot become con¬
fused by passing from one lens to the other. The
conical lens ( b ) is curiously shaped, but simple in its
structure, not being compound, as is the corneal lens,
but of the same density throughout. It is also double
convex, the base as well as the apex (from which the
point is removed) presenting rounded surfaces.
At the apex it comes into contact with the bulbous
expansion of the optic nerve (PI. IV. fig. 1, e), which
receives the image of the external object, and this
nerve proceeds downward in a line continuous with
the axis of the ocellus, until it meets the nerves of
the other eyelets (PI. IV. fig. 3). These then unite
and form a common trunk that communicates with
what we may popularly call the insect's brain (strictly
speaking, the “ cephalic ganglia ” PI. VII. fig. 2, a) .
But you may, perhaps, be puzzled to understand
how so many small images, as must necessarily enter
the compound eye of the Bee, can become amalga¬
mated and combine to form a single picture of the
external field ; the effect will, however, be perfectly
THE BEE.
27
clear to your mind, if you only consider the action of
our own two eyes, which convey to our brain not
two , but only one distinct image of the surrounding
objects ; and supposing that, instead of two, we had
a considerable number of eyes properly disposed, the
ultimate effect would be just the same. Now, an
examination of the external lenses of the compound
eye of the Bee shows that their surfaces, especially
the inner ones, are not all of equal convexity, and
there appears to be, as we might expect, such an
arrangement and disposition of the whole mass, as to
ensure the most perfect cooperation between each lens
and the surrounding ones. We also find regularly
scattered over the surface of the cornea — in fact,
one between almost every lens and its neighbour — a
great number of long hairs, and these also aid, no
doubt, in the stoppage or diversion of indirect rays
that might tend to confuse the common image.
In a former work* we expressed the opinion that
the object of these numerous facets in the compound
eyes of insects is to render the external field clearer
when the insect has occasion to enter the dim hol¬
lows of flowers and other dark places in search of
food, through the formation of a single picture by
the union of a great number of smaller images ; and
this view would appear to receive striking confirma¬
tion from the organs of vision in the Bee, which
spends a considerable portion of its time in the corollce
of flowers, or in the darkened hive.
* ‘The Earthworm and Housefly.’
c 2
28
HUMBLE CREATURES.
Here we find the facets to be very numerous and
complex; and in the drones, which rarely quit the
hive except to swarm, or accompany the queen in
her wedding flight, they are much larger and more
numerous than those either of the queen or worker.
It is not yet decided what the drones do in the
hive ; but to suppose, with some naturalists, that they
have no occupation whatever, and consequently that
so much additional care has been bestowed by Nature
upon their organs of vision without a definite object,
is quite opposed to our views regarding evidences of
design. For the credit of the “ male sex,” we trust
that they will he found to have some duty allotted
to them ; but of this, more hereafter.
With respect to the simple eyes (. stemmata ) of the
Bee, they are, as before stated, three in number, and
disposed in a triangle between the two compound
eyes (PI. III. fig. 1, b b). They are very simple in
structure, probably even more so than has been sup¬
posed by some of our leading physiologists.
Siebold and others describe them as consisting of
two lenses, an outer meniscus lens (convex outside
and concave inwards), and an inner, almost globular
one*. So far, however, as our investigations and ex¬
periments enable us to judge, there is only one simple
lens, that one being nearly globular (PI. IY. fig. 4, a) ;
and immediately behind this lens is the expansion of
the optic nerve, composed of what are termed papillae
— little bulbous subdivisions of the nerve, between
* The “ outer lens ” is a layer of integument.
PLATE IV.
JB .TBscks<$} Samuels oru, del#
Stmctore o£ eyes, (Compound ScSvnplp) of Pee.
John' Vwv TCorsb, lundprv.
C.IL,Fordj,titiv
THE BEE.
29
each of which the dark colouring matter intervenes
(PL IV. fig. 6).
The nearest approach to these eyes is found in the
Arachnidse or Spider races, where, however, the
number is greater, and the eyes themselves are some¬
what more complicated ; in both cases these eyes are
surrounded on all sides by curiously-shaped hairs
having a central stem and lateral branches.
If our space permitted, we might add other inter¬
esting details regarding these organs ; but they have
already received a large, though not unmerited, share
of our notice, and we must now proceed to the con¬
sideration of the remaining organs situated upon the
head of the Bee.
We are indeed loth to pass awray from this inter¬
esting portion of the subject, and before doing so,
would earnestly recommend you to direct your atten¬
tion not only to the anatomy of the organs of vision
in this and other insects, but also to their operation ;
for this is still far from being clearly understood. A
careful consideration of the simple and compound
eyes and of their relative uses, besides being a source
of great enjoyment, will not fail to reveal some new
facts that may prove useful to science. That these
wonderful organs teach us edifying lessons in philo¬
sophy and religion, we have already seen by a com¬
parison of their structure with that of our achromatic
lenses and other portions of our philosophical instru¬
ments; for in the latter wre see the intelligence of
man repeat, in things made, the beautiful conceptions
of the Infinite in things created.
30
HUMBLE CREATURES.
CHAPTER III.
THE ANTENNAE OR FEELERS OF THE BEE ; THEIR STRUCTURE,
AND ANECDOTES CONCERNING- THEIR EMPLOYMENT. — THE
REMARKABLE MASTICATING APPARATUS J ITS SAW-LIKE
JAWS, CUTTING BLADES, AND EXQUISITE LIGULA OR TONGUE;
THEIR USES. — THE THORAX OR CHEST. - THE LEGS : WON¬
DERFUL CONSTRUCTION OF THE BEE’S HIND-LEGS; THE
POLLEN-BASKET AND PLIERS. — HOW THE BEE COLLECTS ITS
PROVENDER. — WING OF A BEE AND ITS COMPONENT PARTS.
— CURIOUS CONTRIVANCE FOR LOCKING THE WENGS TO¬
GETHER. — USES OF THE WINGS. — THE STING ; ITS BARBS
AND POISON-BAG. - SUMMARY.
Having carefully examined the complicated anatomy
of the eyes of the Bee, the next organs upon its head
that we shall have to consider are its antennae or
feelers (PI. Y. fig. 1, a, & fig. 2). These appendages
are thread-like or filiform, as they are scientifically
denominated, and if you examine them with a lens,
you will find that they are composed of thirteen
cylindrical joints of nearly equal diameter, the second
from the head being, however, much longer than the
rest, and comprising above one-third of the whole
antenme (PI. Y. fig. 2, a). With the exception of
this one, all the annulated segments of the antennae
are studded over with perforations similar to those
upon the third joint of the Housefly. These per¬
forations will be more readily detected through the
employment of a low magnifying power (fig. 3), or.
THE BEE.
31
still better, if one of the antenme be bleached with
chlorine, and a portion of it be then submitted to
microscopic investigation. Then you will be able
not only to distinguish the peculiar structure of the
organs with which it is covered, and to perceive that
they are closed sacculi (little sacs), but you may also
trace the central nerve that runs along the whole
length of the feeler, giving off innumerable branches,
one of which communicates with each of the cavities
on the surface (PL IY. fig. 3, a , & fig. 4) . This con¬
nexion of the vesicles or sacculi with the nervous
system in the manner just described, denotes clearly
that they are organs of sense.
Thus much has been determined with tolerable
certainty ; but now comes the problem — what is the
character of the sensory function performed by these
antennse ? is it that of hearing, smell, or touch ?
That they are organs of touch is decided beyond a
doubt : but whether there is combined with this sense
that of hearing or smell, or whether the vesicles are
organs that convey external impressions to the ner¬
vous centres in a manner inappreciable by us, is still
an open question ; for however carefully they have
been examined and compared with the sensory organs
in other races of animals, no physiologist has yet been
able to pronounce definitely as to their true function*.
* Tlie opinions of various naturalists in this respect will be
found in the e Earthworm and Housefly/ p. 37, and note ; and in
various contributions by Hr. Hicks to the Transactions of the
Linnean Society.
32
HUMBLE CREATURES.
The Bees employ their antennse for various pur¬
poses ; amongst others, to ascertain the character
and form of objects and substances, as a guide in the
construction of their cells, and to communicate in¬
formation to one another, the last-named end being
accomplished by crossing their feelers with those of
their congeners.
Whilst its antennae remain unimpaired, the in¬
stincts of the Bee are wonderfully active and acute ;
but as soon as it is deprived of these mysterious
organs, its whole nature seems to undergo a change,
and its psychical or mental state may then be com¬
pared to that of an imbecile or insane person — to
one, in fact, who has “ lost his senses.”
With the view of illustrating this observation, we
shall repeat two anecdotes related by Huber, and
transferred from the pages of Messrs. Kirby and
Spence : — “ You have seen that the organ of the lan¬
guage of ants is their antennae. Huber has proved
satisfactorily that these parts have the same use
with the Bees. He wished to ascertain whether,
when they had lost a queen (intelligence which tra¬
verses a whole hive in about an hour), they discovered
the sad event by their smell, their touch, or any
unknown cause. He first divided a hive by a grate,
which kept the two portions about three lines apart,
so that they could not come at each other, though
scent would pass*. In that part in which there was
* If scent would pass and did not fail to attract the Bees,
sound would pass also ; according to Huber’s views, therefore, it
THE BEE.
33
no queen the bees were soon in great agitation, and as
they did not discover her where she was confined, in a
short time they began to construct royal cells, which
quieted them. He next separated them by a parti¬
tion through which they could pass their antennae, but
not their heads. In this case the bees all remained
tranquil, neither intermitting the care of the brood
nor abandoning their other employments, nor did
they begin any royal cell*. The means they used to
assure themselves that the queen was in their vicinity,
and to communicate with her, was to pass their an¬
tennae through the openings of the grate. An infinite
number of these organs might be seen at once, as it
were, inquiring in all directions, and the queen was
observed answering these anxious inquiries of her
subjects in the most marked manner, for she was
always fastened by her feet to the grate, crossing her
antennae with those of the inquirers. Various other
experiments, which are too long to relate, prove the
importance of these organs as instruments of com¬
municating with each other, as well as to direct the
Bee in all its proceedings.^
But the second anecdote will exhibit to us the
disastrous effect produced by the loss of these organs.
“ The amputation of one of the antennae of a queen-
bee appears not to affect her perceptibly, but cut-
would appear that the antennae (which he shows to be the media
of communication) were neither organs of scent nor of sound.
* This will be explained hereafter; it indicates that they
knew the queen to be present.
c 5
34
HUMBLE CREATURES.
ting off botli these organs produces a very striking
derangement of her proceedings. She seems in a
species of delirium, and deprived of all her instincts ;
everything is done at random ; yet the respect and
homage of the workers towards her, though they are
received bv her with indifference, continue undi
minished. If another in the same condition be put
in the hive, the bees do not appear to discover the
difference, and treat them both alike ; but if a perfect
one be introduced, even though fertile, they seize her,
keep her in confinement, and treat her very unhand¬
somely. One may conjecture from this circumstance
that it is by those wonderful organs, the antennae,
that the bees know their own queen.”
Although we are not in a position to state decidedly
what is the precise function of the antennae, we may
mention that the opinion, derived chiefly from their
anatomical structure, is gaining ground, that they are
organs of hearing as well as touch, and the mode of
their application leads to the same belief. The ques¬
tion is however, as before stated, still undecided,
and it presents a most interesting field for research,
not only to those who employ the microscope in the
investigation of the anatomy of insects, but also to
naturalists who observe their habits, and in either
case the careful student can hardly fail to throw addi¬
tional light upon the inquiry*.
* There is no doubt whatever that the Bee possesses the
senses of touch, hearing, and smell, or functions corresponding
therewith ; the difficulty is to assign to them a locality.
THE BEE.
35
Having now examined tlie mysterious antennae, and
briefly referred to tlie present state of our knowledge
regarding their functions, let us ask you once more
to take up your lens and proceed with us in the in¬
vestigation of the Bee’s head, of which we have not
by any means exhausted the scientific treasury. At
the first glance, however, it is difficult to discover any
other features of interest upon this part of the body ;
but a more careful investigation, especially in the
living Bee, soon reveals an apparatus as complicated
and remarkable as any that is to be found in the
insect world.
The next time vou observe a Bee as it enters the
«/
corolla of some fragrant flower in search of honey,
take notice of the appearance presented by the pointed
termination of its head (PL III. fig. 1, d), and you
will see the two halves into which the extremity is
divided opened from time to time, and a set of beau¬
tiful organs protruded (PI. V. fig. 1). These consti¬
tute the oral apparatus, or the organs of the mouth,
which lie folded up underneath the head when not in
use, and to these we shall now direct our attention.
It is well known that in the most perfect form of
the masticating apparatus of insects, there are to be
found the following symmetrical parts : — (1.) A hori¬
zontal labrum or upper lip, and a labium or lower lip,
the latter being furnished with two lateral organs
known as the labial palpi or feelers, and both lips
working up and down perpendicularly like our own.
These portions of the apparatus, when closed, usually
36
HUMBLE CREATURES.
cover the remaining oral organs, which consist (2)
of a pair of jaws called the mandibles, and (3) of a
second pair, the maxillae, there being appended to the
latter another pair of lateral feelers (the maxillary
palpi) : the maxillary organs work at right angles to
the upper and lower lip, that is to say, horizontally ,
and operate after the manner of a pair of scissors.
Now, in the Coleoptera, or Beetle tribes, especially
those that gnaw wood or other hard substances, the
jaws are very powerfully developed, whilst in some
other insects these organs are transformed into what
is termed a “proboscis” or suction-pump, with which
the creature secures the ambrosial juices of flowers.
Again, in the Fly, &c. there exist, coupled with this
proboscis, a pair of lancets (metamorphosed maxillae),
wherewith the insect is enabled to puncture the sub¬
stances from which it extracts the juices ; and this
type reaches its highest development in the dreaded
Gnat, where we find almost the whole apparatus to
consist of a series of long pointed instruments, that
inflict so painful a wound even upon man.
But far more extraordinary than all these types,
and perfectly adapted in every respect to the ends
required, do we find the oral apparatus of the Bee,
which presents a beautiful combination of the fore¬
going varieties of structure.
Its mandibles form, when closed, the split, pointed
termination of the head (PI. III. fig. 1, a) ; but when
they are separated, they will be found to resemble a
pair of serrated or toothed pincers (PI. Y. fig. 1, b b).
THE BEE.
37
These instruments, which are obviously intended to
enable the little worker to bruise, crush, or divide
hard substances, are extremely strong and solid, being
composed of the same dark, horny, opake substance
V
(chitine) as that constituting the rings of the body ;
whilst the remaining parts of the oral apparatus,
although horny, are translucent and of a bright
straw colour. The most conspicuous of these are the
maxillce (PL Y. fig. 1, c c), two long pointed blades,
whose thin edges work one against another like those
of a pair of ordinary sheep-shears, which instrument
they indeed resemble in shape, and along the middle
of each blade there runs a longitudinal rib covered
with hairs. At this part the blade suddenly becomes
thin and transparent, forming the edge, whilst the
back is much stronger and thicker, being supported
by a series of transverse ribs (PI. Y. fig. 1, c c) ; these
ribs, on being closely examined, are found to resemble
those in the proboscis of the Ply, and their function
has long been a subject of controversy : in all proba¬
bility they merely form a basis of support to the
organs in which they are present.
This shape or structure of the maxillae or jaws is
doubtless the most perfectly adapted to aid the insect
in cutting and moulding its wax, in which operation
it also employs the exquisitely-formed ligula or
tongue (PI. V. fig. 1, d).
The ligida , along with the two lateral feelers (labial
palpi), constitute the remaining portion of the oral
apparatus ; and the former is of the most delicate con-
38
HUMBLE CREATURES. "
struction, being covered along its whole length with
regular and symmetrical circlets or wreaths of fine
hairs, and terminated by a little flat lenticular ex¬
pansion, as represented in Pl. V. fig. 1, d'. It is the
opinion of some authors, that the ligula, unlike the
proboscis of the Butterfly, which operates as a tubular
suction-pump, is employed by the insect to lap the
honey after the manner of the tongue in the higher
animals. A careful examination of the organ, how¬
ever, shows that it is furnished with a long thin tube,
which, commencing at the root, traverses the whole
length, and terminates at the little expansion referred
to. This tube (which can be detached) may perhaps
be partially open on one side, or, judging by its ap¬
pearance at the base of the ligula, it is probably so
formed that it can be closed at the will of the insect ;
but there can be little doubt, from its whole appear¬
ance and its connexion with the terminal disc, that it
serves to convey the nectar to the mouth. Lastly,
the labial palpi (PI. Y. fig. 1, e) are articulated and
terminated by little knobs covered with hairs, and, as
already observed, when not in use, the whole of this
complicated apparatus lies folded up and concealed
behind the pointed termination, and beneath the
under surface of the head.
With regard to the oral organs of the Bee, we
have only further to observe, that although at first
sight it may appear strange that so humble an insect
should be thus remarkably endowed, it will no longer
be a matter of surprise when we come to consider
PLATE
r t
V.
Pig. 4.
q£ 2ea^ Hooldets a£ Kmg of Bee.
John TJcnz Voorst?, London/
G-.E.Tarci, tithe
THE BEE.
39
its various occupations. Then, indeed, you will rather
be disposed to wonder how so simple an apparatus can
be made subservient to such a variety of purposes, as
the gathering of honey, the kneading, cutting, mani¬
pulation and adjustment of wax, the plastering of
propolis, the feeding of the young, and many other
employments too numerous to be recorded.
Having thus completed our survey of the organs
and appendages situated upon the Bee’s head, let us
now proceed to the consideration of those upon the
thorax or chest. This segment of the body (PI. II.
figs. 1, 2, h ) is subdivided into three sections or imper¬
fect rings, the anterior of which is called the pro-
thorax, the middle the mesothorax, and the posterior
the me/«thorax. As stated in a former chapter, the
members of locomotion, which are all appended to
the chest, consist of three pairs of legs and two
pairs of wings; whereof the two anterior legs are
situated upon the prothorax ; the middle pair of legs,
along with one pair of wings, upon the mesothorax ;
and the third, or posterior pairs of legs and wings,
are connected with the metathorax.
The leg of the Bee, like that of all other insects,
is composed of five limbs or members, some of which
possess features of great interest in relation to the
functions that they have to perform ; for you must
know that the legs of the Bee serve the insect not
only as members of locomotion, but also, as you will
see hereafter, in various other ways connected with
its daily pursuits in and out of the hive.
40
HUMBLE CREATURES.
The first of these five limbs, the coxa or hip, is
short and round, being the joint that articulates with
the body (PL YI. fig. 1, a) ; the second, the tro¬
chanter (h), another small roundish joint ; then the
femur ( c ), a thin elongated division ; the tibia ( d)} a
stout thick limb, which in the hind-leg becomes
gradually wider as it recedes from the preceding one ;
and lastly, the tarsus or foot (e), which is subdivided
into five smaller articulations or segments, the ter¬
minal one comprising a pair of hooked claws.
A comparison of the figures representing the three
kinds of Bee (worker, drone, and queen) will serve to
show you that the legs vary somewhat in their pro¬
portions ; but as the posterior or hinder pair, espe¬
cially in the worker-bee, possess all the interesting
features common to the remaining pairs, and some
characteristics peculiar to themselves, we shall only
bring our lens and microscope to bear upon the re¬
markably constituted hind-legs.
The most superficial inspection of one of these
members (PI. YI. fig. 1) cannot fail to suggest the
idea that it must perform some other function be¬
sides that of locomotion. First of all, its limbs or
joints are of a very curious shape, and unlike those of
other insects ; for the fourth limb or tibia ( d ) becomes
very broad as it approaches the fifth, that is, the
tarsus, the first joint of which is also very largely deve¬
loped (e), being of an oblong shape, and covered
over its whole surface with regular rows of long stiff
hairs. And then, if you examine the junction of
THE BEE.
41
these two divisions of the leg (PL VI. fig. 1 ,j, and
fig. 2), another peculiarity presents itself: namely,
a cavity formed by the uppermost edge of the first
joint of the tarsus and the lower edge of the tibia,
which cavity (PI. VI. fig. 2) resembles an open vice,
and may be closed from the joint at the will of the
insect. But this is not all : on the upper side of this
receptacle (for this is the well-known pocket or pollen-
basket of the Bee), you will find a row of long lancet-
or sword -shaped hairs (PI. VI. fig. 2, a'), regarding the
use of which we need not long remain in doubt.
Here it is that the industrious worker commences
the storing up of her “ bee-bread/5 which consists of
the pollen of flowers moistened with honey ; the first
deposition being no doubt pressed together and con¬
solidated by the prongs and the vice referred to, and
particle after particle added, and in like manner ren¬
dered consistent by the rows of long hairs distributed
over the first joint of the tarsus, until the whole pollen-
mass assumes the form of those curious pellets that
you may see encumbering the little caterer as she
returns home from her aerial wanderings. The
sides of the tibia, as well as those of the first joint
of the tarsus, are slightly hollowed, whereby the de¬
position and retention of the bee-bread are greatly
facilitated.
And now let us travel on to the last joint of the
tarsus (PI. VI. fig. 1, e , & fig. 3), furnished with its
remarkable terminal claws, and we shall find that it
is hardly surpassed in interest by the wonderful feet
42
HUMBLE CREATURES.
of tlie Housefly, whereby that insect is enabled
to progress so readily upon glazed or inverted sur¬
faces*.
In the Bee the claws are forked (PL VI. fig. 3),
and not simple, as in the Fly ; and whilst the latter
has two beautiful pads, the insect under considera¬
tion is provided with only one central, hollow, cup¬
shaped organ (PI. VI. fig. 3, a), studded all over with
innumerable hairlets. The reason for this difference
in the construction of the feet of the two insects is
obvious enough. The central cup-shaped organ of
the Bee no doubt operates as do the pads in the Fly,
giving the insect a hold upon smooth surfaces : but,
as you will probably yourself have noticed, the Bee
does not move over such surfaces with the same
facility as the Fly, nor has it occasion so to do; it
has therefore only one pad, more simple than those of
the Fly. But, on the other hand, having frequent
occasion to use its claws in its domestic operations,
such as the adjustment of wax, pollen, &c., these
instruments are, as just observed, of a more com¬
plicated structure than those of the Housefly.
Thus you see that even on the hind-leg of a Bee,
there are to be found various appliances well adapted
to the uses for which they are intended, but not at
all requisite for the mere act of locomotion ; and if
we now proceed to investigate the wings of the in¬
sect, we shall in like manner be surprised at the dis¬
covery of exquisite contrivances that are applicable
* ‘ Earthworm and Housefly,’ p. 51.
THE BEE.
43
to other uses than that for which organs of flight are
usually destined. The wings are, as before stated,
four in number, the anterior pair being the largest
(PI. II. figs. 1,4). They are composed of a double
membrane which is covered all over with fine hairs,
and stretched out upon what are termed “ nervures,”
or ribs, that ramify between the double fold. (PI. YI.
fig. 4.)
Accompanying the nervures are also to be found
a set of vessels for the circulation of air (trachese),
and another set for the passage of blood ; and although
the nervures are not so numerous in this as in some
other insects, they are of a firm consistent nature,
giving to the wings that tough membranous texture
which characterizes the order (Hymenoptera).
But you may be disposed to ask why the wings
of a Bee should require to be tougher and more re¬
sisting than those of other insects. This would be a
very natural inquiry, and one that we shall seek to
answer satisfactorily ; but, before doing so, let us for
a moment direct your attention to another feature in
connexion with these organs. Supposing it to be
necessary that they should offer great resistance to
the atmosphere and present the broadest possible un¬
broken surface, this object would of course be greatly
facilitated if the two pairs of wings could be locked
together in such a manner that it would be impossible
for a current of air to pass between them. Well,
then, without rendering them permanently adherent,
which wrould make it inconvenient for the insect to
44
HUMBLE CREATURES.
fold its wings. Nature has, by a beautiful but simple
contrivance, attained this end : for, if you take your
lens and examine the anterior or front edge of the
hinder wing (PL YI. fig. 4, h and Pl. Y. fig. 5), you will
be surprised to find a row of exquisitely formed hooks ;
whilst, on the opposite edge of the anterior wing
with which this row of hooks comes into immediate
contact, you will be able to detect a species of rib or
bar (Pl. Y. fig. 6, b), to which the hooks may be made
to adhere firmly, and both wings thus attached to
one another when requisite ,• presenting the desired
unbroken surface to the atmosphere.
And now, reader, the reason why these wings are
of a tough resisting nature, and so wonderfully or¬
ganized, is because they are not only employed in
flight, but also (as we shall see hereafter) in the ven¬
tilation of the hive : in the latter capacity the insects
cause them to vibrate very rapidly, so as to create
a current ; in fact, they operate precisely on the prin¬
ciple of the fan. It is hardly necessary, we presume,
to point out to you how inefficient such an instru¬
ment would be if it had a slit down the middle ; and
you will now perceive why it is necessary that the
fore and hind wings of the Bee should be capable of
being locked together, so as to present one conti¬
nuous unbroken surface.
At the roots of the wings, upon what is termed the
sub-costal nerve, there are to be found a number of
pear-shaped vesicles, of a somewhat similar character
to those described upon the antennae ; here, however,
THE BEE.
45
they are open within and elevated above the surface,
and not, as in the antennae, depressed or indented.
In like manner they can only be carefully investigated
when the colouring matter has been removed through
the agency of chlorine, and then a high microscopic
power reveals similar bundles of hoe nerves lead¬
ing to the vesicles, and connected by a trunk to
the central ganglion or nervous mass. These nerves
prove the vesicles, as in the former case, to be organs
of sense, and Dr. Hicks has attributed to them the
function of smell. This inquiry must, howrever, still
be considered an open one ; and here again (not only
in the Bee, but in all other insects) an excellent field
is presented for the investigations of young naturalists.
Beyond these vesicles and the hooks, the wings do
not possess any other feature of interest whereon we
feel tempted to dwell (the tracheae or respiratory
vessels will be described hereafter) ; and as the thorax,
which has furnished us with its fair share of instruc¬
tion, has no other appendages than those already
described, we shall now proceed to examine the only
organ that is visible upon the third or abdominal
segment of the body, that is, the sting, and therewith
conclude our survey of the external organs and mem¬
bers of the Hive-Bee.
If you were ever stung by a Bee, and, after ex¬
tracting the sting, had the curiosity to examine the
weapon that caused you so much pain, you would pro¬
bably have been puzzled to conjecture how an object
apparently so insignificant could produce such a serious
46
HUMBLE CREATURES.
effect. But the fact is, that the sting of a Bee is not
simply, as it might appear at first sight, a little splinter,
resembling those fragments of thorn that we occa¬
sionally find to have penetrated our skin during a
country ramble; but it is a highly organized appa¬
ratus, upon which the penetrating power of the lens
must be brought to bear in order to reveal its for¬
midable character.
The little instrument known as the sting, is found,
when magnified, to be the sheath in which the true
sting lies concealed, although the whole enters the
wound when an attack is made. The piercing appa¬
ratus itself is, however, double (PL VI. fig. 5 ,bb), being
composed of two long darts, which, in the illustration,
are removed from the sheath and separated in order
to exhibit their shape, but in their natural position
are placed side by side, so as to form a lance ; and
being furnished with suitable muscles, they are forcibly
protruded from the sheath (PI. VI. fig. 5, a) when re¬
quired for the purposes of attack or defence. But
our investigation must not stop here ; for if we employ
a tolerably high microscopic power to examine the
points of these darts, we shall find them to be barbed
(PL VI. fig. 6), each piercer being furnished on one
side with eight teeth ; and as they are so placed when
in use that the smooth edges are in juxtaposition, you
will perceive that they then constitute a single for¬
midable barbed spear, similar to one of those primitive
weapons of warfare employed by the savage inhabitants
of various countries, that you will no doubt often have
1
l.ii
'jamas Sarmudsan/, cLd? G.K. 2'oru, Uui .
Joiaiomy: c£ hindleg, Wing & $tmg q£ Wanker Bee.
Jfiorftr, ZorufonJ
THE BEE.
47
met with in museums or collections of ethnological
curiosities.
You will now perceive what a formidable weapon
the sting must be when directed by the Bee against
an insect of its own size ; and, after examining its
barbed points, you will easily understand, too, how it
happens, that, when the little belligerent manages to
penetrate your own skin, it should be compelled to
leave its sting behind.
But there is another and still more dangerous
feature connected with the instrument than even these
barbs, namely that it is poisoned ; for, situated at the
root of the sting, there is a little, sac, containing an
acrid fluid, supposed by some naturalists to be pure
formic acid, and secreted by a pair of tubes appended
to the receptacle*. At the moment when the sting
enters the object attacked, the same muscles by which
it is worked express a drop of the fluid from the sac,
and this, passing through the hollow sheath into the
wound, causes the instantaneous death of the animal
attacked, should it be another insect ; whilst even man
suffers considerable pain from the inflammation re¬
sulting from the poison. The best mode of extracting
the sting, as well as the drop of fluid, is by pressing
the open end of the barrel of a key upon the puncture ;
this forces out both sting and poison, and affords in¬
stantaneous relief.
In the queen, the sting, which is curved, is also a
modified ovipositor (PL II. fig. 20), serving to aid her
* Want of space has prevented us from presenting- an illus-
48 HUMBLE CREATURES.
in the deposition of eggs, as well as to attack her
enemies ; and with what terrible effect she employs
the instrument for the latter purpose, we shall see
hereafter.
And now, reader, having concluded our review of
these various organs and members, we would ask you
to reflect for an instant upon what we have together
examined.
Can you imagine that all these wronderful con¬
trivances, the superficial account of which has occu¬
pied two chapters ; — that the mysterious antennae,
studded over with innumerable organs of sense ; the
eyes, composed of 4000 lesser organs of vision, as
perfect in their construction as our most highly prized
philosophical instruments ; the oral apparatus, con¬
sisting of shears, and saws, and cutting blades ; the
curious legs, provided with baskets for the con¬
veyance of food to the hive, and pliers to aid in the
construction of that dwelling ; the wings, formed not
only as members of locomotion, but also to fulfil the
important process of ventilation; and, lastly, the
sting, with its poisoned barbed lance ; — can you con¬
ceive, we say, that all these remarkable mechanisms
exist upon the common Honey-Bee, which you have
many a time brushed from your window-pane when it
dared to venture inside your dwelling ?
So, however, it is ; and you have perhaps thought
no more of these various wonders in the little
tration of the poison-sac, which is situated within the abdo¬
men, about c, fig. 5, PL VI. PI. VIII. fig. 2 ,p represents one of
the secreting tubes.
THE BEE.
49
honey-maker than of the insect itself when you sat
down at your breakfast-table to enjoy the sweet fruits
of its labours, in which these very instruments were
employed !
But rest assured that the consideration of the vari¬
ous appliances wherewith the Bee is furnished (the
greater portion of which can be easily distinguished
even with a pocket lens) would in no way detract
from the enjoyment of the sweets that they help to
produce ; and let us therefore recommend them, when
the opportunity next presents itself, to your careful
study and investigation.
D
50
HUMBLE CREATURES.
CHAPTER IV.
INTERNAL ANATOMY OF THE BEE. — ORGANS OF DIGESTION. —
GASTRIC TEETH. — RESPIRATORY SYSTEM. — SPIRACLES OR
BREATHING -HOLES, AND TRACHEA: OR AIR-TUBES. — THEIR
BEAUTIFUL CONSTRUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION THROUGH
THE BODY-. — NERVOUS AND CIRCULATING SYSTEMS: THEIR
RELATIVE POSITION IN THE BEE. — DORSAL VESSEL AND
PHENOMENA OF CIRCULATION. — NERVOUS SYSTEM. — ORGANS
OF REPRODUCTION IN THE QUEEN-BEE. — OVARIES, ETC. —
METHOD WHEREBY THE EGGS ARE FERTILIZED, AJSTD RE¬
MARKABLE POWER OF REPRODUCTION IN THE VIRGIN QUEEN.
— STING. — UNITY OF DESIGN IN THE BEE’S STRUCTURE.
If we liave found in the external structure of the
Bee interesting subjects of observation and inquiry,
so shall we also be able to discover in its internal
physiology features that are equally deserving of our
careful attention.
Here, however, the magnifying lens alone will not
suffice, and we must first borrow the scalpel of the
anatomist, and penetrating the solid integument of
chitine that forms the external supporting frame of
the insect, to which the various muscles are attached,
we must lay open the several divisions of its body,
and then examine them through the scrutinizing
medium of the lens.
THE BEE.
51
In so doing, we shall have to proceed upon a dif-
/
ferent plan from that employed in making ourselves
acquainted with the character of the external organs
and members ; for whilst these were local, each having
its appointed place upon some special portion of the
body, the nervous, respiratory , circulating , and digest¬
ive systems, will all be found to occupy a more or
less prominent position in each of the three sections ;
the reproductive organs alone being confined to the
abdominal segments.
Whilst examining the oral apparatus, or mouth of
the Bee, we had occasion to consider and describe
a variety of instruments to whose action the food
is subjected before its admission into the body; and
we shall now follow it in its course through the di¬
gestive system, dwelling for a while upon each organ
through which it is obliged to pass. The nutriment
of the Bee is of a varied kind, being sometimes solid,
as the Bee-bread or pollen, and at others consisting
of liquid honey. In either case, it must first enter
the oesophagus or gullet (PI. VII. fig. 1, a), a portion
of the digestive system analogous to the throat in
the higher animals : this canal or tube traverses the
whole length of the thorax, and leads into the first
stomach (b), the crop, paunch, or honey-bag, as it is
variously denominated.
Should the food consist of the nectar of flowers, it
is probable that, after being retained in the lioney-
hag until the Bee has found its way back to the
hive, it will be regurgitated into the cells of the
d 2
52
HUMBLE CREATURES.
honeycomb, and there add food to the general store ;
but if solid, and destined for the nourishment of the
insect itself, it passes down into the true stomach (c),
where it comes under the influence of what are called
the gastric teeth , and undergoes a second mastication
while being digested.
These gastric teeth, which are formed of silica, and
are consequently very hard, are present not only in
the stomach of the Bee, but in many other insects,
even in those that subsist on liquid nutriment; in
the Blow-fly and Butterfly, for instance, which suck
the juices of plants, &c., their structure is very com¬
plicated, for, although of delicate proportions, they
have a curiously branched form.
This may appear a somewhat superfluous endow¬
ment on the part of Nature, and you will perhaps be
inclined to ask, what can be the use of these diminu¬
tive teeth where the food is of such a character as to
need no mastication ? A little reflection will, how¬
ever, show that it is in those very insects which sub¬
sist on liquid food that they are the most wanted, for,
since they possess (as in the instances just quoted) no
masticating organs at the mouth, there is all the
more necessity for some internal contrivance to reduce
the solid alimentary particles that may enter at the
throat, either accidentally, or in consequence of the
food being of a rather more consistent nature than
usual ; and for every such contingency Nature makes
due provision. Now, in the Bee the gastric appa¬
ratus is very simple, probably for the opposite reason
THE BEE.
53
to that assigned for the complicated teeth of the But¬
terfly, &c., namely, because it possesses powerful
masticating organs at the mouth, and here we find it
to consist of a number of straight, sharp, siliceous
teeth, of very insignificant proportions (PL III. fig. 4),
which are discernible only under a high microscopic
power.
From the stomach the food passess into a short
intestine, narrow at first, and widening as it proceeds
downwards. About the middle, this intestine re¬
ceives a number of tubular glands, known as the
“ biliary tubes ” (PI. VII. fig. 1, d), which correspond
in some degree to the liver in vertebrate animals,
and pour out their fluid upon the food in its pas¬
sage through the intestine. Further on, this canal
becomes much wider, and is then known as the
“ colon” (PI. VII. fig. 1, e), which is the termination,
not only of the intestine, but of the whole digestive
system. The remaining parts of the apparatus are
not of sufficient interest to the general reader to
induce us to dwell upon them, and we shall there¬
fore pass on to that remarkable and deeply interest¬
ing portion of the Bee’s anatomy, the respiratory
system.
The Bee, in common with most other insects, does
not breathe as we do through apertures in the head,
but the air is admitted by special organs situated
upon the surface of the body. These are called
spiracles or stigmata , and consist of little holes
pierced in the external integument, two pairs being
54
HUMBLE CREATURES.
situated on the thorax, and a pair upon each ring of
the abdomen.
In the common Housefly, these spiracles are very
beautifully formed, the entrance being partially closed
by a great number of ramifications of the external
covering of the body, proceeding from the circum¬
ference of the spiracle, and forming a delicate net¬
work, the object of which is to prevent particles of
dust from entering along with the atmosphere. In
the Bee, however, the contrivance is of a different
kind, consisting of two elongated apertures, one be¬
hind the other (PI. VII. fig. 3), and the outer one
only provided with a number of short hairs for the
purpose of precluding foreign substances, instead of
the beautiful ramifications that are present in the
Housefly.
Through these spiracles or breathing-holes, then, the
air is admitted into special organs which enable it to
circulate through the body (PI. VII. fig. 2, aa' b,& c.*),
and consisting of a number of sacs or bladders that
communicate with one another, and with the external
atmosphere, by means of wonderfully constructed
tubes, called tracheae.
The distribution of these sacs and tubes is de¬
serving of especial attention, and we must ask you to
accompany us in an examination of the plate repre¬
senting this portion of the insect’s anatomy (PI. VII.
fig. 2, a a' a, and bbb, &c., the part drawn in tint).
* The respiratory system is represented by the large sac and
connecting tubes at the left side of the figure.
THE BEE.
55
In explanation, however, it is necessary to remark
that, although only one set of organs is here de¬
lineated, they are bilateral , that is to say, distributed
in pairs symmetrically on either side of the body.
The largest pair of sacs is found in the abdomen
(PL VII. fig. 2, a) ; from these proceed two main
trunks, the one (b) upwards into the thorax, and the
other (c) down to the termination of the abdomen.
The latter gives out large branches ending in sacculi
or little sacs (d), whilst the tubes that pass up¬
wards (b) traverse the thorax in a straight line with¬
out any ramification whatever, and only in the head
do we find a second pair of sacs (a) of considerable
dimensions. You will see, therefore, that the greater
number of the respiratory vessels are to be found in
the head and abdomen, especially in the latter, and
the reason for this arrangement is simple and in¬
structive. The abdomen contains all the viscera, and
is by far the heaviest part of the body ; it has there¬
fore the greatest need of the inflated air-vessels to
give it support, and to some extent this applies also
to the head with its large solid eyes, whilst the thorax
is effectually buoyed up in the atmosphere by the
powerful double wings : thus, you see, the equili¬
brium is maintained throughout every part of the
body.
Not only has Nature been thus far consistent in
the disposition of the respiratory vessels, but we find
that in the queen-bee, which quits the liive and takes
her flight in the air only twice or thrice during her
5 6
HUMBLE CREATURES.
lifetime, and whose abdomen is necessarily filled with
an immense number of eggs (PI. VIII. fig. 1), the
large respiratory sacs are quite wanting, and the only
air-vessels are the larger and smaller tracheae.
But by far the most remarkable feature in con¬
nexion with this portion of the Bee’s anatomy is the
structure of the tracheal tubes themselves. On exa¬
mining one of these under the microscope (Pl. VII.
fig. 4), you will find it to consist of a double mem¬
brane supported between the two folds by a coil of
hair-like fibre, just as the coil of wire gives strength
to the elastic gas-tubing employed to feed a table-
lamp from an ordinary chandelier. The object of
this arrangement is similar in both cases : the trachese
are rendered very elastic, and any hindrance to the
passage of air by their collapse is only momentary,
as the supporting coil reopens the tube as soon as
the external pressure is removed. A close investi¬
gation of this mechanism shows that the fibrous coil
becomes more and more delicate as the trachese di¬
minish in size, and that it is not continuous, but
here and there a new coil commences between the
folds of the preceding one.
Dismissing now this interesting portion of the Bee’s
anatomy, we shall direct our attention to the nervous
and circulating systems , and we must commence by
remarking that in the Bee, as in all other articulate
animals, the relative position of these two systems is
precisely the reverse of what it is in the higher ani¬
mals. In the latter (taking ourselves as an example).
THE BEE.
the spinal chord, with its nervous ganglionic centres,,
will be found to traverse the dorsal region of the
body : they run, in fact, along the back, whilst the
heart is situated in front ; but in the Bee the centra)
nervous chord passes along the ventral portion, whilst
the tubular heart occupies a place immediately within
the integument of the dorsal surface. The circu¬
lating apparatus consists chiefly, so far as anatomists
have hitherto been able to trace it, of what is called
the dorsal vessel (in consequence of its running along
the back of the body). This dorsal vessel assumes
the form of a tube, attached to the outer integument
by bands or ligaments, and that portion of it which
is situated in the abdomen is divided into eight
chambers, communicating with one another by means
of valves so constructed as to admit of the blood
passing in one direction only, that is to say, towards
the head. After it has traversed the abdominal
chambers, which may be compared to the chambers
of our heart, the sanguineous fluid continues its course
through the thorax, where the dorsal vessel forms a
simple contractile tube (the aorta) without any di¬
visions, and thence it is forced into the head and
other parts of the body.
The circulation of the Bee cannot, however, be
completely traced, nor is it, so far as we are able to
judge, of a perfect character ; for, although it has been
stated by some anatomists that a portion of the blood
is conducted back from the head to the posterior
part of the body by means of a smaller tube situated
d 5
58
HUMBLE CREATURES.
on the ventral side, opposite the dorsal vessel, this is
by no means established ; and, on the other hand, it
is certain that a considerable quantity of the sangui¬
neous fluid finds its way into the cavities of the body
(lacunce), and there bathes the intestines.
This statement may perhaps cause you some sur¬
prise, for you know, no doubt, that in the higher
animals an escape of blood internally, from the regu¬
lar channels in which it is confined, would lead to
serious, if not fatal results ; and, moreover, the in¬
quiries are at once suggested, “ What becomes of the
blood after it has entered the cavities of the body?
and how is it that the supply is not exhausted ?”
An examination of the “ dorsal vessel” shows that
it is not only furnished with valves that unite its
chambers, but also with another set, which are placed
at the side of the tube, and communicate with the
cavities of the body in such a manner as to admit of
the ingress , but not the egress of fluid. The blood
then, after having bathed the vital organs of the
body, accumulates around the dorsal vessel, into
which it is admitted by this second set of valves, and
again propelled forwards into the thorax. Moreover,
this wonderful force-pump (the dorsal vessel), with its
chambers and valves, gives out several fine branching
arteries, some of which are also said to terminate in
the cavities of the body*.
* The circulation of the blood in insects mav be observed in
«/
some of the smaller Diptera , such as gnats, &c., where the ex¬
ternal envelope is semitransparent, more easily than in the Bee.
THE BEE.
59
The nervous system of the Bee presents the usual
articulate type. It consists of a pair of straight
parallel chords of nerve-substance that lie side by
side, and run along* the whole ventral side of the
body, beginning in the head and ending near the ter¬
mination of the abdomen. Upon these chords are
distributed several ganglia or nervous centres (resem¬
bling pearls strung upon a couple of threads), from
which branches proceed to the various organs and
members of the body.
First, there is the brain (PI. VII. fig. 2, a), or, as it
is technically called, the cephalic, or supracesophayeal
ganglion. This is, strictly speaking, two ganglia
fused into one, as the illustration will show, and
situated (as the names denote) in the head and above
the throat ; each half gives out a large lateral nerve,
the optic nerve ( nervus opticus , PI. VII. fig. 2, o),
which divides into a bundle of finer nerves, whereof
one proceeds to each ocellus or subdivision of the
compound eye*.
From this ganglion also nerves depart to the simple
eyes and feelers (fig. 2 ,n a). Proceeding backwards,
we find another ganglion of considerable size situated
below the throat, and connected with the brain bv
the double chord or commissure referred to : this
ganglion (the sub- or infra-oesophageal, fig. 2, b) sup¬
plies the organs of the mouth and the first pair of
feet (2, 2) with nerves. Continuing our course back¬
wards along the central chords, we arrive at the large
* See page 26.
60
HUMBLE CREATURES.
thoracic ganglion (fig. 2, c) , composed of grey nervous
matter. In the larval stage of the insect this is not
one, but three ganglia, which during the metamor¬
phosis become fused into one large ganglion*, the most
considerable, in fact, in the whole body, and from it
there proceed nerves to the various members of loco¬
motion (3, 4, 5, 6, 7) . Compared with the thoracic
ganglion, the remaining five, all situated in the abdo¬
men (d, e , /, g, h), are of very small proportions, and
each gives out a pair of fine lateral nerves to the organs
enclosed in the respective rings, whilst from the last
ganglion, which is larger than the rest, there proceed
a number of nerves to the reproductive organs.
And now, after this somewhat monotonous account
of nerves and ganglia, we arrive at what must indeed
be regarded as by far the most interesting portion of
the Bee;s anatomy, when considered in relation to the
history of the insect ; we mean the organs of repro¬
duction ; for their investigation has not only explained
much that was before mysterious in its life-history,
but has revealed some of the most remarkable phe¬
nomena in animated nature.
It has been already stated that a hive consists of
three kinds of Bees : the drones or males ; the workers
or females with reproductive organs but partially de¬
veloped, and consequently of no use in the multipli¬
cation of the species ; and the queen or perfect female,
the mother of the hive, in whom the reproductive
system is complete. We shall now ask you to accom-
* See account of the metamorphosis, Chapter VI.
PLATE VII.
Pig. 1.
Pig. 3.
J ‘ i tfr 'rks foSamatlsoru del ?
LigestLe.PLspiratory, &.Nervtnis System c£ Bee.
John - Thru Toorst, londoru.
G-E.Forj,Tzth.
THE BEE.
61
pany ns in a brief survey of the organs of the Queen
Bee, by means of which the hive is so rapidly and
effectively stocked.
In describing the respiratory system of the Bee,
you will recollect it was mentioned that the two large
abdominal sacs which are always present in the worker
are absent in the queen ; and if you were carefully to
dissect the body of the latter, yon would find their
place occupied by two objects resembling miniature
bunches of grapes, that monopolize the greater por¬
tion of the abdominal segment ; these are the two
ovaries (PL VIII. figs. 1, 2, 3), or the receptacles
wherein the eggs are developed.
They are bilateral, and composed of an assemblage
of tubes collected in a bundle, and all closed at one ex¬
tremity (PL VIII. figs. 1, 2, 3, a) . At the other end (b) *
they open out into what may be popularly called a com¬
mon trunk (scientifically the “proper oviduct ” c,c),
being very small at the extreme end, and gradually
widening as they approach the aperture. At the
narrow ends of these tubes (a) the “germinal vesicles ”
are formed, that constitute the reproductive element
in the eggs ; and as these vesicles pass downwards,
or more correctly speaking backwards, to the proper
oviduct, they are increased in size by the addition of
the “ vitelline matter,” or, as it is commonly called,
the yelk.
* See especially fig. 3, b. Fig. 1 represents the ovaries in situ ;
fig. 2, their general shape ; fig. 3, the portion connected with
the oviduct.
62
HUMBLE CREATURES.
When fully formed, the ova, which appear to be
arrested at a certain point near the entrance to the
“proper oviducts” (fig. 3, d), so that the subdivision
into tubes is here distinctly visible, enter these two
ducts and pass on to the “ common oviduct ” (fig. 2,4
a large central tube formed by the union of the two
“ proper oviducts,” and thence they are extruded into
the cells prepared for their reception by the Worker
Bee.
But a curious feature in connexion with this por¬
tion of the Bee’s anatomy is the means provided for
the fertilization of the ova; these, during their pas¬
sage through the “ common oviduct,” come into con¬
tact with the male elements, which are deposited by
the drone, and stored up in the “ spermatlieca ”
(PL VIII. fig. 2, s), a reservoir provided for the pur¬
pose, and connected by a short tube with the oviduct*.
By this operation the eggs become fructified, and, in
consequence of this peculiar arrangement, a single
impregnation by the male is sufficient to fertilize the
queen-bee during her whole life.
Unless you were previously acquainted with the
circumstance, this statement might appear very re¬
markable ; but, strange though it be, it is but of
slight interest compared with another fact recently
revealed with the aid of the microscope, and that is,
that the union of the sexes is not at all an indispen-
* By the side of the u spermatlieca” (the little globular
vessel) will he seen two secreting tubes (l, If whose office is not
known, but which probably secrete a moistening fluid.
THE BEE.
63
sable condition in tlie laying of fruitful eggs, but that
the queen-bee is capable of 'producing and depositing
fertile eggs in her virgin state, from which males alone
proceed) in fact, it is now tolerably well established
that the eggs wherefrom drones are hatched are in no
case fertilized by the male element. To this portion
of the subject we shall have to refer when we come
to treat of tlie life-history and habits of the insect,
and shall now conclude our brief survey of these
interesting organs by stating that those of the male
somewhat resemble the female organs in appearance,
but possess no feature of sufficient interest to render
them worthy of special consideration in a popular
work *.
Although our review of the internal anatomy of
the Bee has been so brief and imperfect (for there
are many other interesting features in this portion of
its frame well worthy of observation), yet, when con¬
sidered in conjunction writh those remarkable external
organs and members described in the preceding chap¬
ter, they must have led you to expect something more
than ordinary in the actions of the insect thus phy¬
sically endowed ; and perhaps even our physiological
investigations will have called to mind many strange
* Tlie sting, which lias been described in a former chapter,
may be once more referred to here, for it serves the double
purpose of a weapon of attack and an ovipositor. One of the
tubes that secrete the poison will be seen at p, fig. 2, and below
e are situate the gland in which the poison is stored, the channel
through which it enters the sting, and that weapon, with the
muscles by which it is drawn into the body.
64
HUMBLE CREATURES.
tales that yon have read, or heard popularly related,
in connexion with its habits and life-history. To
these, then, we shall next direct your attention, and
the consideration of this portion of the subject will
serve to show that all the members and organs
hitherto described are perfectly adapted to the per¬
formance of the functions assigned to them. Then
indeed, when we come to consider the varied im¬
pulses and instincts which are the hidden springs
that set in motion the visible external organs, sub¬
jects of new and surpassing interest will present
themselves, and it will be a matter of wonder and
astonishment how such a variety of actions and mo¬
tions can be concentrated in the insignificant little
Bee. Then will the contemplation of that unity
which characterizes the whole insect mechanism, with
its secret springs and impulses, call forth our warmest
admiration, and cause us to feel
u IIow most exact is Nature’s frame !
IIow wise the Eternal mind !
His counsels never change the scheme
Which His first thoughts design’d.”
THE BEE
65
CHAPTER V.
THE MAN AND THE BEE. — THE BEE AND THE POETS. — CON¬
STITUTION OF A HIVE. - THE QUEEN AND HER DUTIES. -
THE DRONES, ARE THEY MEN ABOUT TOWN P THEIR FATE. -
THE WORKERS. — WAX, ITS COMPOSITION AND USES. — HONEY,
ITS CONSTITUENTS ) ADULTERATION, DETECTION BY THE
MICROSCOPE. — KINDS OF HONEY, BEVERAGES MADE FROM
IT. — ANECDOTES CONCERNING POISONED HONEY. — BEE-
BREAD, ITS APPEARANCE UNDER THE MICROSCOPE, ETC. —
PROPOLIS, HOW COLLECTED AND EMPLOYED J KIRBY AND
spence’s (huber’s) account of its application. — how
THE BEES ENTOMBED A DEAD MOUSE AND A LIVING SNAIL
WITH PROPOLIS. — NATURE AND OCCUPATIONS OF THE WORKER
BEE. — WAX-MAKERS AND BEE-NURSES. — CONSTRUCTION OF
CELLS. — MIRACULOUS POWERS ATTRIBUTED TO THE BEE IN
THIS RESPECT. — VARIOUS THEORIES CONCERNING HEXA¬
GONAL FORM OF CELLS : COMPARISON OF THESE THEORIES,
AND DEDUCTIONS. — THE HONEYCOMB. — WORKER-, DRONE-,
AND QUEEN-CELLS, AND THEIR USES. - THE LITTLE HONEY-
GATHERER, HOW SHE FERTILIZES PLANTS. — HAS THE CREA¬
TOR FORMED ANY ANIMAL IN VAIN ? — LIFE AT THE HIVE-
GATES. — ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE OF EXCURSIONISTS AND
TRADERS. — A PEEP INSIDE. — LIVING VENTILATORS. — THE
BEE AND THE MAN AGAIN. — INTERNAL ECONOMY OF THE
HIVE. - APIARIAN BOARD OF HEALTH, AND BURIAL BOARD. —
THE ART OF FORTIFICATION AMONGST THE BEES.
How remarkable is the analogy that exists between
the natural history of the human race, as known to
66
HUMBLE CREATURES.
us, and that of a hive of bees with its attendant
swarms !
The former, we are told, took its rise in a single
pair — the lord of the creation and his mate. Then
followed workers , tillers of the soil, who sowed and
reaped, constructed dwellings, and collected provision
for themselves and their offspring ; also warriors, who
attacked and defended the city with its inhabitants ;
and then, in the earliest era no doubt, there arose
the "privileged classes” (equivocal privileges were
theirs), who lived by the labour of others, and spent
their time in idleness. Next we hear of wanderings
and migrations of new colonies, offshoots from the
parent stock ; of new cities founded by their labours
and defended by their arms. So it has been from
time immemorial, and so it will probably continue
until the earth is fully peopled.
Now turn we to the Bees.
Their Eve may at least spring into existence (as
we shall see hereafter), bearing within her the off¬
spring, still unborn, that is to produce her whole
colony. First, there appear the workers, who, like
the human workers, so w * and reap, and gather
honey ; the citizens who erect their habitations, ela¬
borating even the necessary materials from their own
bodies : next follow watchmen, warriors, and lazy
drones, the privileged classes; and lastly, we have
the colony, the swarm of emigrants led once more
* That they literally sow seeds we shall find to be the case
when we consider the habits of the worker.
THE BEE.
67
by a second Eve*, and wandering forth in search of a
resting-place and new pasture grounds. And so the
little £ee-world revolves, and will continue to revolve
as long as bees exist.
Never has there been a creature, unless it be per¬
haps the sweet-toned nightingale, that has lent in¬
spiration to the poet’s muse more frequently than
the little Honey Bee; and wherefore has she received
such tributes of praise ? Let us answer in the words
of one of her admirers : —
“Not a flower can be found in the fields,
Or a spot that we till for our pleasure,
From the largest to least, but it yields
The bee, never wearied, a treasure.
“ Scarce any she quits unexplored,
With a diligence truly exact ;
Yet, steal what she may for her hoard,
Leaves evidence none of the fact.
“ Her lucrative task she pursues,
And pilfers with so much address,
That none of their odour thev lose,
t/ 1
Nor charm by their beauty the less.
“ Not thus inoffensively preys
The cankerwonn, indwelling foe !
His voracity not thus allays
The sparrow, the finch, or the crow.
“ The worm, more expensively fed,
The pride of the garden devours ;
And birds pick the seed from the bed,
Still less to be spared than the flowers.
* Strictly speaking, we believe the drones lead the swarm ;
at least, so it has lately been stated.
68
HUMBLE CREATURES.
u But she, with such delicate skill,
Her pillage so fits for our use,
That the chemist in vain with his still
Would labour the like to produce.
u Then grudge not her temperate meals,
Nor a benefit blame as a theft,
Since, stole she not all that she steals,
Neither honey nor wax would be left.”
COWPER.
Poets are often apt to exaggerate, but in the case
of the Bee we cannot lay this fault to their charge.
There can he no doubt that this insect is in every
respect one of the most interesting of all living crea¬
tures; and as the little denizen of the hive is the
companion of man, and renders him essential service,
it is but natural that he should receive a large share
of his attention. This, too, must be our excuse for
reproducing and endeavouring to give fresh interest
to the story that has already been narrated by so
many able writers, and we shall now proceed to take
a peep into the bee- world, and try to penetrate some
of the mysteries of the hive.
A complete community of Bees comprises — 1°, one
queen, the mother of the hive, a perfectly developed
female; 2°, from 600 to 800 drones or males; and
3°, from 15,000 to 30,000 workers, to whom, although
they are known occasionally to lay fruitful worker-
eggs, we may give the appellation of neuters. The
office of the queen-bee is to lay all the eggs that are
hatched in the hive. She is moreover the constitu¬
tional head of the colony, for, although she does
THE BEE.
69
nothing (so far as we know) but add to its numbers,
yet, should she be accidentally or designedly removed,
anarchy at once reigns in the hive ; and if at such a
juncture there be not one of the royal family on the
way from larvahood, the constitutional Bees at once
proceed by a wonderful instinct, and a remarkable
artificial contrivance, to manufacture a fresh head for
the state.
Of the drones little is known, for they rarely leave
the hive excepting to accompany the queen on her
wedding tour, and the sole object for which such
numbers are produced wrould appear to be, in order
that there may be sufficient to ensure for the queen
a suitable consort.
As, however, there has been so little opportunity
of investigating their habits, we must not be so un¬
charitable as to suppose that their life is one of com¬
plete apathy, or that these beaux amuse themselves
by parading the Broadways of the hive, and flirting
with the worker-ladies. It is probable that both
male and female leave such frivolous pursuits to su¬
perior beings , who can afford thus to waste their time,
for we know that the workers at least are inces¬
santly employed in their industrial pursuits, and very
likely the drones, too, have some post allotted to
them. Whatever may be their duties, the services
of the latter are lightly appreciated by the rest of the
community ; for, although they are allowed to remain
unmolested in the hive during the summer months
whilst food is plentiful, and a certain number ac-
70
HUMBLE CREATURES.
company each new swarm, yet when winter ap¬
proaches and there begins to be a fear of famine in
Bee-land, then the ruthless workers drive the lazy
drones out into the cold, and should they attempt to
return, they are mercilessly slaughtered. This is an
easy task, for the drones are not provided with stings,
as are the queen and workers ; and they consequently
fall an easy prey to their amazonian congeners.
But now we come to the most active members of
the community, the workers, who construct the hive,
and perform all the labour necessary for its pre¬
servation, and for the well-being of the inmates.
For this purpose they either collect or elaborate the
following substances, namely, wax, honey, Bee-bread,
and propolis ; and as three of these products are more
or less employed by man in art, science, or domestic
economy, it will be worth our while to devote a few
moments to their consideration.
Wax, the material of which the hive-cells (usually
called the honeycomb) are constructed, is elaborated
from the honey in the body of the Bee, and secreted
in the wax-belts, situated between the rings of the
abdomen, from whence the Bee draws it forth with
the aid of its legs and jawrs when required for the
formation of the cells.
The appearance of common yellow BeeVwax, in
its original state, is of course familiar to all ; it has a
sweet, agreeable smell, being to some extent mixed
with honey, and is then soft and easily moulded by
pressure. It is converted into white or virgin wax
THE BEE.
71
by bleaching in the sun, combined with a periodical
application of moisture, under which influences it
becomes white, translucent, and brittle ; but, in order
that it may retain somewhat of its pliancy, a little
tallow is usually mixed with it during the process of
bleaching.
Wax is composed of 80*20 carbon,
„ „ 13*14 hydrogen,
„ „ 6*36 oxygen,
and, during its exposure to the atmosphere in the
bleaching process it absorbs oxygen to the extent of
about 1 per cent., and parts with about the same
quantity of carbon*.
It is unnecessary, and, indeed, would be almost
impossible, to enumerate the various purposes to
which this valuable substance is applied. In its or¬
dinary state, it serves as an auxiliary in various trades,
whilst the bleached material supplies us with some
of the finest candles, which are now, however, being
superseded by those made from animal and vege¬
table fats. It is, moreover, largely employed in me¬
dicine, forming one of the chief constituents of cerates
and ointments, and by some physicians it is even ad¬
ministered internally.
But let us not forget its application in the arts;
in the casting of busts and medallions, and, above all,
in that beautiful female accomplishment, the manu-
* Acliille Richard, Histoire Nat. Med. Brande’s Manual of
Chemistry.
HUMBLE CREATURES.
facture of artificial flowers, which almost rival nature
for perfection of design and colouring ; nor yet
should its services to the student of anatomy be over¬
looked, for it is employed not only in the construc¬
tion of models of the living body, but even to per¬
petuate the exceptional appearances of disease.
Thus we see that the humble little Bee, which is
merely regarded by the majority of mankind with
dread or indifference, renders us great service even
in the production of this one material, which is
almost indispensable to us in the arts, sciences, and
domestic economy.
And nowr wre pass on to the consideration of that
most agreeable and useful substance, Honey, from
which, as before remarked, the wax is elaborated.
Honey is secreted in the nectaries of flowers,
whence it is extracted by the Bee with the aid of its
delicate tongue, already described in a preceding
chapter. A portion at least of the harvest or gather¬
ing is retained by the insect in its crop or paunch
(to wdiich reference was made when we treated of
the digestive organs), and this is ejected into the
cells of the honeycomb, on the Bee’s return to the
hive, to serve as a store of food in winter.
This material is so well known, that a descrip¬
tion of it appears almost superfluous, but we may
mention that pure honey is yellow, viscid, granu¬
lated, and very sweet. It contains two kinds of
sugar, the one analogous to that from the grape, the
other to that from the sugar-cane ; it also contains
THE BEE.
73
a yellow colouring matter, a little wax, gum, and,
according to some authors*, an aromatic princi¬
ple, and a slight trace of what appears to be acetic
acid.
You see, therefore, that evenjowre honey is a very
strange compound, and, possessing as it does consider¬
able value, you will not be surprised to hear that it
is rendered still more complex by adulteration. This
is effected by various means, some of which render
it more liquid, others more solid ; and if we have
recourse to the microscope, an instrument that has
done so much towards exposing the dishonest prac¬
tices of traders, we shall find that when honey is
adulterated with sugar there is a marked difference
in the form of the crystals that it contains.
Fig. 4, a in PI. VIII., represents a thin crystal of
ordinary honey, and fig. 4, b one of sugar, whilst fig.
4, c is a partially dissolved crystal of the latter sub¬
stance that has been detected in honey f.
There are two qualities of this product : Virgin
Honey, which is allowed to run from the comb, and,
being therefore unmixed with any foreign substance,
is the purest and most valuable ; and another kind
that is expressed from the comb, after the first has
run off.
The finest description of honey, known as pure
Narbonne, is produced in the central provinces of
* Richard, &c.
t The other materials employed in the adulteration of honey
are potato-starch, oil, pipeclay (!), &c.
E
74
HUMBLE CREATURES.
France, and is brought over to England in consider¬
able quantities ; but it is hardly needful to add that
good honey may be found in every quarter of the
globe.
Although largely employed in medicine, its chief
use is as a condiment, and in some countries, espe¬
cially in the North of Europe, it constitutes the chief
element in a fermented beverage, being itself suscep¬
tible of alcoholic fermentation.
Who does not recollect the ambrosial mead of
olden times, that was quaffed at the feasts of the
heroes of Scandinavia, by our British forefathers, and,
later on, in the so-called good old days of Queen
Bess ? Mead, metheglin, and hydromel (the modern
name still employed), were manufactured from honey,
wrater, herbs, and beer ; the first three being fer¬
mented, and then added to the last.
Honey has sometimes been known to produce a
very deleterious influence upon those who have par¬
taken of it ; and this is supposed to have arisen in
consequence of its having been collected by the Bee
from noxious plants. Many stories are narrated of
its injurious effects, and we read in history that the
whole army of Cyrus the Great was almost poisoned
by some honey of which they partook in large
quantities. The most authentic anecdote, however,
because the most recent, is that of M. Aug. de
St.-IIilaire, who, whilst on an exploring expedition
in Brazil, ate a quantity of honey supposed to have
been collected by a Bee called by the narrator Apis
THE BEE.
75
lecheguana. Both he and his guide were nearly
poisoned, and suffered a kind of phrenzy, the effects
of which did not wear off for a considerable time.
These accidents are, however; very rare; and need
not alarm our readers; for European honey is a very
useful and wholesome substance.
The Bees employ it in the form of what is called
“ royal paste;” for the nourishment of the larvse of
the Queen Bee; whose treatment in this and other
respects will presently he noticed.
Bee-bread is composed of the pollen of flowers
moistened with honey. It is collected by the workers
on their excursions; attached to the hind leg in the
form of a little pellet, with the aid of the remarkable
apparatus already described, and conveyed home to
serve as food for larvae as well as mature Bees.
If you watch the Bees on their return to the hive,
you will perceive that the little masses of Bee-bread
attached to their hind legs vary in colour upon the
different Bees, hut not on the same insect. This
arises in consequence of the several Bees collecting
pollen from flowers of different colours ; but we are
told that in no case does the same Bee visit more
than one flower at a time*.
The constitution of the Bee-bread is easily detected
by mixing a little of it with water, when it will be
found, under the microscope, to consist of pollen-
* The Bee certainly visits various species of flowers on the
same journey, though it maybe possible that she does not take
pollen from more than one kind.
76
HUMBLE CREATURES.
grains, some in their normal or natural state, and
others that are beginning to sprout. Beyond this,
we have nothing of interest to add concerning Bee-
bread, and shall therefore pass on to the consideration
of the fourth substance that enters into the economy
of the hive — namely, Propolis.
This material is the viscid coating with which the
buds and twigs of several plants are covered, and is
collected by the Bee from these portions of the pine,
fir, poplar, and birch, as well as from certain shrubs ;
it is conveyed to the hive in the cavity of the hind
leg in the same manner as pollen.
Propolis has been found to be composed of the
following ingredients : —
Resin .
. 57
parts
Wax .
. 14
))
Impurities . .
. 14
))
Acid and waste ....
. 15
))
100
It is reddish-brown, viscid, easily softened by the
warmth of the hand, and has an agreeable aromatic
odour; dissolves readily in alcohol; and when com¬
bined with alkali, it forms soap*. Although it is
rarely employed by man (being occasionally used in
taking impressions of medallions), yet to the Bee it
is an indispensable element in the construction of its
hive. The insect uses it not only to fill up all the
chinks and crannies of the hive, but also in cementing
* Ackille Richard, Hist. Nat. Medicale.
THE BEE.
77
the combs to the ceiling and sticks, and to some extent
it enters into the composition of the comb itself, being
applied as a kind of varnish to give strength and con¬
sistency to certain portions of the cells.
We are told by Messrs. Kirby and Spence* that,
“ in examining the orifice of the yelloAv cells, their con¬
tour appeared to the younger Huber to be besmeared
with a reddish varnish, unctuous, strong- scented, and
similar to, if not the same as propolis. Sometimes
there were red threads in the interior, which were also
applied round the sides, rhombs, or trapeziums. This
solder, as it may be called, placed at the point of con¬
tact of the different parts, and at the summit of the
angles formed by their meeting, seemed to give so¬
lidity to the cells, round the axis of the longest of
which there were sometimes one or two red zones.
From subsequent experiments, M. Huber ascer¬
tained that this substance was actually propolis, col¬
lected from the buds of the poplar. He saw them
with the mandibles draw a thread from the mass of
propolis that was most conveniently situated, and,
breaking it by a sudden jerk of the head, take it with
the claws of their fore legs, and then, entering the
cell, place it at the angles, sides, &c., which they
had previously planished. The yellow colour, how¬
ever, is not given by the propolis, and it is not cer¬
tain to what it is owing. The Bees sometimes mix
wax and propolis and make an amalgam, known to
the ancients, and called by them mitys and pisso-
* ‘ Entomology/ new edition, p. 280.
78
HUMBLE CREATURES.
ceros, which they use in rebuilding cells that have
been destroyed, in order to strengthen and support
the edifice.”
Bees have been known to make a most remarkable
use of propolis; namely, to render innocuous the
bodies of intruders into the hive, who have fallen
victims to their stings. There is one case mentioned
of a mouse which they had slaughtered in the hive,
and completely cased in this substance ; but the most
wonderful application of the material, and at the same
time the strangest evidence of the instinct of the
creature, is found in the anecdote, that they once
soldered down the shell of an unfortunate snail that
had crept up the side of their hive; “thus fixing
him (as an essayist in the f Quarterly Review ’ has
wittily remarked) as a standing joke, a laughing¬
stock, a living mummy, like MarmioiTs Constance,
f alive within the tomb ’ [for a snail, though ex¬
cluded from the air, would not die] ; so that he who
had heretofore carried his own house was now made
his own monument*.”
Having thus briefly referred to the properties of
the materials collected by the workers for the con¬
struction and maintenance of the hive, as well as for
the nourishment of its inmates, let us now consider
the nature and operations of the little labourers
themselves.
The Worker-bees are, as before stated, females in
* ‘ The Honey Bee,’ Murray, 1852, a most entertaining little
pamphlet.
THE BEE.
79
whom the reproductive organs are but partially de¬
veloped, and, as they are thereby rendered unfruitful,
and consequently unable to assist in peopling the
hive, them whole time is devoted to collecting the
materials already described, constructing the comb,
nourishing the young, attending upon the Queen, de¬
fending the community ; and, wonderful to relate, in
providing for the cleanliness and ventilation of the
hive.
According to Huber, there are two kinds of workers.
The first he terms “ Abeilles drier es,” or wax-makers,
who elaborate the wax, and lay the foundations of
the cells ; the second, “ Abeilles nourrices,” or Bee-
nurses, who continue and complete the formation of
the cells, collect honey, &c., feed the young, and per¬
form the other labours of the hive.
And now let us consider that most wonderful in¬
stinctive faculty exhibited in the construction and
architecture of the waxen cells which constitute the
Bee’s habitation; and when we examine the modus
operandi of the various kinds of workers, we shall
find that they enter upon their labours as systema¬
tically, and apparently with as perfect design, as do
the most experienced architects and builders.
First of all, a number of wax-makers having as¬
sembled for the purpose, one of them draws from the
wax-pockets or belts situated between the rings of
her abdomen, where the wax is secreted, a certain
quantity of this material, which she moistens with a
fluid from her mouth, and then moulds into the form
80
HUMBLE CREATURES.
of a thin narrow ribbon by repeated workings with
her feet, jaws, and delicate tongue. The particles of
wax thus obtained she attaches to the vault of the
hive, and then proceeds at once to fabricate and
apply a second and third, and so on (adjusting them
in the direction the comb is to take), until all her
wax is exhausted, when she disappears and makes
way for a second labourer. The repetition of this
operation by one Bee after another gradually forms
“ a little wall of wax with uneven surfaces, five or six
inches long, two lines high, and half a line thick,
which descends perpendicularly below the vault of
the hive This done, the operations of the nurse -
bees begin, the wax-makers leaving to them the task
of completing the construction of the comb. They at
once proceed to excavate the cells on both sides of the
wall, drawing outf the wax in the required direction,
so that one partition serves as the base of two cells.
Meanwhile the wax-makers continue to elaborate
that material, and add to the foundation-wall, leaving
their comrades to design and construct the cells ;
until the comb, which consists of a double series of
hexagonal cells, placed, as it were, back to back, is
completed.
We are now considering what was until recently
regarded as the most wonderful trait in the nature of
* The operation is described with great minuteness in
Kirby and Spence, p. 277 ; partly extracted from Reaumur,
v. 424. See also note on page 86 of this work.
t Or, according to some observers, building up the walls
with the excavated wax.
THE BEE.
81
the Bee; for almost miraculous powers have been
attributed to the insect to enable it to construct these
cells. It has been proved by able mathematicians
that the form which they are made to assume re¬
quires the least amount of material consistent with
strength ; and that if any other figure had been sub¬
stituted for the hexagon, or any other angles than
those now presented by the sides of the cells, it would
not have been possible to group so great a number of
the latter in the same space; for we are told that
although circular cells might have better suited the
shape of the Bee’s body, yet the waste of space and
material would, in that case, have been considerable.
On the other hand, however, it has been stated
that the design of these cells is not at first hexagonal,
but, according to some observers, it is pentagonal,
whilst others declare it to be circular in the first in¬
stance ; all agree, however, that as the cells progress,
they assume the most appropriate and economical
form, namely the hexagon.
Numerous have been the surmises as to the guiding
principle that causes the Bees to construct their cells
after this model, and, although it is still a contro¬
verted question, we shall attempt briefly to review
the various theories that have been propounded on
the subject.
Some naturalists believe that the Bee possesses an
innate instinct which teaches it that this is the most
economical and desirable shape for its cells, and, to
show how far this instinct transcends the calculating
e 5
82
HUMBLE CREATURES.
powers of man, they point to the fact, that the most
talented mathematicians have avowed themselves un¬
able to substitute a more suitable design than this
particular form of hexagon ; indeed, they have ac¬
knowledged the Bee as their preceptor, and adopted
this as the most perfect shape. But there are other
observers who declare that there is nothing at all
remarkable in the fact of the cells assuming the hexa¬
gonal form, inasmuch as they are normally or na¬
turally cylindrical *, and acquire the former shape
only in consequence of the pressure caused by the
multitude of bees engaged upon them.
This assertion, however, is at once controverted
by the advocates of the “ instinctive ” theory, who
declare that, as only one bee at a time works upon
each cell, and then makes way for another, the press¬
ure cannot exist, to which the change of shape is
attributed. A third theory propounded by naturalists
is, that the peculiar form of the cell is attributable to
the disposition of the simple eyes of the insect ; that
“ these eyes are placed in such a position as to enable
them to work within such a range as to give the walls
of their cells 120 degrees!.” Now, it is questionable
whether the simple eyes of insects are employed in
viewing near objects ; and Mr. Lubbock, one of our
most able entomologists, states that the Bees inva-
* Amongst others, W. B. Tegetmeier, “ On the Formation
of the Cells of Bees.” — Meeting of Brit. Assoc. Oct. 1858.
t Mr. Ellis “On the cause of the instinctive tendency of
Bees to form hexagonal cells.” — Meeting of Brit. Ass. Oct. 1858.
THE BEE.
83
riably work in the dark : besides, the compound eyes,
from the shape of their facets, are far more likely
than the simple ones to receive impressions that
would lead to the formation of hexagonal cells ; this
theory is therefore by no means probable.
And lastly. Dr. Lankester, another of our most
talented naturalists, has expressed the opinion that
these cells are formed hexagonally in consequence of
an impression made upon the antennae, or some other
organ of sense*.
Well, then, you will be disposed to ask, which of
these theories, apparently so much at variance, is the
correct one? If the cells are not normally hexa¬
gonal, and are not made so by an innate instinctive
power of the animal ; if the change in shape from the
cylindrical to the hexedral form is not brought about
by the pressure of the Bees, and the disposition of
the simple eyes has nothing to do with it, pray to
what cause is this wonderful phenomenon to be attri¬
buted ?
We should be glad if we could answer this question
finally and satisfactorily, but that we cannot do ; and,
indeed, if such observers as Reaumur, Spence, Darwin,
and Tegetmeier, all of whom have carefully watched
the habits of the insect, cannot agree upon the sub¬
ject, it is hardly to be expected that we should decide
the controversy. It is, however, our business to
compare these theories, and a little reflection, free
* See report of discussion on the foregoing paper by Mr.
Ellis. — ‘Athenaeum,’ No. 1616, Oct. 16, 1858.
84
HUMBLE CREATURES.
from bias or prejudice, aided by the consideration
of other natural objects and phenomena, may perhaps
lead us to some useful conclusion on the subject.
First, then, all the naturalists whose opinions we
have quoted agree that the design of the cells is not
originally hexagonal, but that (with the exception of
certain cells at the side of the comb and around the
queen-cell) they eventually become so. Next, they
agree with mathematicians, that, after the circle, this
form of cell encloses the largest space with the small¬
est amount of material ; and every one is acquainted
with the extreme tenuity of the cell-walls of the
honey-comb. Now the real question is — are these
cells normally cylindrical , and do they of necessity
resolve themselves into hexagons when the neigh¬
bouring ones are built up against them ? or, do the
Bees begin by making them irregularly pentagonal,
and cause them gradually to assume the hexagonal
shape as they pjrogress ?
In describing the eye of the Bee, we showed that
where a number of circles or spheres are developed
in close contact, they resolve themselves into perfect
hexagons. Turning to other natural objects, we ob¬
serve in the tissue of plants, that when the circular
cells become differentiated, and take the form of tubes,
growing together with the neighbouring vessels of
similar shape, they also assume the hexagonal type,
and their structure then greatly resembles the honey¬
comb. This we find exemplified not only in the
higher plants and animals, but also most beautifully
THE BEE.
85
in some of those mysterious forms, the Diatomaceae,
where the siliceous cases present the perfect honey¬
comb structure. Again, mathematicians of undoubted
ability tell us that the hexagonal cells of the honey¬
comb exhibit precisely the form that would result
from the close contact and adhesion of a number of
circular or cylindrical bodies of a soft, flexible sub¬
stance ; and lastly, an examination of the honeycomb
shows us, that where a cell is terminal, that is to say,
where another is not added to it, at the terminal
side it is not hexagonal, but irregularly round.
Now it certainly appears to us to be going a little
out of our way if we seek to attribute the hexagonal
shape of these cells to the result of an instinct in the
Bee that transcends the calculating powers of the
ablest mathematicians, when we find by accumulated
evidence that the natural form assumed by a series
of circles when brought into close contact would be
that of the cells of a honeycomb ; and not only are
the walls of these cells remarkably thin, but, when
newly wrought, they are exceedingly ductile and tena¬
cious*, and consist of two layers f. The appearance
of these two layers, when examined with a low micro-
scopic power (after cutting away the outer rim of the
cell, which is always rather thick and circular), is
such as to suggest the idea that the cells themselves
are constituted of circles or cylindrical tubes of
* Kirby and Spence, p. 276.
t Kirby and Spence, p. 274, note. From ‘ Memoirs of the
Wernerian Society.’
86
HUMBLE CREATURES.
extreme tenuity that have been brought into close
contact.
Looking, then, at the foregoing circumstances, and
considering also that all animals construct tubular or
circular habitations*, we should be disposed to agree
with those naturalists who regard the hive- cells as
normally cylindrical ; and certainly the mathematical
precision with which they appear to be framed inclines
us to attribute the hexagonal form to mechanical
rather than to instinctive causes. At the same time,
we are not at all wishful to rob our little worker of
any merit to which she is entitled ; and we feel equally
satisfied, from the powers of observation possessed by
the Bee, and the regularity with which her natural
operations are repeated, that much of the uniformity
of these cells is due to the circumstance, that, guided
(as Dr. Lankester says) by external impressions, she
lends a helping hand to inorganic nature, and co¬
operates with her lawsf.
As the foundation wall of wax, from either side of
which the cells are excavated, is suspended perpendi¬
cularly from the vault of the hive, it follows that the
* We purposely omit to notice the statement of a few na¬
turalists who pronounce the design of the Wasp’s cell to be
hexagonal. What applies to the Bee applies equally to the
Wasp 5 and some Wasps build circular cells, or at least cells
that are round at the outside of the nest. — See Rymer Jones,
‘ Nat. Hist, of Animals,’ vol. ii. p. 229 (1842).
f In his work on the ‘Origin of Species,’ Mr. Darwin de¬
scribes some experiments tried by him in connexion with the
method by which Bees construct their cells 5 — these experi¬
ments prove satisfactorily that they are at first circular.
THE BEE.
87
comb is composed of a double series of horizontal
cells placed end to end, and divided by a thin parti¬
tion of wax (PL VIII. fig. 5). But these cells are
not all of the same dimensions ; for the Drones, being
larger than the Workers, require a larger cradle in
their infancy or larvahood, and the Bees therefore
construct a sufficient number of cells suitable for their
reception about the centre of the comb.
The transition from the smaller worker - to the
larger drone-cells is not, however, sudden, and we
find a series of what are termed intermediate cells, of
a gradually increasing diameter, so that our little
architects appear in all things to proceed in an orderly
and systematic manner.
A strange deviation from the ordinary hexagonal
cell (and another piece of evidence in favour of the
cylindrical theory) is presented by those destined for
the reception of the royal family, commonly known as
queen- or royal-cells.
These differ from the rest in size, form, and posi¬
tion, occupying as much space at least as half-a-dozen
worker-cells. They are of an irregular oval or pear-
shape, made up of a kind of mosaic work of coarse wax,
and, instead of being horizontally disposed, they are
suspended almost perpendicularly, with the aperture
downwards, against the side, or more commonly at
the lower part of the comb (PL VIII. figs. 5 & 6, q c).
These three kinds of cells, the worker-, drone-, and
queen-cells, are employed by the Bees for the pur¬
poses of incubation and rearing of the young, to
88
HUMBLE CREATURES.
be described hereafter; and the two first-named, or
cells similarly constructed, serve also for the storing
of honey.
Let us now rejoin our little workers in their various
occupations.
It is unnecessary to accompany them in their search
for honey, for we referred to this portion of their
daily task whilst treating of the materials that they
collect ; and during our investigation of the Bee’s
organs and members, we had a favourable opportunity,
not only of examining that part of its digestive system
in which honey is temporarily stored before it is re¬
gurgitated into the cells, but also of admiring the
beautiful oral apparatus, especially the tongue, by
which it is aided in the gathering of nectar. We
also closely scrutinized that portion of the hind leg
which serves as a basket for the conveyance of pollen,
or bee-bread, and shall now draw your attention to a
most remarkable and interesting phenomenon con¬
nected with this part of the worker’s employments.
Not only does the bee in her excursions gather suffi¬
cient of the substance just named to fill her pollen -
baskets, but, being covered all over with long hairs,
the germs of the various flowers that she visits adhere
to her, and her whole body becomes charged with
them.
Whether or not the matrons of the hive relieve her
of this additional store of provender, as they do on her
return home of the bee-bread contained in her pollen-
baskets, we are unable to say ; but one thing is cer-
THE BEE.
89
tain in regard to this accidental accumulation of pol¬
len : the Bee, in passing from the corolla of one flower
to that of another, covered with the dust that con¬
stitutes the propagating elements of plants, brushes
off a portion of the pollen grains, and, depositing them
undesignedly upon such as require them for the pur¬
poses of generation, she, in common with many other
insects, becomes the unconscious means of promoting
the reproductive process in the vegetable kingdom.
But what is most remarkable in this phenomenon is,
that during her journeys in search of food her visits
are always confined to one species of flower only (as we
stated in treating of bee-bread), so that, to use the
words of Mr. Kirby, “ they avoid the production of
hybrid plants from the application of the pollen of
one kind of plant to the stigma of another.”
Now you will understand what was meant by the
remark made at the commencement of this chapter,
that the Bee “ soivs and reaps,” for she actually per¬
forms both operations at the same time. And is not
this another admirable example of the wisdom with
which the Creator has economized the labour of the
lower animals, and another striking evidence that no
creature has been formed in vain ? Let any sceptic
throw discredit on the assertion, and you may at once
point to a multitude of those insects that he regards
wdth aversion or indifference, believing them to be
utterly useless, or even noxious ; and draw his atten¬
tion to the fact, that, unknown to him, they are the
unconscious means of adorning and beautifying our
90
HUMBLE CREATURES.
parterres, gardens, and country hedges, or of adding
to the fruitfulness of our orchards.
It is indeed most interesting to witness the busy
tide of life, even at the entrance of the hive. Stand
and watch for a few moments, and you will see
worker after worker return from her journey laden
with bee-bread*, attached in little pellets to her hind
legs, which she drags laboriously after her into the
hive when she has alighted upon the board whereon
it rests.
And just as the stream of laden bees pours con¬
tinuously into the hive, so is there a constant succes¬
sion of unembarrassed workers issuing from the en¬
trance, who wing their flight in every direction in
search of blossoms, wrhence to extract the store of
materials requisite for their domestic economy.
Should you not be afraid of the tiny weapons of
the little workers, but venture to approach and peep
into the entrance of the hive-fq you will perceive a
number of bees standing within, and vibrating their
wings with such rapidity that these members are
rendered almost invisible. And what think you,
reader, is the object of this laborious employment?
Why, the bees are punkah -bearers, or whatever you
please to call them, creating and conducting a current
of fresh air into the recesses of the hive, for the pur¬
pose of reducing or equalizing its temperature ; and
* Reaumur estimates at the rate of 100 per minute.
t The best safeguard is to hold in your hand a bunch of sweet-
scented herbs or flowers.
THE BEE.
91
you will now see the necessity that exists for that
beautiful apparatus, described elsewhere (PL Y. fig. 5,
and PI. VI. fig. 4), by means of which the bee is
enabled to lock together its fore and hind wings, in
order to render them impervious to the atmosphere.
What a lesson of prudence does the little Bee teach
those who themselves dwell, or permit others to do
so, in close, confined habitations, into which the free
air of heaven cannot gain admittance; who sit in
apartments, or move about in saloons writh windows
and doors closed, and the gas and fire blazing at their
full height, without a single aperture in the apart¬
ment by which a little fresh oxygen may be admitted
to renew the exhausted and vitiated atmosphere !
Instinct indeed ! Is it not a pity but what some
of us might barter a little of our boasted reason
against this inferior nature of the humble Bee ?
Not only do the workers keep the hive cool and of
an equal temperature, but, without requiring a “ Nui¬
sance Removal Act ” or a Board of Health to direct
their operations, they are careful not to deposit refuse
of any kind whatever in the hive ; nor do they allow
any to remain that has been accidentally left there.
If some creature should have found its way into the
hive, and, as is often the case, have fallen a victim to
their stings, they at once proceed (without the foster¬
ing care of a Burial Board) to encase it in propolis, as
we already mentioned in treating of that substance,
so that no effluvia may arise from the carcase.
The workers are said to be adepts in the construe-
92
HUMBLE CREATURES.
tion of fortifications, to keep out enemies from the
liive ; and we cannot better illustrate this remarkable
property than by quoting from the pages of Kirby
and Spence the following account, by Huber, of their
operations in this respect : —
“ To defend themselves from the death's-head
hawk-moth, they have recourse to a different pro¬
ceeding. In seasons in which they are annoyed by
this animal, they often barricade the entrance of their
hive by a thick wall made of wax and propolis.
This wall is built immediately behind, and sometimes
in the gateway, which it entirely stops up ; but it is
itself pierced with an opening or two, sufficient for the
passage of one or turn workers. These fortifications are
occasionally varied ; sometimes there is only one wall,
as just described, the apertures of which are in arcades,
and placed in the upper part of the masonry. At
others, many little bastions, one behind the other, are
erected. Gateways, masked by the anterior walls,
and not corresponding with those in them, are made
in the second line of building. These casern ented
gates are not constructed by the Bees without the
most urgent necessity. When their danger is present
and pressing, and they are, as it were, compelled to
seek some preservative, they have recourse to this
mode of defence, which places the instinct of these
animals in a wonderful light, and shows how well
they know how to adapt their proceedings to circum-
' stances. Can this be merely sensitive ? When at¬
tacked by strange bees, they have recourse to a similar
THE BEE.
93
manoeuvre ; only in this case they make narrow aper¬
tures, sufficient for a single Bee to pass through.”
It would be impossible to include within the limits
of this little treatise a detailed account of all the
duties and employments of the Worker Bees ; and of
some of the most important, such as feeding and at¬
tending upon the young, we shall be able to treat
more appropriately when we come to speak of the
Queen Bee, to whom our attention will next be
directed.
Then, too, we shall have an opportunity of con¬
sidering one or two more traits in the natural history
of the Drones, as well as many remarkable phenomena
by which order is maintained throughout this wonder¬
ful little commonwealth.
94
HUMBLE CREATURES.
CHAPTER VI.
THE QUEEN. — HER METHOD OF LAYING EGGS. — WONDER¬
FUL PHENOMENA ACCOMPANYING THE INSTINCTIVE DEPOSI¬
TION OF THE EGGS OF WORKERS, DRONES, AND QUEENS IN
THEIR RESPECTIVE CELLS. — DZIERZON’S DISCOVERIES AND
THEORIES. — SIEBOLD AND OWEN ON THE LAYING OF UNFER¬
TILIZED OVA. — INTERESTING EXPERIMENT BY HUBER, AND
REVIEW OF THE THEORIES OF DZIERZON, SIEBOLD, AND
HUBER. — PARTHENOGENESIS, OR POWER OF THE VIRGIN
QUEEN TO PRODUCE PERFECT OFFSPRING. — THE LARVA ;
ITS ORGANIZATION. — METAMORPHOSIS INTO THE PUPA AND
IMAGO. — OPERATIONS OF THE NURSE-BEES DURING THE
TRANSFORMATION. — REFLECTIONS ON THE DEVELOPMENT
OF THE BEE AND THAT OF THE MAN. — OPERATIONS OF
WORKERS AFTER THE BEES LEAVE THE CELLS. — BIRTH OF
YOUNG QUEEN. — UNNATURAL CONDUCT OF THE PARENT. —
VOGT’S INTERESTING ACCOUNT OF A COMBAT BETWEEN TWO
QUEENS. — THE DRONES. — BEE COURTSHIP AND MATRIMONY
— ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF A QUEEN BY WORKERS. —
PRINCIPLE UPON WHICH THEY OPERATE. — SUMMARY.
For the better comprehension of the history of the
Queen Bee, and of her relations to the hive, we must
commence at a period when her life is already some¬
what advanced, and state that the fertile queen passes
the winter in the hive along with a number of workers,
but without drones (who are, as before mentioned,
slaughtered on the approach of winter) . Should the
swarm be transferred to a new hive, the queen begins
THE BEE.
95
to deposit eggs capable of producing young ones, as
soon as cells are prepared for tlieir reception. First,
she deposits worker-eggs in worker-cells ; then drone-
eggs in drone-cells ; and finally, she oviposits in the
royal cells one or more eggs from which there pro¬
ceed larvae that become queens, one of whom alone is
permitted to live and govern the hive, whilst the old
queen takes her departure with a “ swarm” composed
of drones and workers.
This act of depositing the various eggs in their
respective cells the queen performs by introducing
the hinder part of her body into the cell, and there
dropping the egg, — an operation which, when duly
considered, cannot fail to excite the astonishment of
every reflecting observer. How does the queen know
which are worker-, which drone-, and which royal-
cells ? And, suppose that her instinct suffices to guide
her in this respect, how is it possible that she can
predict the sex or nature of the young that will pro¬
ceed from the ova she is about to deposit ?
As regards those deposited in the queen- cells, the
mystery is not so inexplicable ; and the difference
between the ordinary worker and the royal insect is
easily accounted for by the enlarged dimensions of
the cell, the difference in its position (being vertical
instead of horizontal), and the changed character of
the food, all of which, no doubt, aid in the develop¬
ment of the reproductive organs, and which constitutes
the chief difference between the queen and worker ;
but still the problem remains unsolved — how is it
96
HUMBLE CREATURES.
that eggs producing females are in every case de¬
posited either in the queen-cells, which are larger,
or, what is still more remarkable, in the worker- cells,
which are smaller than the drone-cells, whilst in the
last-named, male eggs are invariably placed ?
All the information that is furnished to us in this
respect by the present state of our knowledge goes
no farther than to show that this wonderful attribute
of the Queen Bee is not accidental, but that her
actions are directed by some definite law, for the
fulfilment of which her organs of reproduction are
suitably framed ; and we must ask you to refer once
more to this portion of the anatomy of the Queen
Bee (Pl. VIII. figs. 1, 2, 3), where you will perceive the
two ovaries filled with eggs, and (fig. 2, s) the little
pocket attached to the oviduct, in which, as before
stated, the male elements are stored that fertilize the
eggs in their passage through the oviduct.
Although the consideration of these organs may
perhaps not be suggestive of anything remarkable to
you, yet an examination of them led to the discovery,
by a famous German bee-keeper and naturalist, Herr
Dzierzon, of Carlsmarkt, of the following wonderful
phenomenon, namely, that “all eggs that come to
maturity in the two ovaries of the Queen Bee are
only of one and the same kind, which, when they are
laid without coming into contact with the male semen ,
become male Bees ; but, on the contrary, when they are
fertilized by male semen, produce female Bees*.”
* Siebold, ‘ On the Parthenogenesis of the Honey Bee,’ 53.
THE BEE.
97
But, reader, if you are at all of a sceptical turn of
mind, you may be disposed to shake your head, and
accord to such a wonderful discovery only a smile of
incredulity. “ Herr Dzierzon/5 you might say, a may
make this assertion with impunity, for it would be as
difficult for any one else to disprove as it would be
for him to prove his theory/5
His theory is, however, a fact, and one that has
been proved, not by himself, but by the greatest
German naturalist of the day. Professor Siebold, and
accredited by that most talented and reliable Eng¬
lish physiologist, Professor Owen ; and we shall
briefly state the means employed by the former to
test the accuracy of Dzierzon’s theory. He examined
with the aid of the microscope the fresh-laid eggs of
drones and workers, and, by careful manipulation, he
succeeded through this means in confirming the dis¬
covery made by Dzierzon, for he satisfied himself by
ocular demonstration that in no case is the drone-egg
fertilized, whilst traces might nearly always be found
of the male element in the worker-egg.
Nor must it be supposed that he entered upon his
investigations with any preconceived notions in favour
of the theory, or drew his conclusions from a single
experiment only. On the contrary, he commenced
his observations a sceptic, and was convinced only
after examining with great care seventy-nine eggs,
namely, twenty-seven male and fifty-two female.
These eggs he obtained at the apiary of Herr von
Berlepsch at Seebach, which place he visited for this
F
98
HUMBLE CREATURES.
special purpose, and in thirty out of fifty-two fresh-
] aid worker- eggs, examined by him “ with the greatest
care and conscientiousness*,” he obtained a positive
result in favour of the theory, detecting the male
element in some instances still active ; whilst the exa¬
mination of twenty-seven drone-eggs, in not one of
which he could find the slightest trace of the male
element, served completely to confirm his observa¬
tions and Dzierzon’s theory.
And now, suppose we take it for granted that eggs
may be deposited by the Bee that will produce either
drones or workers, according to the circumstances
just referred to; we are tempted to inquire further,
“ does the volition of the Bee exercise any influence
over the kind of egg about to be deposited, or is it
the result of mere mechanical action?”
Dzierzon believes also that the queen possesses the
power either to deposit her eggs unfertilized, that is
to say, to lay drone-eggs ; or of fertilizing and con¬
verting them into worker-eggs at her will ; and this
idea is countenanced by Siebold, who states that he has
discovered voluntary muscles for the purpose, and he
considers it very probable that the Bee may be guided
in her operations by feeling the dimensions of the
different kinds of cells during the act of oviposition.
Here, however, it would appear that the two great
German naturalists have hastened rather prematurely
to a conclusion ; for, whilst the former theory is not
only confirmed by direct observation, but accords
* Siebold’s i Parthenogenesis.’
THE BEE.
99
with all that had been previously known to apiarists,
the theory of voluntary oviposition, or rather of vo¬
luntary fertilization , has not been confirmed by obser¬
vation, but is, as we shall presently show, at variance
with the experience of the most accurate observers.
Huber, who has bestowed as great care upon the
consideration of the habits of Bees as Siebold and
others have upon their anatomy, states that, although
“ the instinct of the queen directs her to deposit
worker-eggs in worker-cells,” yet when he “ confined
one during her course of laying worker-eggs where
she could come at male cells only,” she did not com¬
mence laying drone-eggs, but “ she refused to oviposit
in them, and, trying in vain to make her escape, they
at length dropped from her.”
Now, unless yon feel disposed to extend to her
that waywardness which is sometimes regarded as cha¬
racteristic of the fair sex, it would be clear that, if the
Queen-bee possessed the power of voluntary fertiliza¬
tion, she would at once, under the pressing impulse to
oviposit as described by Huber, have adapted her
eggs to the cells that presented themselves. This, how¬
ever, she did not do ; but it appears that her instinct
prompted her so strongly to lay wrorker-eggs, that,
trying to make her escape from the drone-cells, “ they
dropped from her.”
From a careful consideration of this and other ex¬
periments, we are disposed to think that, although
the queen is enabled by her instinct to find the proper
cells for her respective ova, and, as it would appear,
f 2
100
HUMBLE CREATURES.
the negative power of refusing to oviposit in inappro¬
priate cells, yet she seems to have stated periods for de¬
positing, first one class of eggs, and then another ; and
from this course of proceeding it appears she cannot
deviate*. Although, therefore, we are not yet able
fully to explain the nature of this wonderful pheno¬
menon in the Bee, you will perceive that it has re¬
vealed to us one of the most remarkable facts in
natural history ; namely, that the egg is capable of
producing living young without fertilization.
“ But stay ! ” you will mentally exclaim ; “ if the
unfertilized eggs of the insect produce drones or
males, why could not a virgin queen give birth to
young drones ? ” Let not this reflection, reader,
cause you to relapse into scepticism, but believe
us when we tell you that she really does possess
this power (and not she alone, but also other insects
belonging to the Lepidoptera, or Butterfly races) ;
and the young that proceed from these virgin eggs
are not imperfect or transitional forms, such as the
so-called “ nurses ” of aphidest, but perfectly de-
* Having arrived at this conclusion after an unprejudiced
consideration of various statements concerning the properties
of oviposition in the Queen-bee, and wishing to guide others
aright, it is only proper to add, that an experiment described by
Siebold (k Parthenogenesis,’ p. 90) to some extent supports Dzier-
zon’s theory of voluntary oviposition ; but it also confirms the
opinion expressed above, that the Queen-bee is impelled to lay a
certain kind of eggs for a certain period, and then changes her
course of proceeding, always, however, laying the various kinds
in the same order or succession.
t Carpenter’s ( Zoology,’ vol. ii. p. 189.
THE BEE.
101
veloped male Bees. This fact lias been repeatedly
confirmed by observation and experiment ; and al¬
though it rarely occurs, and may therefore be re¬
garded as the exception that proves the rule with
which it is at variance (namely, that a union of the
sexes must take place before another of the same
species can be produced), yet it suffices to derange
our preconceived views in regard to what we call the
infallible laws of nature, and affords another striking
evidence of the Creator’s power, and the infinitude of
His resources.
In the Mollusca and some of the lowest animal
forms, we often find the two sexes united in one indi¬
vidual* capable of producing young; but here we
have a still more wonderful manifestation of power,
namely, an insect of one sex , highly organized both
physically and mentally, bearing living young with¬
out the cooperation of the other sex. Does this not
teach us in unmistakeable terms that nothing is im¬
possible to God ? and that —
“ These lower works that swell His praise
High as man’s thoughts can tower,
Are hut a portion of His ways,
The hiding of His power ” P
Having been thus imperceptibly led from the con¬
sideration of the three different varieties of inmates
* This phenomenon is found also in the Bee. In the ‘ Ento¬
mologist’s Annual ’ for 1859 there is depicted and described a
hermaphrodite Bee, of which one side bears all the character¬
istic features of the male, and the other those of the female.
102
HUMBLE CREATURES.
in the hive, to the almost miraculous powers of the
queen in producing and depositing in their respective
cells the eggs from which they proceed, we shall now
quit the Bee-mother for a time, to devote a portion
of our space to her young progeny, and refer to the
remarkable phenomena that accompany the develop¬
ment of the three forms, the worker, drone, and
queen, as exhibited in their various stages of larva,
pupa, and imago.
In the first stage of its existence, that is to say the
larval state, after it has proceeded from the egg, the
young Bee resembles a minute, yellowish white worm,
exhibiting to the naked eye no trace of external organs
or members. The lens, however, reveals an imperfect
oral apparatus, or mouth, for the reception of food
(administered to it by the workers whilst it still re¬
mains in the cell), and on the lower lip a pair of spin-
narets, with which it spins its cocoon preparatory to
assuming the second or pupal state.
The body of the larva is divided into thirteen rings,
and a row of spiracles or breathing-holes may be de¬
tected on either side of the body, one situated upon
each ring.
It is, however, not a very attractive object, having
the appearance of a great over-fed maggot (PI. VIII.
fig. 7, represents one magnified about 6 or 8 dia¬
meters), and the wonder is that from such an imper¬
fect and ungainly form there should, in the course
of a few days, be developed the perfect little Bee,
with all its organs and members ; eyes simple and
PLATE VIII
Sicks bSarmuLsont d/tU. . GM- « Wu
Ovanes c£ Queen, larva, R®a of Worker; Ordinary & Royal Cells.
Johv Van/ J'wrstfZoruilmJ.
THE BEE.
103
compound ; wings, legs, and all tlic other portions
of its external organization.
In the metamorphosis from larva to pupa, a con¬
striction takes place between the first and second,
and another between the fourth and fifth rings of
the body ; the first becoming transformed into the
head, with its antennae, oral apparatus, &c. ; and the
second, third, and fourth into the thorax, with its
accompanying members ; whilst the remaining rings
constitute the abdomen. The large compound eyes
at first resemble two small dark streaks, one on each
side of the head, and even at this early stage their
composite structure is discernible under the micro¬
scope ; the various members of locomotion do not
grow out of the body, but appear upon the surface,
moulded, as it were, under the manipulations of the
invisible hand of Nature.
At first they remain adherent to the body through¬
out their whole length ; but as the metamorphosis
proceeds they become detached, and at length the
yellowish pupa (for it retains the characteristic colour
of the larva for some time after the change has be¬
gun) assumes a dark- brown hue, the external skin
becoming hardened, and it then presents the appear¬
ance depicted in the illustration (PI. VIII. fig. 8).
Simultaneously with these external changes in the
Bee’s structure, a transformation is taking place in
its internal anatomy. This in the larva is of the
simplest kind, being adapted to the habits of the
insect, and ministering to its rapid growth.
104
HUMBLE CREATURES.
The digestive organs are the most prominent; but
even these consist chiefly of a large intestine, and
they do their work so efficiently, that an immense
quantity of fat is stored up in the body of the little
larva as raw material, of which the more complicated
organs of the imago are built up.
To these it is needless to refer, as they have already
been described in detail ; quitting, therefore, the con¬
sideration of these mysterious changes that are veiled
from our sight, we shall now direct our attention
to the active operations of the workers in connexion
with this part of the Bee’s history.
“ The poor worm usually lies curled up in a half¬
circle in its cell, and the only symptom of life that
it exhibits is by scratching with its mandibles against
the cell-wall, as an intimation that it requires nou¬
rishment. It, however, becomes the tenderest object
of solicitude on the part of the workers ; they clean
and rub it, endeavour by their sonorous hum to cheer
it in its solitary confinement, and constantly supply
it with infant food (bee-bread), which they manufac¬
ture from honey and pollen, and offer to the little
nursling at the point of their ligula, or tongue. The
whole arrangement of the attendance resembles that
in a foundling hospital ; the watchful nurses wander
from crib to crib, from cell to cell, offering food to
the little inmates, stroking them with their antennae,
and fondling them with their delicate organs of nu¬
trition* ” .
* Vogt, ‘Untersuchungen in den Thierstaaten.’
THE BEE.
105
After they have been thus treated for a few days,
the nurses discontinue the supply of food, and close
up the orifice of the cell with wax. This operation
they perform by applying a series of concentric rings
of gradually decreasing circumference, one within
another, until there is nothing left but a small hole
in the centre, which is then blocked up with a par¬
ticle of wax. As soon as the cell is closed, the in¬
mate sets to work and spins a cocoon of silk (which
the gwmx-larva accomplishes in about twenty-four
hours, the worker in thirty-six), and then rests for
two or three days. At the end of this time it assumes
the pupa-form, undergoing the metamorphosis from
the worm -structure to that of the insect (already
described) ; and when this is complete, the imago, or
fully- developed insect, first frees itself from its silken
envelope, and then, forcing open the lid of its prison-
house by means of its head and mandibles, makes its
escape a perfect Bee.
The time occupied from the deposition of the egg
to the final appearance of the insect is, for the queen
sixteen days, for the worker about twenty, and for
the drone twenty-four days.
“ How wonderful is this circumstance ! ” says M.
Vogt*. “Here, too, in the Animal Kingdom, the
members of the royal family have the privilege of at¬
taining their majority, and exercising their legal rights,
before their fellow-creatures. For the education of the
poor worker, who must indeed learn to collect honey
* i Untersucliungen in den Tliierstaaten.’
F O
106
HUMBLE CREATURES.
and pollen, construct the comb, and nurse the young ;
for the development of such a poor faithful, obedient
wight, more time is needed than for the head of the
State, on whom devolve the serious cares and respon¬
sibilities of government. Has mankind learnt this
lesson from the Bee ? ”
But the labours of the worker in regard to the
tending of the brood do not end here. After the
young insect, be it worker, drone, or queen, has
effected its escape, a number of busy nurses at once
set to work and prepare the vacated cell for the recep¬
tion of another egg. First one enters, and, searching
for the pupa-case, drags it forth and carries it away
to the entrance of the hive ; a second follows and
brings away the exuviae from the larva; and then
other succeeding bees clear off every particle of refuse,
leaving only a portion of the silken cocoon, which
gives additional strength to the cell.
Beturning now to the history of the queen, we are
told that, during her progress from cell to cell for the
purpose of oviposition, she is accompanied by from
four to twelve workers, who provide her with honey,
and, watching all her movements, take care that she
lays only one egg in each cell ; or in case she should
deposit more, as sometimes happens, they remove
all but one, and place them elsewhere *. She usually
lays from two to six eggs in succession, and then rests
awhile; and according to Beaumur she will thus
deposit about 200 eggs in one day. The total num-
* Kirby and Spence.
THE BEE.
107
ber laid by a single queen in one season is variously
estimated at from 50,000 to 100,000 eggs.
Let us now suppose the spring to be somewhat
advanced, and that in the month of May the queen
has deposited about 10,000 to 11,000 worker- and
drone-eggs. At this time the workers construct
half-a-dozen royal cells, already described, and her
Majesty proceeds forthwith to deposit in them the
necessary eggs *.
The usual term of sixteen days having now expired,
the guardians of one of the royal cells receive intima¬
tion, by the movement within, that a new monarch is
about to make her appearance, and immediately the
intelligence flies from Bee to Bee, and they crowd
around the cell in order to welcome the stranger.
The queen-motlier approaches also, accompanied by
her body-guard.
“ Dear me ! how interesting \ ” we can almost hear
you exclaim, reader ; “ to welcome the little stranger,
no doubt ?”
No, not to welcome her offspring, but, increclibile
dictu ! with the murderous intention of attacking and
slaughtering her as a rival !
In this design, however, she is foiled by the workers
that have gathered around the royal cell. These cover
its entrance, and keep the young queen a close pri¬
soner; if necessary, blocking up the opening of the
cell with wax until the old queen shall have disap-
* Female ova, be it remembered, which, in hexagonal cells,
would have produced workers.
108
HUMBLE CREATURES.
peared, and feeding the young one with honey during
her imprisonment.
In the hive of bees, as in the hives of men, two
Caesars, or rather, in the former case, two Czarinas,
cannot exist at one time ; and when the old queen
finds that her hateful rival is beyond her reach, she
ceases to oviposit, and, wandering about the hive in a
state of great excitement, she at length takes her
departure in search of a fresh habitation, accompanied,
in a full hive, by about 1000 drones (who are said to
lead the way), and ten times that number of workers.
This new colony, well known to us as the “ swarm/’
is received by bee-keepers in an empty hive, where
the workers at once proceed to construct waxen cells
and perform their ordinary avocations, whilst the
queen resumes the work of oviposition.
But let us now return to the old hive, where the
young queen holds undisputed possession, and this
she renders doubly sure by at once proceeding to the
cells that contain her younger sisters, and with her
sting mercilessly destroying them before they arrive
at maturity.
Sometimes, however, it happens that two young
queens make their exit simultaneously from their
respective cells, and by a curious instinct the old
queen is then diverted from her purpose of infanti¬
cide, and at once takes her departure with her at¬
tendant swarm.
For the sequel, we must once more refer to the
pages of Vogt, for we are sure you will agree with us
THE BEE.
109
that the account is graphic, interesting, and morally
instructive : —
*
“ The Bees that remain after the swarm has taken
its departure divide into two parties, which marshal
themselves around the respective queens, and then
march against one another within the hive itself.
“ Presently the armies approach one another from
either side ; they meet face to face ; and what follows ?
Will the onslaught at once begin ? This would in¬
deed be the case if they were human beings, of whom
thousands would rush to their fate, and streams of
blood would be shed for the sake of one ruler.
“ But no ! the Bees are wiser ; what care they,
with their constitutional regime, whether the reins of
power be held by a member of the house of Hapsburg
or of Hohenzollern ! f Let the ambitious aspirants
decide the struggle for supremacy by single combat ! ’
So say the Bees, and they look on quietly whilst the
duel is being fought, quite content to tender their
allegiance to the survivor : the fight for the throne is
merely a combat between the pretenders.
“ Would that the human race, which conceives
itself to be so wise and perfect, had, under similar
circumstances, adopted this principle of action : how
much less blood would have been spilt upon this fair
earth, whose surface has been so often fertilized by
the bodies of human beings, slain in battle !
“ The two rivals now fall upon one another with
ungovernable fury, whilst the workers stand by as
spectators, with their fore legs drawn beneath the
body.
110
HUMBLE CREATURES.
“The combatants seize each other with their jaws
by the neck, head, and legs, endeavour to confound
one another by rapid vibrations of their wings, butt
their heads together, grasp each other with their legs,
and seek every available opportunity to give effect to
their terrible stings. With this view they endeavour
to reach the vulnerable portions between the rings of
the body, at the neck, or the constricted part that
connects the chest and abdomen.
“ At length the fatal thrust is given ! the dagger
penetrates between the rings and enters the vital
parts ; the pierced combatant shrinks hack, staggers,
and falls, and, after one or two convulsive throbs, she
closes her eyes for ever !
“With ineffable pride the conqueror approaches
the corpse, and treats it with triumphant scorn, forget¬
ting, indeed, that it is her sister that is stretched life¬
less before her, slain by her own accursed weapon.
She spurns it once or twice with her feet, to satisfy
herself that life is extinct, and then turns away to re¬
ceive the homage of her subjects*.”
Thus, according to Vogt, do the Bees decide their
differences, not by wholesale warfare as with us, but
by single combat. Not wishing, however, to inter¬
rupt his interesting narrative by interpolating any of
our own remarks, we have deferred until now making
the inquiry about those Bee-battles that take place in
mid-air, where honey is concerned , and on which oc¬
casions the ground below is literally covered with
the bodies of the combatants. How about those , M.
* Translated from ‘ Untersuclumgen in den Thierstaaten.’
THE BEE.
Ill
Vogt ? Bees figlit for honey, reader, as man fights for
money, whatever M. Vogt may say to the contrary !
Although we have shown that the queen is ca¬
pable, whilst in her virgin state, of depositing eggs
that will produce drones, yet this is contrary to the
laws even of Bee-life; and the union of the sexes
takes place a few days after the appearance of the
young queen, one impregnation being sufficient to
last her whole life. Indeed, the fertilized queen not
only produces and deposits her thousands and tens of
thousands of fertile eggs during one season, hut, as we
have already stated, she is ready on the return of
spring to recommence, with full activity, her func¬
tions as mother of the hive.
About the time of pairing, the drones, who usually
remain hidden in the inmost recesses of the hive, are
tempted by the fine weather to leave it and enjoy the
genial atmosphere. Presently the queen makes her
appearance, and, accompanied by a considerable num¬
ber of drones, her suitors, departs upon what is
termed by apiarists her wedding flight ; for you must
know, reader, that Bee-marriages are the very re¬
verse of matrimony amongst ourselves. With us
marriages are said to be conceived in heaven, and
consummated on earth ; whereas, in the Bee-world,
they are in all likelihood conceived in the hive, and,
at any rate, it is now an established fact that they
are consummated high up in the heavens*.
* See tlie summary of opinions on this subject in Siebold’s
‘ Parthenogenesis,’ p. 51.
112
HUMBLE CREATURES.
On her return from her wedding- flight, the queen
is received by her faithful subjects with every demon¬
stration of joy, and shortly afterwards she commences
the deposition of eggs, first (as before remarked) of
workers, then drones, and lastly of queens ; and, about
the beginning of autumn, if the hive be well managed,
her fruitful labours give rise to another swarm.
But by far the most wonderful circumstance in con¬
nexion with the natural history of the Bee has still
to be noticed, and that is the artificial production of
a Queen-bee from a Worker-grub, should the hive by
any mishap be left without a ruler.
To the uninitiated, this phenomenon would appear
nothing short of a miracle, for it not only seems to
necessitate highly developed reasoning faculties in the
insect, but would denote that it possesses a much
greater influence in the direction and modification of
the laws of nature than do we ourselves.
True it is that we can engraft one species of plant
upon another and produce a hybrid, or that we can
hatch an egg by artificial incubation ; but is there
anything in our power over nature that will enable us
to obtain a result at all approaching that of the con¬
version of a Worker-larva into a Queen-bee, as per¬
formed by these insects ?
Although the operation will always remain a very
wonderful one, especially as regards the instinct that
guides the Bee in its performance, yet, when it is
considered in connexion with the ascertained phe¬
nomena in the development of the insect, it will lose
THE BEE.
113
some of its mystery, but, at the same time, will ac¬
quire additional interest ; for, let us here remark, that,
however marvellous some of the operations of Nature
may appear to those who are unacquainted with her
laws, her attractive features are considerably enhanced
when they come to be more fully understood and
appreciated.
As before observed, the chief differences between
the conditions necessary for the rearing of a queen
and a worker are, that in the former the egg is de¬
posited in a large oval vertical cell, and the insect is
fed during the whole of its larval existence upon royal
paste, a food elaborated by the Bees in their digest¬
ive organs ; whilst the worker is reared in the ordi¬
nary horizontal hexagonal cell, and after a certain
number of days (according to most authors, on the
third day after its birth), its food is changed, and it
is nourished with a mixture of honey and pollen.
The result of this modified treatment in the worker
is, that its female reproductive organs, ovaries, &c.,
are but imperfectly developed; and, as a rule, it is
rendered incapable of oviposition*.
Now if, instead of feeding these worker-larvae
only three days upon royal paste, they were nourished
on this species of food during the whole of their larva-
hood, and if the other conditions as to dimensions
* Whether it is, however, that the workers bred in the
vicinity of a royal cell sometimes receive royal food in mis¬
take, or from whatever other cause, it is certain that they occa¬
sionally oviposit, but in all cases unfertilized eggs, from which
drones only proceed.
114
HUMBLE CREATURES.
and position of the cell were complied with, pre¬
cisely the same as in the case of the queen, it is
quite clear that the worker-larva (which we know to
proceed from an egg similarly fertilized to that of a
queen) would in due time become metamorphosed,
not into a worker- bee, but into a queen , with fully
developed organs of reproduction.
Whether this is known to the Bees, or only to
their Creator, we are unable to say ; but certain it is,
that when deprived of their queen, they at once pro¬
ceed to a cell containing a worker-egg not yet hatched,
or, wonderful to relate-, a larva not more than three
days old (the time, you must remember, when, under
ordinary circumstances, its food would be changed !),
and they at once alter the conditions of its early
existence, so as to convert it into a queen.
They enlarge the worker-cell by the destruction of
those surrounding, slaughter the inmates without
mercy, and, by the union of the horizontal ones that
have been destroyed, form a single vertical cradle ;
they then continue to feed the young larva upon
royal paste during the whole of the first period of
her life, and treat her in every respect as the future
heiress to the throne, into which she in due time
becomes metamorphosed.
With the account of this phenomenon, which
displays more strikingly than any yet alluded to the
omnipotence of the Creator in the adaptation of
means to ends, we must now draw this brief narra¬
tive of Bee-life to a close. But, before concluding,
THE BEE.
115
let us direct your attention to a few of those features
in the natural history of the insect, that, notwith¬
standing all that has been written on the subject, are
still deserving of further investigation. First in re¬
gard to the Bee’s anatomy. Although it is conjec¬
tured that the compound eyes serve to convey to the
brain images of near , and the simple ones, of distant
objects, yet this is by no means certain; and any bee¬
keeper contributing such data as would enable na¬
turalists to decide the question would render a great
service to science, inasmuch as that which relates to
the Bee in this respect refers also to the other in¬
sect races. The same remark applies also to the
organs upon the antennae and wings, as to whether
they are organs of hearing or of smell ; but this is a
more difficult problem, and can be solved only by
those who are thoroughly conversant with compara¬
tive anatomy, as well as with the habits of the insect.
A very interesting field of inquiry is open in con¬
nexion with the reproductive organs of the Worker
Bee ; namely, as to whether the faculty of depositing
drone-eggs, occasionally possessed by them, is the
result of their receiving the royal food after the pre¬
scribed period, as stated by some authors, or whether,
as others affirm, it is a wise provision of Nature to
facilitate the peopling of a hive that has been de¬
prived of its queen*.
With respect to the formation of the cells and the
* A friend of Dr. Hicks has a hive that remained many
weeks without a queen, and yet the work progressed as usual.
116
HUMBLE CREATURES.
inquiry regarding their normal shape, there now
exists an animated controversy, and all observers who
have time and opportunity should direct their at¬
tention to this strange phase in insect architecture.
The most interesting subject for the consideration
of naturalists and physiologists, however, is that of
Parthenogenesis, and the queen’s power of fertilizing
or leaving her eggs unfertilized, so as to produce
either workers or drones ; and when we recollect that
it has but recently occupied the attention of Siebold
in Germany, and Owen and others in England, and
that the observations of any intelligent bee-keeper
may serve to throw additional light upon the subject,
we hope this will be sufficient to enlist fresh volun¬
teers in the service, who will aid to elucidate this
wonderful phenomenon, which is so strikingly illus¬
trative of the wisdom and resources of the Creator in
directing the operations of animated nature.
THE BEE
117
CHAPTER VII.
VARIOUS DEFINITIONS OF INSTINCT. — ADDISON’S OPINION ; DR.
darwin’s. — the theory of sensation. — spence’s sum¬
mary. — DR. CARPENTER’S VIEWS OF INSTINCT AND ITS
LIMITS. — ARCHBISHOP TILLOTSON’S EXPOSITION OF THE IN¬
STINCTIVE MORAL PROPENSITIES OF MAN. - COMPARISON OF
THESE VIEWS J ANALYSIS OF AN INSTINCTIVE ACTION, ILLUS¬
TRATED BY THE MODE IN WHICH A FLESH-FLY OVIPOSITS ;
SUMMARY AND DEFINITION OF INSTINCT. — COMPLICATED
ACTS OF INSECTS J HOW THEY MAY BE EXPLAINED. — DIFFI¬
CULTY OF DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN INSTINCT AND REASON.
— STORY OF THE GOLD-WASP AND MASON-BEE, AND COM¬
MENTS UPON THE ACT PERFORMED BY THE BEE. — IS THERE
A DEFINITE BOUNDARY-LINE BETWEEN INSTINCT AND
REASON? - NECESSITY FOR THE STUDY OF COMPARATIVE
PSYCHOLOGY, OR THE SCIENCE OF MIND IN ANIMALS.
To write a treatise upon the Bee without referring
to the subject of instinct, would be like publishing a
book upon geology, and ignoring the existence of fossil
remains of animals, or one on geography, in which
the earth was described as though it were not peopled.
It is therefore our intention, or at least our wish,
to treat this part of the subject in the same homely
and unpretending manner as we have dealt with the
physical question, and to consider it from a practical
point of view, in its bearings upon our own nature
(for the investigation of instinct necessarily connects
118
HUMBLE CREATURES.
itself with that of reason) , as well as upon that of the
humble creatures whose parts and life-history we
have endeavoured to delineate.
As the question of instinct has occupied the at¬
tention of many of the most eminent thinkers of all
ages, we shall commence by selecting and comparing,
in as unprejudiced a manner as possible, a few of the
definitions that have at different times been applied
to it, that the result may serve to guide us in our
own observations.
And, first, let us turn to the pages of one of our
valuable companions in these inquiries, “ Kirby and
Spence ” ; for we shall there find, conveniently stated
for our purposes, the opinions of several eminent
thinkers, and not the least important amongst them,
that of one of the authors of the work in question.
Mr. Spence, who has perhaps considered as care¬
fully as any man the habits of those creatures in
whom the psychical quality known as “ instinct ” is
the most highly developed, glances cursorily at the
various modes by which it has been defined, refuting
each theory that appears to him incorrect as he pro¬
ceeds, and summing up with his own ideas on the
subject*.
We shall now state those opinions with which Mr.
Spence disagrees , adding his objections to them, as
well as his view of the question ; but, before endea-
* Since these pages were written, Mr. Spence has departed
this life, leaving behind him a name that will be handed down
to posterity.
THE BEE.
119
vouring to explain our own, we shall have to refer to the
opinions of more recent as well as of previous writers.
Amongst the definitions of instinct mentioned by
Mr. Spence, wTe find the following : —
1st. That of Addison, who, with some others, be¬
lieves “ that instinct is an immediate and constant
impulse of the Deity.” The objection raised to this
theory is, that “ animals in their instincts are some¬
times at fault, and commit mistakes, which in the
above case could not happen.”
2nd. Dr. Darwin, whose opinion is founded upon
the views of Pythagoras, Plato, and others, believes
that “ instinct in animals is the same as reason in
man, and that all the actions of animals, however
complicated, are, like those of the human race, the re¬
sult of observation, invention, and experience.” This
theory Mr. Spence refutes, by showing that as soon
as the Bee has emerged from the pupa- case, she
at once betakes herself to the collecting of honey
or the fabrication of a cell, “ which operation she per¬
forms as adroitly as the most hoary inhabitant of the
hive,” and this he presumes would denote in the Bee
the absence of those reasoning powers which can only
result with time.
At the same time we must add that, although Mr.
Spence refuses thus to confound instinct and reason,
he does not deny, but attributes a certain amount of
the latter quality even to some of the insect races.
3rd. The theory of “ sensation,” in which instinct
is represented as e< a predisposition to certain actions,
120
HUMBLE CREATURES.
where certain sensations exist/* is passed over very
lightly by this authority ; and he shows that, although
some of the actions of insects are attributable to the
effect of appetites, there are others that can certainly
not be thus accounted for.
And then, having combated these various theories
or methods by which instinct is defined, and rejected
others as absurd and unworthy of consideration, Mr.
Spence sums up his observations by characterizing
this quality in the lower animals as “ those unknown
faculties implanted in their constitution by the Creator,
by which, independent of instruction, observation, or
experience, and without a knowledge of the end in
view, they are impelled to the performance of certain
actions tending to the well-being of the individual,
and the preservation of the species **
Having thus endeavoured to cull from the valuable
w ork in question the four definitions of instinct most
at variance with each other, we will now turn to the
pages of another able authority, namely Dr. Car¬
penter, in whose treatise on Comparative Physiology
we find it stated as his opinion, that the instinctive
actions of animals are “ performed (as it would appear)
in immediate respondence to certain sensations with¬
out any intentional adaptation of means to ends on the
part of the individual*.**
His view of instinct appears to be, that it is a pro¬
pensity or “ propensities called into action by sensa¬
tions,** and accords, therefore, to some extent with
* ‘ Comparative Physiology/ 4th edit. p. 693.
THE BEE.
121
the theory treated so lightly by Mr. Spence, which
defines instinct as “a predisposition to certain ac¬
tions where certain sensations exist.”
And Dr. Carpenter, whose acquaintance with the
whole kingdom of organic life gives to his views of
animal nature an additional claim upon our earnest
consideration, endeavours also to ascribe some kind of
limits to instinct, and in his summary of the various
phases of animal life he attributes this quality more
especially to those races of animals included in the in¬
vertebrate series, commencing with the higher Radiata
(< e . g. the Star-fish), and ending with the Hymeno-
pterous group of insects, whereof we know our little
Hive-Bee to be a prominent member : in this group
the quality of instinct attains, according to his views,
the highest development.
In the creatures, on the other hand, that rank
higher and lower in the scale than those just referred
to, he traces a gradual disappearance of instinct, which,
in the lower, is supplanted by “ contractility ” or the
mere mechanical action accompanying organic life,
and in the higher by those psychical or mental faculties
known as reason and intelligence* . To these views
we shall refer again hereafter. But, reader, although
these naturalists and physiologists thus circumscribe
the character and operations of instinct, there have
been metaphysicians in all ages who were disposed to
accord a wider range and significance to the term ;
and, as a typical illustration of the opinions enter-
* ‘ Comparative Physiology,’ 4th edit. p. 704.
G
122
HUMBLE CREATURES.
tained by such men, we shall quote that of John
Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury, who died to¬
wards the close of the 17th century, and shall leave
you for the present to judge how far it recommends
itself to your approval, without adding any criticism
of our own.
“ God hath discovered our duties to us,” he says,
“ by a kind of natural instinct, by which I mean a
secret impression upon the minds of men, whereby
they are naturally carried to approve some things as
good and fit, and to dislike other things as having a
native evil and deformity in them ; and this I call a
natural instinct , because it does not seem to proceed
so much from the exercise of our reason, as from a
natural propension and inclination, like those instincts
which are in brute creatures, of natural affection and
care toward their young ones. And that these in¬
clinations are precedent to all reason and discourse
about them evidently appears by this, that they do
put forth themselves every whit as vigorously in
young persons as in those of riper reason ; in the rude
and ignorant sort of people as in those who are more
polished or refined. For we see plainly that the
young and ignorant have as strong impressions of
piety and devotion, as true a sense of gratitude, and
justice, and pity, as the wiser and more knowing
part of mankind : — a plain indication that the reason
of mankind is prevented” (that is to say, anticipated)
“ by a kind of natural instinct and anticipation con¬
cerning the good or evil, the comeliness or deformity
THE BEE.
123
of these things. And though this do not equally ex¬
tend to all instances of our duty, yet as to the great
lines and essential parts of it, mankind hardly need
to consult any other oracle than the mere propensions
and inclinations of their nature; as, whether we
ought to reverence the Divine Nature, to be grateful
to those who have conferred benefits upon us, to speak
the truth, to be faithful to our promise, to restore
that which is committed to us in trust, to pity and
relieve those that are in misery, and in all things to
do to others as we would have them do to us.”
You will no doubt be puzzled when you come to
consider these different views and theories, all pro¬
pounded by men of high intellect, to arrive at a clear
conception of the psychical or mental quality of which
they treat ; but from this maze of ideas, all of which
appear to possess some element of truth, we shall now
endeavour to extract something like a definite notion
of what instinct really is, bearing in mind that we are
not dealing with an object that we can touch, handle,
and measure, but with an abstract metaphysical
question, which will probably ever remain more or
less a mystery to the human understanding.
For this purpose, let us first state the various Dews
of instinct as definite inquiries, passing over, for the
present, that of Tillotson.
1. Is instinct in animals the same as reason in
man?
2. Is it an immediate and constant impulse of the
Deity ?
a 2
124
HUMBLE CREATURES.
3. Is it a faculty by which animals are blindly im¬
pelled to the performance of certain acts necessary for
their welfare ?
4. Does it consist of propensities called into action
by sensations? (or, what amounts to the same thing,
is it the result of certain sensations that give rise to
certain acts ?)
Before proceeding any further, we must dispose of
the first theory by saying that, as we shall endeavour
to show the marked distinction between the reason of
man and that quality in the animal nature known as
“ instinct,” we cannot of course consider them iden¬
tical.
And now let us for a moment analyze an instinctive
action, and inquire how far it illustrates any of the
three remaining theories.
A Flesh-fly deposits its eggs upon putrid substances,
in order that the grubs that proceed from them may
find nutriment upon such substances; and we have
every reason to believe that it does this quite uncon¬
scious of the end to be accomplished ; for some other
insects invariably (and the Fly sometimes) complete
this operation and die before the egg is hatched.
The insect can therefore know nothing of the object
to be attained by the performance of this act.
Well, in the first place, an egg comes to maturity
in the body of the Fly, and, creating certain sensations
in the insect, it impels it to deposit the egg. This is
a direct act of Nature (for we shall not stay to inquire
whether it is “ Nature ” or “ Nature’s God ” that gives
THE BEE.
125
the impulse). Now, does the fly at once deposit the
egg ? No ; it appears first to seek a substance suit¬
able for the deposition ; and when, by the aid of its
smell , it finds this, it proceeds to deposit the egg upon
it. But now comes a difficulty. Does the insect seek
the particular substance, or is it attracted by that
substance ? for this appears to constitute the difference
between the theory, that instinct is an innate faculty
(“ a faculty implanted ”) which impels the creature
to the act, and that which designates it a latent pro¬
pensity called into operation by sensation.
W e have shown that the mere desire to deposit the
egg somewhere is a natural impulse, the result of sen¬
sation ; but, proceeding now to examine the mode in
which that desire is fulfilled, and judging by many
analogous examples, we should say that it is not the
result of any operation upon the senses from without ,
so much as an impulse from within ; that the creature,
in fact, seeks the substance on which the egg must be
deposited. This mode of fulfilling the natural want
we call the instinctive act, and the impulse to seek
the proper substance is the “ instinct ” implanted in
the creature, by which, “ independent of instruction,
observation, and experience, and without a knowledge
of the end in view,” it is induced or impelled to per¬
form that act which “ tends to the preservation of the
species.” Of course, in the case of the Fly it is very
difficult to prove that the insect actually seeks the sub¬
stance upon which to deposit the egg, rather than that
it is thereby attracted ; for it may occur to you that
126
HUMBLE CREATURES.
this greedy little plague is frequently drawn into onr
parlours by the sweets of our domestic establish¬
ments ; but, looking at one or two of the analogous
examples in other creatures to which we have just
referred, we find the principle established beyond a
doubt. The Bee, for instance, rises up in. a vertical
line in the air before it can ascertain in which direc¬
tion to fly in search of flowers, and, guided by the
sense of sight, it then flies off in the right direction ;
again, the dog seeks his master’s “ trail,” and, di¬
rected by the sense of smell, traces its owner.
But, on the other hand, it must not be supposed
that we entirely disagree with the second theory,
that instincts are called into operation by certain
sensations, and no doubt practice or use renders the
senses acute, and often animates the latent instinct,
without any impulse from within. This state of
things is illustrated by the humorous saying often
applied to greedy children, that “when geese see
water they are thirsty;” and that the sense has such
great influence in the direction of the acts of the
insect as almost to make it appear the constant ex¬
citing cause, is proved by the Flesh-fly depositing her
eggs on the flowers of Stapelia hirsuta , the smell of
which resembles carrion ; or the common House-fly
placing hers on snuff which is similar in odour to
dung ; neither substance, however (the flower nor the
snuff), being suitable for the nourishment of the
young brood.
We can therefore agree with the first theory, that
THE BEE.
127
what is termed “ instinct ” is an immediate im¬
pulse of the Deity, only so far as regards the natural
want — the exciting cause, — and must refuse to con¬
found that natural want with its instinctive fulfilment.
The quality of instinct we would endeavour to define
as the psychical property with which certain creatures
are endowed, that prompts them to perform certain
acts under the guidance of their senses, such acts
tending to the well-being of the individual, or main¬
tenance of the species. Instinctive actions are per¬
formed without the aid of education or experience,
and probably, to a great extent, without a knowledge
of the end to be attained.
This definition we have so far compiled from the
various theories that have come under our notice;
now let us continue the inquiry for ourselves. You
may be disposed to ask — how do we account for those
numerous operations in the insect races with which
the senses have no connexion whatever ; for instance,
what sense can in any way influence the Ant-lion
(Myrmeleo) when it digs a pit into which its victims
may fall? — or the Spider in the construction of its web?
This is a very difficult part of the subject, but the
most rational solution that we can suggest is, that
along with certain organs and instruments, the crea¬
tures have been endowed with the instinctive or
intuitive knowledge how to use them ; and it is most
probable that even in the employment of these they
are guided by the sense, or appetite*. Many creatures,
* Judging by the acts of the lowest of animals, in this re-
128
HUMBLE CREATURES.
for instance, resort to certain devices for the capture
of prey only when they are compelled to do so by
the demands of hunger, and allow it to pass unmo¬
lested when no such craving is felt.
The higher we mount in the animal scale, the more
complicated such acts become, until at length they
merge into those of true reason ; and it is sometimes
beyond the power of man, in the present state of his
knowledge, to decide whether certain actions in the
lower animals are purely instinctive, that is to say,
performed without the aid of an intelligent will, or
whether they are the result of the higher reasoning
faculties.
Let us quote, from the pages of Vogt, an interest¬
ing illustration of such a mysterious semi-rational
act in one of the Hymenopterous insects *.
“The Gold Wasp ( Hedychrum regium) deposits
her eggs in the nests of the ordinary Mason- Bee
( Osmia muraria), which are often appended to old
walls, at a considerable height above the ground, and
are provisioned by the builder with honey and pollen.
This provender, collected by the Mason- Bee for the
nourishment of her brood, is consumed by the larvse
of the Gold W asp, if the latter succeed in introducing
her ova into the nest. One of these, having dis¬
covered such a nest, was just in the act of inserting
her body for the purpose of depositing an egg therein,
gard, we should be disposed to look upon such displays of in¬
stinct as the least intelligent of any. — (See p. 138.)
* Translated from ‘ Zoologische Briefe.’
THE BEE.
129
when the owner of the nest arrived, laden with pollen,
and, with the peculiar hum that is emitted by these
insects when making an attack, she fell upon the
wasp, and seized her with her sharp jaws.
“ The wasp instantly rolled herself up, as is the
habit of these creatures when attacked. The bee
endeavoured in vain to find some vulnerable part that
she might penetrate with her sting, and, her efforts in
this direction proving fruitless, she at length bit off'
the wings of the Gold Wasp at the roots, and then
dropped her to the earth. After this she returned
to her nest, evidently in great anxiety, in search of
an usurper’s egg, and, finding none, she flew off to
seek a fresh store of food.
“ The Mason-Bee must doubtless have been satis¬
fied” (Vogt is speaking, it must be remembered)
“ that, by removing the wings of the wasp, she had
prevented her from repeating her visit to the nest ;
but here she was mistaken in her reckoning. The
prostrate wasp unrolled itself as soon as the bee had
departed, crept in a direct line back to the nest, and
deposited her egg therein.”
Now let us for a moment inquire whether the bee
was acting under an instinctive impulse when she bit
off the wings of the wasp, or whether, in so doing,
she was guided by anything approaching to reason.
Vogt, who is a great advocate for the existence of
reason in the insect races, or rather, who is disposed
to endow them with a great amount of intelligence,
quotes this anecdote (as we have seen by his brief
130
HUMBLE CREATURES.
comment on the bee’s motive in biting off the wings)
as an example of the reasoning faculty ; and really,
upon the face of it, it bears every indication of a
rational act, with all the weakness of imperfect rea¬
soning powers. Apparently the Bee bites off the
wings, these organs coming under its immediate
notice, which it knows would convey its enemy back
to the nest, if they were left unimpaired ; but she
forgets that it can reach the same goal by the aid of
its legs alone, just (to borrow the idea of a friend to
whom we narrated this anecdote) as an unskilful
general seizes one position that he considers essen¬
tial to obtain a victory or secure a defence, whilst
he overlooks some other post by which the enemy
penetrates and spreads havoc in his ranks. But a
little further reflection overthrows all these ingenious
speculations, and we are compelled to ask ourselves,
did not the Bee, under the imprdse of anger, and
from the instinct implanted in it for the preservation
of its offspring, in attempting to destroy its enemy,
just bite off that portion of its body which was vul¬
nerable and approachable, and, having thus vented
its rage, fly off, as its instinct prompted, to satisfy
itself of the security of its offspring? We shall
not pretend to decide under which class of actions
this one may be said to rank, but certainly we should
be equally reluctant to accept the dictum of another
on the subject.
But this difficulty in defining the exact limits that
separate instinct from reason need not deter us from
THE BEE.
131
0
endeavouring to trace such distinguishing features
in each as will enable us to form some conception
of its general character. Besides, who can say that
there are definable boundaries to either quality ?
There are creatures in existence, whereof you may
take one and show it to an experienced naturalist,
who will feel, handle, and dissect it, follow its life-
history from the incubation to the death, and, after
careful and unbiassed consideration, will tell you that
it is a fish. Give the same creature to another
equally talented zoologist, and he will, after the same
toilsome investigation and scrutiny, declare it to be
a reptile. Is it not possible that, like the travellers
and the chameleon, both these men “ are right, and
both are wrong ” ? — right in detecting the character¬
istics of that group in which they respectively rank
the living object, wrong in attempting to force upon
Nature limits that do not actually exist, and placing
the creature in some square or circle in the Animal
Kingdom, which they find it necessary to draw with
mathematical precision, in order to aid their limited
understandings, and facilitate the studies of those
whom they desire to instruct ?
Well, then, if these difficulties arise in deciphering
the true nature of the external and visible forms of
animals, how much more perplexing must be the
attempt to define the precise character of the various
phases of mind with which they are endowed ! And
again, as in the case just quoted with reference to
the classification of animal forms, who has a right
132
HUMBLE CREATURES.
to divide the whole mental nature * of those races,
including man, into two circumscribed provinces,
“ instinct ” and “ reason ” ?
It is but very recently that physiologists began to
detect those true typical features, external and inter¬
nal, that characterize the various groups of animals ;
and we believe that, when as much attention shall
have been devoted by naturalists to the considera¬
tion of the psychical properties of animals as has been
brought to bear upon the investigation of their bodily
structure, the old boundary that separates instinct
from reason will disappear, and they will find nume¬
rous avenues through which to pass from one field of
mental life to the other. The time is not far distant
when a scientific account of the mental attributes of
every group (or, if needful, of every genus or species)
of animals will be deemed an indispensable adjunct
to works on zoology ; and, as the class of readers who
were formerly satisfied with a superficial description,
provided it was an interesting one, of the external
forms and characteristics of animals, now require to
be enlightened with regard to their anatomy and
physiology, so will such as are at present contented
with a few anecdotes concerning their habits and
mode of life, expect to be minutely informed regard¬
ing their inner springs of action, and the relation of
these to the visible organs of the living fabric. When
we observe how rapidly whole races of animals are
disappearing from the surface of the globe, we cannot
fail to perceive the importance of such a work, which
THE BEE.
133
should be completed whilst the creatures still follow
their natural mode of life, and before they are domes¬
ticated or exterminated by the irresistible progress of
civilization.
Sufficient information is, however, not yet collected
to enable a comparative psychologist to set to work
and systematize the various mental phenomena in
the Animal Kingdom, nor would this be the place to
do so, even if the materials were at hand. As, how¬
ever, our object in undertaking this work has been
to popularize and give an impetus to the study of
science, we shall bring before you a few examples of
a gradually progressing mind in animals, dwelling as
much as we are able upon the mental properties of
our little Bee, and you will see with what intense
interest the subject is invested, and how that unity
which everywhere presents itself in the visible crea¬
tion may also be distinctly traced in the invisible
world.
134
HUMBLE CREATURES
CHAPTER VIII.
VEGETABLE LIFE. — MOTILE PLANTS. - ABSENCE OF MENTAL
PROPERTIES IN THE LOWEST TYPES OF ANIMAL LIFE. —
UNITY IN THE PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF MIND AND
BODY IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. — SENSATION THE FIRST
INDICATION OF MIND.- — PSYCHICAL PROPERTIES OF THE
SEA- ANEMONE. — THE ACTINIA AND THE HUMAN INFANT. —
“animal” or “natural instinct”: its universality
IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. - THE INSECT RACES : THEIR
HIGHER PSYCHICAL POWERS J FITNESS OF THESE FOR THE
USES OF THEIR VARIOUS ORGANS, MEMBERS, AND ACTIONS.
— NECESSITY OF THE HIGHER PSYCHICAL POWERS OF IN¬
SECTS. — THE BEE. — ITS EMOTIONS. — EXPERIMENT TO PROVE
THE PRESENCE OF ITS FEELING OF ANGER. — DO BEES THINK?
— ABSENCE OF EDUCABILITY IN INSTINCT. - “RATIONAL IN¬
STINCT.” — “REASON,” OR intelligence: ITS RELATIONS
TO THE CEREBRUM: EDUCABILITY, AND DESIGN OR CON¬
SCIOUS MOTIVE, TWO OF ITS CHARACTERISTICS. — THE TWO
CROWS AND THE DOG. - “INSTINCTIVE INTELLIGENCE.” —
THE DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND MAN. — NATURE OF THE
DOG : ITS MORAL WORTH ; ITS SENSE OF DUTY. — TREAT¬
MENT OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND CHILDREN. — ATTRI¬
BUTES OF PERFECT ANIMALS COMPARED WITH THOSE OF
IMPERFECT MEN. - CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMANITY, THE
ANALOGUES OF THE NOBLER TRAITS IN THE HIGHER ANI¬
MALS. — TILLOTSON’S VIEWS OF THE MORAL INSTINCTS OF
MAN CONFIRMED BY COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY. — THE DOG
AND THE MAN. — MAN AND THE DEITY. — SUMMARY OF THE
THE BEE.
135
MENTAL ATTRIBUTES OF ANIMALS. — RETROSPECT. — ARE
THE WORM, THE FLY, AND THE BEE COMMONPLACE AND UN¬
INTERESTING ? — WHICH IS THE MOST INDISPENSABLE ? - THE
CARE OF THE ALMIGHTY FOR ALL HIS WORKS. — THE VARIOUS
MEANS EMPLOYED BY HIM TO ATTAIN SIMILAR ENDS. — HIS
CARE OF US. — THE RELATION OF THE HUMBLE CREATURES
TO OURSELVES, AND OUR RELATION TO GOD. — CONCLUSION.
It is a well-known fact, that certain plants are capable
of performing movements of a limited kind, that are
necessary for their protection or development. To
select two very familiar examples : the daisy closes at
night and opens in the morning, so that the central
whorl of delicate flowers escapes the effects of the
night air ; the sunflower is always turned towards
the solar orb, which it follows in its course, in order
to secure its vivifying influence throughout the whole
day.
These movements take place whilst the plants re¬
main fixed in the ground ; but there are other examples
in the vegetable kingdom, where the organisms them¬
selves, which are aquatic, move about in the water
with great rapidity, propelled by little hair-like elastic
fibres termed “ cilia” that vibrate rapidly to and fro ;
and, strange to say, although these plants are thus
remarkably endowed with an attribute usually sup¬
posed to belong only to the animated tribes, yet they
rank amongst the lowest types of vegetable life*. So
closely do some of these “ protophytes” resemble
* e. g. Volvox Globator (a little green rolling globe, found in
ponds in great numbers, especially in summer), Gonium, &c. &c.
136
HUMBLE CREATURES.
the lowest known forms of animal life, distinguished
as the “ Protozoa ” that many of them are even now
bandied about by naturalists from one kingdom to
another ; and it will probably be a long time (if it
should ever be) before a clear line of demarcation is
drawn between the two realms of animal and vege¬
table existence.
For our purpose, however, it will suffice to state,
that, in all probability, these primitive types of life,
whether animal or vegetable, perform their various
movements, imbibe nourishment, grow, and repro¬
duce, without any appreciable psychical or mental
properties, and that their motions are due alone to
the contractility of their tissues. Here, therefore, al¬
though we have life, movement, growth, and repro¬
duction, we have no animating power that can with
propriety be called “ mind.”
And now, before entering the arena of true animal
existence, and endeavouring to trace in outline the
progressive stages of mind in the various races of
sentient beings, we must repeat a statement made in
the first of these treatises on Humble Creatures*,
where, in speaking of the principles upon which the
modern classification of animals is based, we observed
that “ each great division of the Animal Kingdom ex¬
hibits a progressive development in the organization
of the various groups that it contains ; and also that,
in following the life-history of a single individual in
each section, a remarkable analogy is apparent be-
* 1 Earthworm and Housefly/ p. 27.
THE BEE.
137
tween the various stages of development through
which it passes and those existing in the whole class.
So striking is this comparative progress in the organ¬
ization of classes and individuals, that the lowest crea¬
tures in any particular section strongly resemble,
when in their perfect form, the early or embryonic
stage of the higher animals in the same section, the
latter undergoing various changes of form and struc¬
ture before they assume their characteristic type.”
Thus, to illustrate this proposition, the vermiform,
or worm-shaped creatures, which rank lowest in the
articulate races, resemble, in their perfectly developed
state, the insects (which are the highest of the articulate
tribes) in their larval or imperfect stage of growth.
Any one who has been at all impressed with the
unity exhibited in all the natural operations of the
Creator, and the intimate connexion existing between
matter and mind, will of course expect to find the
same phenomena in the psychical or mental as in the
physical history of animated nature ; and a considera¬
tion of the following brief sketch of the mental deve¬
lopment of the various races of animals will serve to
show that the parallel does exist, and may readily be
traced.
Quitting, then, those doubtful forms of which it is
difficult to detect the true nature, we soon arrive at
a group of creatures possessing an undoubted animal
existence. In these, the inner mainsprings of action
are linked with the outer world by a chain of sensa¬
tions, and the exciting cause of their movements
138
HUMBLE CREATURES.
is wholly dependent upon the appetites or natural
wants*.
Let us quote a familiar example of this blind,
unconscious, mechanical instinct, illustrative of the
lowest psychical phase of which we can well form a
conception.
You have doubtless seen the common Sea- anemone
or Actinia, adhering to the rocks at low-water. If
you go and watch this creature when it is covered by
the tide, or (if that be impracticable) in the aquarium
of a friend, you will perceive it from time to time
extend its tentacles to their full extent in search of
food. Presently a little shrimp or other living crea¬
ture comes in contact with these tentacles, and at
once it is seized and conveyed into the capacious
stomach ; indeed the creature itself is little else than
a stomach endowed with the capability of feeding
itself, and possessing limited powers of locomotion.
As soon as it has obtained a sufficient amount of
nourishment, and has satisfied the cravings of ap¬
petite, it shrinks up into a jelly-like shapeless mass,
resembling an excrescence growing upon the rocks ;
and any living creature, however tempting a morsel
it might otherwise be, may then approach or im¬
pinge upon it without danger of falling a prey to its
voracity.
* If the term “instinct” were limited to such a mental
quality as is here described, then the theory of “ sensation ”
(see page 119) would perhaps constitute the most appropriate
definition that could be applied.
THE BEE.
139
These, and similar actions necessary for the de¬
velopment and growth of the individual, are prompted
by hunger, or some other natural want ; and their
analogues may be found in every living creature, be¬
ginning with these humble forms of life and ending
with man. And mark, reader, how strikingly the
principle is here illustrated that we quoted with re¬
ference to the comparative physical and mental de¬
velopment of animals. The instinct that prompts the
Actinia, one of the lowest forms of animal life, to
stretch out its tentacles in search of prey in the same
mechanical manner throughout its whole life, and
which is therefore one of the mental characteristics of
its perfect nature, this instinct, we say, is repeated,
with but little variation, in the human infant during
the earliest stage of its existence, when it turns to
the mother's breast for food as mechanically as the
Polype extends its feelers in the water with the same
object, — namely, that of obtaining a supply of nou¬
rishment.
As before remarked, we are not going to attempt a
formal classification of the mental attributes of animals;
but the most appropriate term that occurs to us, as a
designation of this class of psychical properties, is
(i natural or animal instinct," by reason of its imme¬
diate relation to all the most urgent requirements of
the animal nature.
But as we travel upwards in the animal scale, and
look around us amongst the insect races, we cannot
fail to observe in these a class of actions prompted by
140
HUMBLE CREATURES.
mental impulses, and resulting from psychical powers
that are as distinct in their nature from those just
described as are the active and highly organised
creatures themselves from the Anemone, growing, as
it were, upon the rock. And is this not perfectly
natural, and in accordance with the progressive deve¬
lopment exhibited in the structure of the animals ?
In the radiate types we have a set of tentacles, long
or short, thick or thin, hard or soft, but always ten¬
tacles, and nothing more. Their office is to seize the
food with which they come into contact, and convey
it to the stomach, and for this object their simple
form is amply sufficient.
But now, turning to the insect tribes, we find
in the Mantis * and others, certain parts of the
members of locomotion, &c., transformed into power¬
ful blades or claws, with which they are enabled
to capture and despatch their prey. The Spider,
again, possesses a set of spinarets wherewith to
weave a web for the same purpose, and a combing
apparatus upon each foot, to aid it in its operations.
The suctorial insects are furnished with probosces,
or suction-pumps, and the parasites with lancets,
that are used to extract the juices from plants and
animals.
* Mantis religiosa is an interesting and well-known insect
of prey, a native of the South of France, that usually assumes
the attitude of prayer (hence its name) whilst watching for
passing flies, which it strikes down with its scythe-shaped
fore-legs.
THE BEE.
141
Now, as each of these weapons must be wielded in
a particular way, is it not quite obvious that the
owners must be taught how to employ them ? or, in
other w'ords, must they not all possess varying powers
of mind , to enable them to attain the same end by
different means ? Is it reasonable to suppose that
one and the same impulse or psychical endowment,
implanted in the Spider and in the Bee, will cause the
former to weave its web and wait patiently for the
approach of its prey, and the other to fly off to distant
meadows or gardens, and there penetrate the nectaries
of flowers in search of honey? Would it be wise to
assume that both these instincts resemble, in their
psychical character, the imperfect faculty whereby the
Actinia is prompted to extend and retract its ten¬
tacles ? Certainly not. Such a theory would be just
as absurd as to suppose that the same powers of mind
as those which direct the Bee and other insects in
the use of their natural implements would suffice to
enable man to deal with all subjects in connexion
with the arts and sciences.
When we contemplate the mode in which the vari¬
ous insects employ their exquisitely constructed in¬
struments, of widely differing character, we cannot
help perceiving that the Creator has endowed each of
these His creatures with a circumscribed mental capa¬
city; but, at the same time, one that enables it to
perform its complicated operations to the best advan¬
tage. Nor must wre forget that not only has He
centred in us all these psychical endowments, placing
142
HUMBLE CREATURES.
us at the same time in a position to form similar in¬
struments for our own use, but He has in His mercy
crowned us with reasoning faculties, that we may
appreciate His goodness, and assist in the fulfilment
of His great ends by their wise and judicious em¬
ployment.
But there are other reasons why the mind of an insect
should be differently constituted to that of an Actinia.
The latter is fixed upon a rock in the sea ; and, though
it certainly possesses limited powers of locomotion,
yet there it is, always at the mercy of a passing fish
or Crustacean ; these browse upon it, just as a sheep
grazes upon the meadows. But with the insect it is
otherwise. The Bee, for example, has been placed in
a completely different natural sphere ; it builds for
itself a dwelling to afford it protection from the
weather, fortifies it to exclude enemies, and cements
it down firmly that it may not be left at the control
of the wind, as the Actinia is tossed about by every
passing wave. For this purpose it has to seek certain
natural substances, which serve the little architect
as bricks and mortar; and these operations neces¬
sarily require discrimination, or what in ourselves we
term judgment ; for, as it sometimes happens that the
proper materials are not within reach, the Bee is then
obliged to employ substitutes, and in so doing it never
blindly chooses the less efficient substance when a
better one is at hand, but invariably uses f f the right
thing in the right place.”
THE BEE.
143
And, moreover, Bees communicate information to
one another, and they also possess emotion as well as
sensation.
Do yon doubt this assertion ? Then go to a bee¬
hive, and lay a small twig, or some other obstacle
to the free passage of the inmates, across its en¬
trance. As the labourers pass in and out of the hive,
they inspect it carefully, and first you will see one or
two Bees crawl over, and examine it with their an¬
tennae; then they enter and inform, probably, the
Police-bees inside.
Presently a few more make their appearance from
within, and, if you have the courage to stand your
ground, two or three detectives will fly about your
head, and by their angry hum will give you a hint
that it would be advisable for you to remove the
stick, or make yourself scarce.
But you may leave the twig a little longer, for the
Bees wonT attack you at once, unless you show signs
of fear ; and when you find the number increase about
the entrance of the hive, withdraw the stick and go
away to a considerable distance. You will then see
them come forth in masses just as though they were
going to swarm, and had you dared to stay you would
have been attacked and seriously stung, for daring
to disturb the even tenor of their existence.
On one occasion we ventured to stand near the
hive a little longer than was discreet whilst trying
this experiment, and were actually attacked by some
of the Bees, one of which flew against our face
144
HUMBLE CREATURES.
and stung us, with every demonstration of anger.
At any other time we could approach the entrance
of the same hive with perfect security, protected only
by a sprig of wallflower, and we remained near
enough to be enabled to watch the ventilating Bees
in their operations inside of the hive. This proves
clearly that the anger of the Bees was excited by
the interference with their habitual proceedings ; but
whether they knew who was the disturber of their
peace, or simply attacked us as the nearest living ob¬
ject, is a question that must be solved along with the
one already mentioned in connexion with the anec¬
dote of the Bee and the Wasp*. That their know¬
ledge or psychical power, under such exceptional cir¬
cumstances , cannot be very great, is certain from the
fact, that, although when about to swarm they send
out scouts to a considerable distance, and in their
search for honey they will fly several miles from their
habitation, yet they will not attack a person who has
deranged the economy of their hive as narrated
above, if he but remove to the distance of twenty or
thirty yards.
And, furthermore, although many of the com¬
plicated actions of the Bee and other insects bear
evidences of discrimination and emotion, and are
* One may form some conception of the mode in winch the
Bees apprehend the relation between the stick across the en¬
trance of the hive and the living object standing by, if he
secretly abstract some favourite toy with which a very young
child is playing, and watch the effect in its actions and coun¬
tenance.
THE BEE.
145
of a decidedly higher character than those simple
movements and operations performed by the crea¬
tures placed lower in the animal scale, and though it
has hitherto been impossible to distinguish many of
the former from truly rational acts, yet we do not
consider the whole mental nature of these animated
beings entitled to a higher designation than that of
instinct. Notwithstanding that it foreshadows those
psychical powers and faculties that become developed
in the reasoning creatures, yet it wants at least one
clearly- defined quality which is now employed, as it
appears to us, with great propriety, to stamp the
nature of true reason ; and that is educability .
Insects never improve in their mode of proceed¬
ing, nor excel one another in the ability with which
they perform their labours ; there never was a Bee
wiser than another Bee, nor a generation of Bees
that effected improvements in the economy of the
hive; and if we were able to suggest to the crea¬
tures an improved modus operandi, it is questionable
whether any amount of teaching would have a per¬
ceptible effect upon them.
A careful consideration of the nature and pheno¬
mena of this higher phase of instinct has suggested
to us the designation of “ rational instinct ” as an ap¬
propriate one to denote its character ; for as soon as
the various creatures that are thus endowed attain
the imago, or perfect state, they at once instinct¬
ively or intuitively perceive the relation between
the various organs wherewith they are furnished
H
146
HUMBLE CREATURES.
and the materials on which they are intended to ope¬
rate, and, without any experience or tuition, proceed
at once to employ both organs and materials in a per¬
fectly rational manner*.
And now, having drawn attention to two essen¬
tially different phases of instinct, the lower one purely
mechanical and ministering to the immediate na¬
tural wants of the individual, and the higher in¬
volving truly rational acts (such as in ourselves ne¬
cessitate previous tuition and experience) that enable
the animal to provide not only for its own wants,
but for the necessities and welfare of its congeners ;
having selected these from amongst many progress¬
ive phases of instinct, let us now pass that boundary
whereon so many naturalists have wandered life-long,
and, entering the province of reason, endeavour to
form some idea, however imperfect, of its distinguish¬
ing attributes.
We believe it to be the acknowledged theory of
physiologists in the present day, that the true rea¬
soning faculty is immediately connected with the
possession of a brcdn ; or, to be more precise, that
* The simile of Rogers (page 13) is perhaps more appro¬
priate than even he imagined 5 and if we could follow the
mental as we can the physical development of the Bee through
the various stages of larva, pupa, and imago, we should proba¬
bly derive from the study a valuable lesson bearing upon our
own psychical nature. There can be no doubt, that, in its
larval condition, the insect is collecting substance in prepara¬
tion for its higher existence ; and, in a figurative sense, the
same remark applies to ourselves.
THE BEE.
147
reason or intelligence is only found in such animals
(those being the Vertebrata) as possess a cerebrum ,
that is, the upper portion of the brain, composed of
two lobes or imperfect hemispheres. And, further¬
more, it is held that the character of the cerebrum
in the various animal races is also the measure of
intelligence ; for it is found that as this part of the
brain increases in size (not as compared with the body
of the animal, but with the remaining portions of
the nervous system), and in accordance, too, with
the increasing amount of grey vesicular matter com¬
posing its surface, so does the possessor rank in the
scale of intelligent creatures.
But although these physiological distinctions serve
as indications of intelligence, yet they will not of
themselves teach us the difference between that in¬
telligence and the mental qualities of the invertebrate
races, and it is necessary that we should look to the
actions of the various creatures before we can hope
to form anything like a correct estimate of their psy¬
chical nature.
In our concluding remarks concerning instinct, we
mentioned that this property is not susceptible of
development ; that, hoAvever complicated the actions
resulting from it may be, they are, as a general rule,
the same under all circumstances ; in fact that a ne¬
gative feature in “ instinct ” is the absence of educa¬
bility. What we have, therefore, first to seek in
reason or intelligence , as a distinguishing charac¬
teristic, is the last-named attribute, and in a greater
h 2
148
HUMBLE CREATURES.
or less degree we find it in nearly all the Vertebrata,
beginning with the higher reptiles, and ending with
the most intelligent human being. This suscepti¬
bility of improvement is exhibited in various ways,
such as the mode in which the parent teaches its off¬
spring to perform certain acts ; or the readiness with
which it conforms itself to the habits of man, and
casting off its savage propensities, yields to his civil¬
izing influences.
To quote illustrations in proof of the presence of
this quality would be quite superfluous, for whoever
has watched the habits of the higher animals in a
wild state, or has kept any domesticated ones, cannot
fail to have witnessed examples of their educability,
and reserving this attribute for subsequent considera¬
tion, we shall now pass on to another characteristic
of intelligence, namely, design. By this we mean a
distinct consciousness on the part of the creature that
it is adapting a means to an end, however humble
may be the object to be attained.
That the Fly does not know wherefore it deposits
its ova upon certain substances suitable for the nou¬
rishment of its offspring, no one will doubt ; for, as
before stated, it may in all probability be dead before
the eggs are hatched; and it is at least very ques¬
tionable whether even in performing the most com¬
plicated instinctive actions, these creatures are con¬
scious of the end to be attained. Beminding you of
Vogt’s anecdote of the Bee and the Wasp*, in which
* Page 128.
THE BEE.
149
you will recollect that the former bit off the wings of
the latter, either in order to prevent it from flying to
its nest, or (as wre believe most reflecting naturalists
would say) because it was the only part of its enemy
that was vulnerable, w^e will now contrast with this
very questionable exhibition of the reasoning faculty,
another mentioned by a writer in an illustrated
periodical*, in which a bird is the actor.
He narrates an anecdote of two crows that were
watching a dog gnawing a bone, of which they were
very anxious to obtain possession. The dog, how¬
ever, kept such a sharp eye upon them that they
dared not approach him openly, but one of the crows
slipped quietly round to the back of the animal and
began to peck at his tail with its beak. No sooner
did the dog turn his head to defend himself from
this rear attack, than the other crow hopped up, and,
seizing the coveted bone, flew off with it. Now,
here wTe have not only an evidence of design, but a
cunning, premeditated plot ; and we say these crows
richly deserved their bone for the intelligence they
displayed in obtaining possession of it.
In these creatures, therefore, as we see by the fore¬
going example (which is one in a thousand), there is,
combined with a low reasoning power, a considerable
amount of cunning ; and not only might similar traits
be pointed out in the nature of the higher animals,
but even in man himself we not unfrequently find a
defective or debased intellect accompanied by great
* ‘ Once a Week. ’
150
HUMBLE CREATURES.
craftiness of disposition, and a constant recourse to
stratagem. This is another striking example of the
unity that is presented by the progressive stages of
mental development ; and the close resemblance ex¬
isting between the qualities that characterize the^»er-
fect types of the lower Vertebrata and the attributes
of the imperfect man, clearly denotes that these
psychical properties belong to one and the same pro¬
vince in the realm of mind. This lower phase of
reason may with propriety be termed “ instinctive
reason,” or “ instinctive intelligence*;” for, although
the creatures thus endowed possess a certain degree
* This term has been applied by Coleridge Q Aids to Re¬
flection/ p. 181, Pickering, 1839) to the nature of the Bee and
other insects, in consequence of the power displayed by them
of “ adapting the proper means to proximate ends according to
varying circumstances and his inference is drawn more espe¬
cially from their devices employed in the construction of their
dwellings. This definition of intelligence does not, however,
appear to us sufficiently clear ; unless Coleridge attributed that
quality to the Hermit Crab and to numerous other creatures that
have the power either to appropriate objects ready formed as
dwellings, or to construct them from various materials, according
to circumstances, but which rank verv low in the animal scale.
Availing ourselves of the u aids to reflection” afforded by the
latest and most eminent psychologists, we conclude that before
such actions as those referred to by Coleridge, apparently indi¬
cative of intelligence, can be considered to be truly so, it must
be shown that the creatures are conscious that they are apply¬
ing the proper means to the proximate ends. The line of
demarcation is, however, exceedingly faint and difficult to di¬
stinguish, as we have repeatedly declared in the foregoing ob¬
servations on instinct and reason, and Coleridge’s reflections
on the subject, beautiful though they be, are unfortunately not
calculated to render it more easily definable.
THE BEE.
151
of educability, yet their actions are directed to the
support of the individual or community, minister to
the animal enjoyments, or provide for the conti¬
nuance of the species, all of which we know to be
the distinctive attributes of instinct ; but they ex¬
hibit none of those higher moral qualities that we
find in the domesticated animals or in man.
The natural educability, however, of the former of
the two last-named, and their expanded mental ca¬
pacities, combined with the influence produced by
their contact with man, create an entire change in
their psychical nature, and the intelligence of the
brute is elevated to such a degree as to render it
capable of acquiring not only the habits of its master,
and many of his emotions, but even, in a limited
degree, some of those divine attributes by which he
is distinguished from all other living creatures.
It is a well-known and a true saying that man is
the god of the dog ; and all those finer emotions of
the humble companion of mankind, such as the love
that causes him to spring forward to the rescue of a
drowning child, the submissive obedience with which
he performs his owner’s behests, the devotion that
prompts him to lick the hand that has chastised him,
the grief that chains him to his master’s grave, and
so overrules his instincts that he will die of hunger
rather than quit the spot where his benefactor lies
buried; all these manifestations of emotion and in¬
telligence entitle their possessor to a mental rank,
very closely approximating that of many a human
152
HUMBLE CREATURES.
being. Indeed, it is well known tliat amongst bar¬
barous nations the sympathy and affinity existing be¬
tween man and his domesticated companions amongst
the higher animals are so great, that he not only
lavishes upon them as much tenderness as upon his
blood-relatives, but that his very conception of heaven
is allied with the expectation of there meeting his
four-footed associates, just as we hope to be reunited
hereafter with those departed friends whom we have
loved on earth.
Let it, however, be clearly understood, that although
we believe the higher vertebrata, and more especially
the domesticated animals, to be endowed with a cer¬
tain amount of reason such as we find in ourselves,
and transmitted through the human race , yet we
would not for an instant encourage the doctrine that
their natures are akin to our own ; or that man does
not possess an infinitely higher degree of intelligence
than do these valuable creatures. The attempt thus to
raise their nature would involve just as grave an error
as if we were to delude ourselves with the idea that
we are Deity because we have been honoured by our
Creator with the possession of some divine attributes.
The dog may be said to stand at the head of the
animal races, so far as his psychical properties are
concerned, and the high degree of his instinctive in¬
telligence bears the same relation to the lower phase
of that quality, exhibited in the untutored brutes, as
does the rational instinct of the higher insect races
to the animal or natural instinct in the lower inver-
THE BEE.
153
tebrate forms, in which we find the first indications of
an independent power of action ; another instance this
of the unity of purpose and regularity of design that
characterize the development of mind in the animal
kingdom.
But there is in the character of the domesticated
animals one moral trait which, above all others, leads
us to a comparison of their natures with our own,
and that is, the consciousness of having committed a
fault or performed a meritorious act ; in other words,
their limited sense of right or wrong.
It is needless to refer to books for exemplifications
of the truth of this statement ; for who that has kept
a favourite dog does not know that the animal is
frequently conscious whether its actions deserve re¬
ward or punishment? And if we come to compare
our treatment of these creatures with our method of
dealing with onr own little ones whilst the instincts
still predominate in these, we shall find that unfor¬
tunately the same rod is too often applied to both, in
order to suppress their mischievous propensities, and
to instil a sense of duty and propriety.
The means employed in either case are probably
injudicious, and the result of ignorance on the part
of the tutor*, but the end is similar in both ; in the
case of the domesticated animal, to educe that in-
* Witness tlie modem mode of treating children in public
schools, as compared with the whipping system of old ; and Mr.
Rarey’s method of training horses , in contrast with the use of
the whip and spur.
H O
154
HUMBLE CREATURES.
tellect which cannot outstep certain bounds, but
which in the human being enables him through his
free will and self- educability to develope those moral
and spiritual properties that constitute the perfect man.
Here we again find an example of the close re¬
semblance between the perfect nature of the lower
creature and the imperfectly developed stage in the
higher, and if we were to investigate those baser
qualities which, either in the child or in the adult,
are not brought under the controlling influence of
reason, such as cunning, avarice, deceit, treachery, &c.,
we should find that they form the characteristic fea¬
ture in the completely developed nature of one or
other of the untutored brutes; thus further illus¬
trating the accuracy of the foregoing proposition.
But does this unity terminate here ? Is the only
bond that connects man with the universal realm
of mind to be found in his vices and imperfections?
Are there no traits discernible in his character that,
whilst they show him to possess an animal nature,
prove also that he is linked with a Higher as well as
with the lower intelligences ?
Some men might dread to push this inquiry further,
lest they should shock their preconceived ideas, in¬
herited or otherwise, concerning their own nature ;
but if the subject be approached with due reverence
and diffidence, no such result need be anticipated.
There is nothing unworthy in the character of the
lower animals ; and it is only when we find moral,
reasoning man, who was created for a higher end
THE BEE.
155
than they, governed by brutish passions, it is then
only that these qualities become detestable ; and
if we calmly consider the nobler traits in the dispo¬
sition of these creatures, we shall find that their
analogues in ourselves are the very features that
constitute our humanity, and the tie that binds us
with the Creator.
When Archbishop Tillotson called the impressions
of right and wrong, and the inclination to reverence
the Divine nature existing in the minds of men, in¬
stinctive , and when he compared them Avitli the in¬
stincts of the brute creatures*, he meant to point
out that these are the typical qualities that charac¬
terize his nature; just as the lower animals are di¬
stinguished by their various instinctive attributes;
and a comparison of their nature with our own shows
that his assertion was not merely a figure of speech,
but that the principle which he enunciated forms the
crowning feature in the comparative history of mind.
In the dog, for example, the nobler moral traits are
not, strictly speaking, natural, but they are the con¬
necting links brought into existence by his association
with ourselves.
We educate him for our purposes. He is trained,
along with the other domesticated animals, to be of
service to man, and is the reflex of his master ; if
the owner be of a kind and gentle disposition, so is
the dog ; if the former be wild and unbridled in his
passions, so also is the latter ; and the more the dog
* Page 122.
156
HUMBLE CREATURES.
associates with man the more fully does he partake
of his nature.
These moral features, then, that are imperfectly
and artificially developed in the lower animals, — this
restricted sense of right and wrong, this veneration
for the higher nature of man, — find their analogies in
our own character ; they are the natural instincts of
the human being, and in him they assume the form
of moral responsibility and veneration for the Divine
nature.
And if the dog becomes by education and asso¬
ciation with man the reflex of its master, do not we
in like manner resemble Him the nearer we approach
Him, and the more intimate we endeavour to make
our relations with Him by communion and imita¬
tion ? Just as our humble companions draw their
moral excellence from us, do not we derive strength,
wisdom, love, and hope from the Source of all these
qualities? and does not the last-named attribute of
our nature, hope, spur us on to the fulfilment of all
that is high and noble*? Do not we learn through
this medium, that, just as the humble associates of our
earthly existence become more useful to us in pro¬
portion as they are trained for their work, we, too,
most perfectly fulfil the objects of our existence, the
more we exercise our moral and intellectual faculties ;
and that the better we train and school ourselves, the
* Free-will and the inventive capacity are also striking
attributes that form a connecting link between man and his
Maker.
THE BEE.
157
more completely shall we be fitted to become the
companions and the co-workers of a higher Intelli¬
gence hereafter ?
The consideration of the psychical or mental na¬
tures of the various races of animated beings leads
us therefore to the following conclusions : —
First, that in the invertebrate animals the mental
properties assume the character of animating in¬
fluences that prompt the creature to perform certain
acts, of a more or less complicated kind, intended for
the well-being of the individual or continuation of
the species ; and that the senses alone operate as the
guiding or controlling power. These mental powers
or properties, which are, as a general rule, not suscep¬
tible of improvement or development in the perfectly
formed creature (that is to say, after the creature has
attained its perfect stage), are popularly known as
instincts.
Secondly, that tlieVertebrata,or those creatures that
are characterized by the possession of a true brain,
are endowed with similar animating properties, guided
in like manner by the sense, and having the same
object and tendency as the so-called instincts of the
invertebrates; but, superadded to these, many of
them possess ethical powers and qualities that in
their turn control and govern these instincts, and
which are susceptible of a greater or less degree of
development or educability. This educable property
in the case of the higher animals (where it is but
limited) is the result of association with one another
158
HUMBLE CREATURES.
or with man, and in ourselves it is quickened by the
observation of Nature; the association with man,
and by communion with the Infinite. These higher
qualities have been variously designated as Reason,
Intelligence; and Understanding.
Thirdly; that in the present imperfect state of onr
knowledge it is impossible to define with exactitude
in which groups or genera of animals the higher
or intelligent nature is first found in combination
with the lower or mechanical ; and many of the acts
of the higher invertebrates are capable of being attri¬
buted either to instinctive impulses or to imperfect
reflection.
Fourthly. The most important result of our brief
review, and the one likely to be of the most service in
future inquiries; is that the same uniformity and re¬
gularity of purpose is traceable in the psychical or
mental as in the physical or bodily structure of the
animated tribes ; the perfect nature of the lower
types being repeated in the imperfectly developed
phases of the higher; and nobler qualities being added
in each succeeding stage of progress; so that the
beautiful web of life appears to have been woven with
a constant accumulation of varying threads, and all
taken up and held by the unseen hand of the Author
and Supporter of existence.
Having now brought our investigations to a close,
there remains to us the task of reflecting, in the ex¬
ercise of that reason or intelligence which we have
THE BEE.
159
found to be the characteristic attribute of our race,
upon the moral and intellectual benefits to be derived
from the contemplation of such creatures as this Earth¬
worm, Fly, and Honey-Bee, to whose nature we have
devoted a few descriptive pages, as well as from the
review of the mental attributes of animals, including
those of our own race, which has necessarily formed
a portion of our subject.
If you permit your thoughts to travel back to the
commencement of the first of these little treatises,
you will recollect that the object with which we set
out was, if possible, to show how the humblest and
most commonplace of Nature5 s forms are deserving of
our careful attention, not only from their intrinsic
value as works of the Creator, but as affording useful
lessons in the education of our minds. That we have
not been able fully to accomplish this object through
the printed pages of a book may be easily understood ;
but the imperfection of the artificial means employed
must by no means be regarded as a proof that the
consideration of the living forms themselves would be
alike insufficient for the attainment of the desired end.
Not only will the careful investigation of those
creatures be far more agreeable and more conducive
to the formation of a well-ordered mind than the mere
perusal of a descriptive text-book, but it cannot fail to
lead to discoveries on the part of the student that will
entitle him to rank amongst the pioneers of know¬
ledge. We shall, however, proceed to employ the
means at our disposal, and to ascertain what results
160
HUMBLE CREATURES.
we have been able thus far to obtain from our popular
inquiries.
First, then, w^e trust that we have succeeded in
showing beyond a doubt that those creatures which
many persons are in the habit of regarding as com¬
monplace, or even contemptible, are found, on nearer
examination, to be far more interesting than the first
glance would lead us to imagine, and that the con¬
sideration of their various parts serves to teach us, in
a simple and efficient manner, upon what principles
the organization of the whole animal fabric is based.
The ease with which we can penetrate their ex¬
ternal integument or envelope for the purpose of ex¬
amining their vital organs, or can even contemplate
the functional operations of these whilst the creatures
are alive, without the infliction of pain or injury*,
renders them peculiarly suitable as objects of study
for the uninitiated in the mysteries of science.
We have seen also that their abundance is a great
advantage in the sense just referred to ; for those who
have not the time, inclination, or opportunity to enter
a dissecting-room, may almost at any time secure a
Worm, a Fly, or a Bee, and submit it to microscopical
investigation. The very universality, therefore, that
has rendered them so commonplace, constitutes in
the eyes of the naturalist their chief value as objects
of study and investigation.
But have we found that the naturalist alone is
benefited by the existence of these vulgar creatures ?
* See note on page 58.
THE BEE.
161
Have we not also ascertained that those living beings
Avhich we were apt to regard as useless, or nearly so,
are of far greater importance in the economy of crea¬
tion than others that we are in the habit of tending
with a fostering care ?
We poison, or otherwise destroy the troublesome
flies, whilst we seek, by every means that human
ingenuity can devise, to multiply our stock of Bees,
and are willing to devote any amount of time, labour,
and expense, to save the lives of those swarms that
were formerly, and are still in some cases, destroyed,
in order to obtain the honey.
But we ask you, reader, to recall to mind the ser¬
vices rendered to us by each of these creatures, and
then to say which of the two is the most essential to
our existence, the Bee or the Fly ?
No one will deny that the Bee is a very useful
insect ; to its industry we are indebted for wax and
honey, which substances facilitate in many respects
the practice of art, science, and domestic economy.
But what injury would result to us if every hive,
with its inhabitants, were swept from the face of the
earth ?
On the other hand, let us suppose that we had no
flies to annoy us in the summer months : how should
we fare in regard to health ? Who would search out
and clear away the carcases of animals, and protect
us from the effluvia arising from their decomposition,
with the same celerity and precision as do these little
natural scavengers? Their very abundance, which
162
HUMBLE CREATURES.
causes us so much discomfort during a few weeks in
the year, is the beneficent provision made by the Ruler
of Nature for their universal presence at a season when
decomposition proceeds with the greatest activity in
every direction ; and wherever there are animal re¬
mains to be converted into useful food for man or
beast, there we will guarantee that you may find at
least the one fly which (with its progeny) is capable,
according to a reflecting naturalist, of devouring the
carcase of an ox in a shorter space of time than a
lion could accomplish the same task.
And turn we to the Worm ; that worthless, creeping
abomination to the shallow intellect. Here we find a
creature not only admirably constituted for a special
purpose ; but, what is that purpose ? Why, the for¬
mation of the very soil upon which we move ! of the
superficial deposit whence proceeds the nutriment
without which neither Fly, Bee, nor we ourselves
could maintain existence !
It is indeed a fact which no naturalist will gain¬
say, that the principle here enunciated is not limited
to these three forms of life alone, but that as a
general rule all the lower animals that we are apt
most to undervalue are on due consideration found
to be of the greatest importance in the economy of
Nature. Nor have we found these so-called ignoble
creatures to be left unprovided and defenceless to
take their chance in the “ struggle for existence.”
Each is endowed by its Creator with bodily and
mental attributes the most perfectly adapted to its
THE BEE.
163
sphere of action; the humble Worm with its innu¬
merable hooks to enable it to penetrate the soil in
search of food ; the Fly with its proboscis to secure
its share of nutriment ; the industrious little Bee with
her pollen-baskets, her wax-pockets, and all the other
requirements of her calling ; and both Fly and Bee,
along with their congeners, are furnished with innu¬
merable eyes having in all probability varying ranges
of vision, to guide them in search of a friendly store
or warn them of the approach of winged enemies,
both of their own class and amongst the feathered
tribes.
It is a truth that cannot be too often nor too
earnestly impressed upon our minds, whilst our at¬
tention is directed to the natural history of animals,
that —
“Not to the human race alone
Is His paternal goodness shown ;
The tribes of earth, and sea, and air,
Enjoy His universal care
for each created being has its share of love and its
sphere of usefulness allotted by its Maker.
Another fact, which has been brought under our
notice in a striking manner, is, that, however conver¬
sant we may imagine ourselves to be with the so-called
laws of life, it is not wise to hasten to conclusions
based upon our present knowledge of them ; or at least
to be dogmatical in the expression of our opinions.
The recent discoveries of zoologists concerning the
various modes of reproduction in animals, and espe-
164
HUMBLE CREATURES.
cially the remarkable deviation from the established
law, as exemplified in the Bee, must suffice to show
all thinking men that the Almighty employs a va¬
riety of means to arrive at the same end ; and we
cannot refrain from adding, that if the same reserve
were also exercised in pronouncing upon moral, poli¬
tical, and religions questions, as we have recom¬
mended with respect to physiological inquiries, there
would be much less acrimony and strife amongst man¬
kind than exist at present.
And, finally, coupling our observations upon the
structure and uses of these animals with our expe¬
rience of their mental qualities, we are enabled to
arrive at the following conclusions with respect to
ourselves and our relation to the inferior intelli¬
gences, as well as to the highest Source of all intel¬
ligence.
We find that, however solicitous we may be con¬
cerning our bodily health and comfort, He has been
infinitely more so.
These creatures were made to precede us in the
development of Animal existence, to a great extent
for our benefit ; and for ages, in all probability, our
Heavenly Father had wrought with perfect wisdom
to prepare for us a suitable home on earth.
The lowly Worm accumulated, and still continues
to construct, the surface-soil to which, each spring, we
consign the seeds that yield us rich autumnal fruits.
The Fly, meanwhile, is the guardian of our health ;
and whilst we, ungrateful, rob the parent of existence,
THE BEE.
165
her countless progeny protects us from the dire dis¬
ease that menaces our life.
And then, the sensitive, industrious little Bee flies
busily from flower to flower, and, fertilizing blossoms
in her flight, makes gay our gardens, lawns, and
meadows ; and gathering honey as she sings, with
this, and with her wax, supplies the means to gratify
our cultivated tastes of mind and body.
But when we come to review the mental endow¬
ments that animate the lower creatures, causing them
thus to operate for the common weal, as well as for
our own especial benefit, and compare these with
our own reasoning nature, wre are led to perceive
that, although we have been included in the vast
scheme of Creation, and are in a natural sense allied
to the animal races, whose physical and mental struc¬
ture finds its culmination in ourselves, yet there
has also been implanted in our perishable substance
a germ of that divinity which we ourselves are ca¬
pable of cultivating until it assumes more and more
the image of the Almighty. Whilst even the most
highly favoured of our humble associates amongst
the domesticated tribes are allowed to inherit only so
much of man’s moral nature as his caprice sees fit to
grant, or his convenience necessitates, every human
being possesses the privilege of drawing near to the
Eternal and Invisible Father of all, who, being per¬
fect, is ever ready to enlighten those who search for
truth and wisdom.
It must, how ever, be remembered that w e cannot
166
HUMBLE CREATURES.
claim this privilege as a right ; but that in His over¬
flowing beneficence, and in perfect accordance with
all His vast designs, He has endowed us with these
powers of will and intellect, as the means best adapted
for the attainment of the ends He had in view in our
creation.
That He has, moreover, in thus constituting us,
guaranteed our perfect happiness, provided we faith¬
fully exercise our heavenly prerogative, will surely
need no proof, and whilst, through the contemplation
of that unity of design and development everywhere
visible in Creation, we are permitted to form some
faint conception of the Creator, it behoves us on
every favourable and fitting occasion to express to
Him our gratitude, not only for having formed us in
His own image, but for having fitted to our uses
these and all His other Humble Creatures.
EINIS.
Printed by Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street.
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