Such are some of the peculiarities displayed by bees hiving in a solitary state. But, on considering those which dwell in society, where from twenty to twenty thousand are frequently collected together in one great family, we are struck with the art and ingenuity, the care and resources, so much more prominent in their ma ture. Their mutual relations are infinitely more com plex, both between each other, and in what respects the general advantage of the colony. They even seem en dowed with the power of providing against accidents, and enabled to take precautions against fortuitous events, by which the destruction of the whole would inevitably folio w.
Certain bees with which we are well acquainted, and daily see in our fields and gardens, the common Hum ble Bees, penetrate the earth in search of some cavity wherein to take up an abode. Early in spring, a single female, which has survived the cold of winter, founds the colony, which, when very numerous, contains to wards an hundred inhabitants. They are of three kinds, male, female, and neuter, or of no distinct sex, in the same nest. Its situation is from three to six or twelve inches deep in the ground, and accessible only by a winding subterraneous gallery, from several inches to several feet in length. The bees collect considerable quantities of real honey, which is disgorged into cells, and make a coarse sort of wax. Another of this ge nus forms its nest in a hollow of the ground, and covers it over with moss; and the bees may be seen ranged, two or three in a line, transmitting the moss from one to another in succession. The interior of the dwelling is covered with wax, as if they were sensible of the ne cessity of doing so to exclude humidity.
But chief of all is the instinct and watchfulness of the Honey Bee, whose nature has been the subject of anxious investigation for ages ; and unquestionably more singularities are exhibited by it than by any other in sect, or perhaps by any other animal, hitherto known. A single female lays the foundation of a numerous co lony; she produces eggs which will become males, fe males, and neuters or working bees ; for the females and males are engaged in nothing but perpetuating the race, while the neuters collect the honey and fabricate the combs. By some unaccountable law, her impreg nation cannot take place within the hive. If delayed beyond twenty days from the origin of her own existence, instead of laying eggs, which will produce the above va rieties of her species, she will never lay any other than those which will be hatched into males. In the natural
state, where there has been no delay, she lays numbers of them, it is true ; but invariably after having produ ced thousands that give birth to workers. Two queens cannot exist at once in a hive ; it is indispensible to the safety of the colony that one shall be destroyed ; and in the bitterness of their combats, sometimes both be come victims of their mutual resentment. But without a queen the colony goes speedily to decay ; the workers, however, possess the secret of converting a common worm, which would hence become one of themselves, into a worm which will become a queen, and the hive is thus preserved. The males are mercilessly massa cred by the workers at a certain season, unless a queen be accidentally wanting, and then they are spared. The workers testify the greatest regard for their queen ; sonic attend her wherever she goes, surround her, sup ply her with honey, and brush her limbs; others keep a vigilant watch day and night at the entrance of the hive; nothing is permitted to enter without due and cautious examination ; others are employed in providing for the necessities of the young worms, in sealing the cells, or in building the combs. Our admiration of their art should rise still higher than it does, on reflecting, that those beautiful and delicate structures, which often yield to the slightest pressure, are all made perfect and complete in total darkness.
These and many other peculiarities, which will after wards be the subject of more copious discussion, cha racterise the genus Arts. See Reaumur Armoires pour ser-vira e Histoire des Insectes, tom. v. vi. Schirach, Ristoire Xaturclle de la Reine des Abeilles. Swammer darn, Biblia Naturx. Scopoli, •ntomologia Carniolica. Fabricius, Entomologia Systematica. Schaeffer, Icones Insectorunz circa Ratisbon. Schaeffer, Elementa Ento mologica. De Geer, Illcmoires sur les Insectes, tom. ii. part 2. Latreille, Recited des Memoires et d'Observa lions sur les Abeilles. Francis Huber, Observa tions on the Xatural History of Bees. P. Huber, sur les Bourdons, Transact. Lin. Society, v. 6. Kirby Mo nographia AJuunr Anglia. Harris, Exposition of En glish Insects. Barbut, Genera Insectorum. (c)