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 offspring, still unborn, that is to produce her whole colony. First, there appear the workers, who, like the human workers, sow and reap, and gather honey; the citizens who erect their habitations, elaborating 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.

by a second Eve*, and wandering forth in search of a resting-place and new pasture grounds, And so the little bee-world revolves, and will continue to revolve as long as bees exist.

Never has there been a creature, unless it be perhaps the sweet-toned nightingale, that has lent inspiration 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 they lose,
Nor charm by their beauty the less.

"Not thus inoffensively preys

The cankerworm, 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.

"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.

"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 be no doubt that this insect is in every respect one of the most interesting of all living creatures; 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-1o, one queen, the mother of the hive, a perfectly developed female; 2°, from 600 to 800 drones or males; and 3o, from 15,000 to 30,000 workers, to whom, although they are known occasionally to lay fruitful workereggs, 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 constitutional head of the colony, for, although she does

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 would 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 uncharitable as to suppose that their life is one of complete 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 superior beings, who can afford thus to waste their time, for we know that the workers at least are incessantly 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

company each new swarm, yet when winter approaches 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 preservation, 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 jaws when required for the formation of the cells.

The appearance of common yellow Bee's-wax, 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