M i c r o s c o p i c a l E s s a y s .
them, till at laft he brought his treatife of bees to the wilhed-for
perfeftion, a work which all the ages, from the commencement
o f natural hiftory to our own times, have produced nothing to
equal, nothing to compare with it.* “ Head it, fays the great
Boerhaave, confider it, and then judge for yourfelf.” Reaumur,
however, thought he had in fome meafure removed the veil, and
explained their manner o f generating! lie fuppofes the queen bee
to be the only female in the hive,, and the mother o f the next
generation ; that the drones are the males, by which fhe is fecundated
; and that the working bees, or thofe that colleft wax on
the flowers, that knead it, and form from it the combs and cells,
which they afterwards fill with honey, are o f neither fex. The
queen bee is known by it’s fize,- being generally much larger than
the working bee’or the drone.
« High on her throne, the bright imperial queen
Gives the prime movement to the flate machine:
She in the fubjeft fees the duteous child;
She the true parent, as the regent mild ;
With princely grace invefted fits elate,
, Informs their conduft, and directs the flate.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The cluflering populace obfequious wait,
Or fpread the different orders o f the flate ;
Here greet the labourer on the toilfome way,
And to the load their friendly fhoulders la y ;
Or frequent at the bufy gate arrive,
And fill with amber fweets their fragrant hive ;
Or
* Boerhaave’ s Life of Swammerdam.
z 59
Or feek repairs to clofe the fractur’d cell;
Or fhut the waxen womb where embryos dwell.
The caterers prompt a frugal portion deal,
And give to diligence a.hafly meal;
In each appointed prqvince all proceed,
And neatefl order weds the fwiftefl fpeed;
Difpatch flies various on tenthoufand wings,
And joy throughout the gladfome region rings.”
Mr: Schirach, a German naturalifl, affirms that all the common
bees are females in difguife, in which the organs that diflinguifh
the fex, and particularly the ovaria, are obliterated, or at leaft
from their extreme minutenefs have efcaped the obferver s e y e ;
that every one of thofe bees, in the earlier period of it’s exiflence,
is capable o f becoming a queen bee, i f the whole community
fhould think it proper to nurfe it in a particular manner, and
raife it to that rank : in fhort, that the queen bee lays only two
kinds o f eggs, thofe that are to produce the drones, and thofe
from which the working bees- are to proceed.
Mr. Schirach made his experiments not only in the early fpring
months, but even as late as November. He cut off from an old
hive a piece o f the brood comb, taking .care that it contained
worms which had been hatched about three days, He fixed this
in an empty hive, together with a piece of honey-comb, for food
to his bees, and then introduced a number of common bees into
the hive.. As foon as thefe found themfelves deprived o f their
queen and their liberty, a dreadful uproar took place, which
1'afled for the fpace o f twenty-four hours. On the ceffation o f this
tumult, they betook themfelves to work, firft proceeding to the
I i 2 conftruc