"... Ille horridus alterDesidiâ, latamque trahens inglorius alvum."Georgic, iv. l. 93.[138]SeeVol.I. p.486.[139]In hives where a queen laying male eggs has been killed, the workers continue to make only male cells, though supplied with a fertile queen, and the fertile workers lay eggs in them.Schirach, 258.[140]Huber, ii. 425—.[141]Thorley,On Bees, 179.[142]Huber, i. 137.[143]Reaumur, who was however unacquainted with this extraordinary fact, has figured one of these cells, v.t.32.f.3.h.[144]Compare Bonnet, x. 156, with Huber, i. 134—.[145]Schirach, 69.[146]Huber,t.4.f.4-6.[147]Huber, i. 292.[148]Bonnet, x.[149]Huber, i. 132.[150]Schirach, 121.[151]Huber, ii. 453.[152]BonnerOn Bees, 56.[153]The same gentleman subsequently sent me the following memoranda.July 10, 1820. A late second swarm was hived into a box constructed so that each comb could be taken out and examined separately. On the 7th of August the queen was removed, and each comb taken out and closely examined: there was not the least appearance of any royal cells, but much brood and eggs in the common ones. On the 14th, three royal cells were observed nearly finished, with a large grub in each. On the 16th, the three cells were sealed. On the 18th and 21st, they remained in the same state. On the 22d, two queens were found hatched, one was removed and the other left with the stock, the remaining royal cell being still closed. On the morning of the 23d, a dead queen was thrown out of the hive, upon which examination being made, the royal cell left closed on the 22d was found open, and a living queen in the stock which was allowed to remain.[154]Huber, ii. 445.[155]See J. Hunter'sTreatise on certain Parts of the Animal Œconomy.[156]Philos. Trans.1792. viii. 167. HunterTreatise on certain Parts of the Animal Œconomy, p. 65. Latham,Synops.ii. 672.t.60.[157]Reaum. v. 271—.[158]Huber, i. 215—. Schirach asserts, that in cold weather the disclosure of the imago takes place two days later than in warm: and Riem, that in a bad season the eggs will remain in the cells many months without hatching. Schirach, 79. 241.[159]Schirach,t.3.f.10.[160]Huber, i. 224.[161]Ουκ αγαθη ἡ πολυκοιρανιη, είς κοιρανος εςω.[162]Schirach, 209, note *. Huber, i. 170—.[163]Huber, i. 171—.[164]Huber, i. 174.[165]Huber, i. 186.[166]Reaum. v. 268.[167]Huber, i. 190.[168]Huber, i. 256.[169]Huber, i. 286.[170]See above, p.56.[171]Huber, ii. 396—.[172]Reaum. v. 262.[173]Reaum. v. Pref. xv.[174]Huber, i. 269.[175]Huber, i. 322.[176]Reaum. v. 265.[177]Vol.I.376—[178]Huber, i. 63—.[179]Schirach, 257.[180]Huber, i. 319—.[181]This conjecture receives strong confirmation from the following observations of Sir E. Home, which I met with since it came into my mind. From the nipples present in man, which sometimes even afford milk, and from the general analogy between the male and female organs of generation, he supposes the germ is originally fitted to become either sex; and that which it shall be is determined at the time of impregnation by some unknown cause.Philos. Trans.1799. 157.[182]i. 106—.[183]Schirach, 7. 13.[184]Ibid. 13. Thorley, 105.[185]Bonnet, x. 258, 8vo. ed.[186]Huber, i. 122—.[187]See above, p.57.[188]KeysOn Bees, 76.[189]Reaum. v. 611.[190]Huber, i. 251.[191]Some critics have found fault with Mr. Southey for ascribing, in hisCurse of Kehama, to Camdeo, the Cupid of Indian mythology, a bow strung with bees. The idea is not so absurd as they imagine; and the poet doubtless was led to it by his knowledge of the natural history of these animals, and that they form themselves into strings or chaplets.—See Reaum. v.t.xxii.f.3.[192]Reaumur, 615-644.[193]"Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens,(Nam duo sunt genera) hic melior, insignis et ore,Et rutilis clarus squamis: ille horridus alterDesidiâ, latamque trahens inglorius alvum."Georg.iv. 91—.[194]Bees are generally thought to foresee the state of the weather: but they are not always right in their prognostics; for Reaumur witnessed a swarm, which after leaving the hive at half-past one o'clock were overtaken by a very heavy shower at three.[195]Huber, i. 271.[196]Huber, i. 305.[197]Ibid. 280.[198]Huber, i. 316.[199]Bonnet, x. 259.[200]Bibl. Nat.i. 221.b.ed. Hill.[201]Reaum. v. 503—.[202]Huber, i. 24—.[203]Ibid. 37—.[204]Huber, i. 195.[205]Huber, i. 199.[206]Vol.I.376— and487—[207]The following beautiful lines by Professor Smyth are extremely applicable to this part of a bee's labours:"Thou cheerful Bee! come, freely come,And travel round my woodbine bower!Delight me with thy wandering hum,And rouse me from my musing hour;Oh! try no more those tedious fields,Come taste the sweets my garden yields:The treasures of each blooming mine,The bud, the blossom,—all are thine."And careless of this noon-tide heat,I'll follow as thy ramble guides;To watch thee pause and chafe thy feet,And sweep them o'er thy downy sides:Then in a flower's bell nestling lie,And all thy envied ardor ply!Then o'er the stem, tho' fair it grow,With touch rejecting, glance, and go."O Nature kind! O labourer wise!That roam'st along the summer's ray,Glean'st every bliss thy life supplies,And meet'st prepared thy wintry day!Go, envied go—with crowded gatesThe hive thy rich return awaits;Bear home thy store, in triumph gay,And shame each idler of the day."[208]Reaum. v.t.xxviii.f.1. 2.[209]Ibid.f.7.o.[210]Huber, ii. 5.t.ii.f.8.[211]Wildman, 43.[212]Vol.I.196.[213]Huber, ii. 82.[214]Abbé Boisier, quoted in MillsOn Bees, 24.[215]Schirach, 45. Huber, i. 179.[216]Nicholson'sJournal, xxiii. 287.[217]Vol.I.142.[218]Xenoph.Anabas. l. iv. Plin.Hist. Nat.l. xxi. c. 13.[219]Reaum. v.t.xxvi.f.1.[220]Reaum. 295.[221]Kirby,Monogr. Ap. Angl.i.t.12. * *. e. 1.neut.f. 19.a. b.[222]Hist. Anim.l. ix. c. 40.[223]xlvi. 536.[224]ubi supra, 301.[225]Vol.I.299.[226]Reaum. v. 302.—comp. 433. I have seen bees out before it was light.[227]Huber observes that the honey for store is collected by the wax-making bees only (abeilles cirières), and that the nurses (abeilles nourrices) gather no more than what is wanted for themselves and companions at work in the hive. ii. 66.[228]Reaum. v. 448.[229]Ibid. v. 418—.[230]p. 38.[231]ubi supr.419.[232]Compare Reaum. 420, and Huber, ii. 24, with Wildman, 40.[233]Huber, ii. 260.[234]Insect. Theatr.36. Schirach, 241.[235]Vol.I.496.[236]Reaum.ubi supr.437—.[237]Philos. Trans.1807, 242.[238]xxxi. 148.[239]Knight inPhilos. Trans.for 1807, 237. Marshall,Agricult. of Norfolk.[240]It has been supposed, and the supposition was adopted originally in this work (Vol.I. 1st Ed. p. 371), that the object in this case is brooding the eggs; but upon further consideration we incline to Huber's opinion, that it has no connexion with it, the ordinary temperature of the hive being sufficient for this purpose; and the circumstance of their entering unoccupied cells proves that this attitude has no particular connexion with the eggs.Huber, i. 212.—"When large pieces of comb," says Wildman (p. 45), "were broken off and left at the bottom of the hive, a great number of bees have gone and placed themselves upon them." This looks like incubation. Reaumur however affirms (p. 591) that if part of a comb falls and loses its perpendicular direction, the bees, as if conscious that they would come to nothing, pull out and destroy all the larvæ. They might perhaps remain perpendicular in the case observed by Wildman.[241]Reaum. v. 431. Huber, ii. 212.[242]Reaum. v. 432—.[243]Reaum. v. 434—.[244]Vol.I.331, Reaum. v. 698—.[245]Philos. Trans.1792, 160. Comp. Reaum. v. 450.[246]Reaum.ibid.591— Hunter,ibid.161—.[247]Reaum.ibid.697.[248]Reaum. v. 602.[249]Ibid. 656.[250]ii. 339.[251]Reaum. v. 672.[252]Huber, ii. 338-362.[253]Huber, ii. 359—.[254]Reaum. v. 442.[255]BonnerOn Bees, 102.[256]Reaum.ubi supr.580-600.[257]InPhilos. Trans.1807, 239.[258]Huber, ii. 407—.[259]Ibid. 375.[260]Thorley, 16—. The Psalmist alludes to the fury of these creatures, when he says of his enemies, "They compassed me about like bees."Ps.cxviii. 12.[261]Park'sLast Mission, 153. 297, Comp.Journal, 331.[262]Thorley 150—.[263]Lesser,L.ii. 171.[264]See above, p.126.[265]Reaum. v. 360-365.[266]Philos. Trans.1807, 234—.[267]166.[268]Thorley,ibid.Comp. MillsOn Bees, 63.—The following account of an apiarian battle was copied from theCarlisle PatriotNewspaper:—On Saturday last, in the village of Cargo, a combat of a truly novel description was witnessed. A hive of bees belonging to a professional gentleman of this city, swarmed on Thursday last, after which they were hived in the regular way, and appeared to be doing well. On the Saturday after, a swarm of bees, from some neighbouring hive, appeared to be flying over the garden in which the hive above-mentioned was placed, when they instantly darted down upon the hive of the new settlers, and completely covered it: in a little time they began to enter the hive, and poured into it in such numbers that it soon became completely filled. A loud humming noise was heard, and the work of destruction immediately ensued; the winged combatants sallied forth from the hive, until it became entirely empty; and a furious battle commenced in "upper air," between the besiegers and the besieged. A spectator informs us, that these intrepid little warriors were so numerous, that they literally darkened the sky overhead like a cloud; meanwhile the destructive battle raged with fury on both sides, and the ground beneath was covered with the wounded and the slain, hundreds of them were lying dead, or crawling about, disabled from re-ascending to the scene of action. To one party, however, the palm of victory was at last awarded, and they settled upon the branch of an adjoining apple-tree, from which they were safely placed in the empty hive, which had been the object of their valiant contention, and where they now continue peacefully and industriously employed in adding to the stores of their commonwealth.[269]Comp. Schirach, 49. Mills, 62— Thorley, 163—.[270]51.[271]ii. 380—.[272]Vol.I.163, and281,289.[273]Schirach, 52.[274]170.[275]Reaum. v. 710.[276]Thorley, 171.[277]White'sNat. Hist.8vo. i. 339—.[278]Swamm.Bib. Nat.Ed. Hill. i. 160.[279]ubi supr.665.[280]178—.[281]Theatr. Ins.21.[282]Reaum. v. 540—.[283]January 11, 1818. My bees were out, and very alert this day. The thermometer stood abroad in the shade at 51½°. When the sun shone there was quite a cluster of them at the mouth of the hives, and great numbers were buzzing about in the air before them.[284]v. 671.[285]i. 354. Note *.[286]ubi supr.[287]Reaum. v. 672.[288]Huber, i. 313.[289]Fabr.Vorlesungen, 321.[290]Cimic. Helvet.t.iii.f.3.[291]Hist. of Chili, i. 172.[292]Since the first edition of this volume was printed, a lady from the West Indies looking at my cabinet, upon being shown this insect, exclaimed "Oh, that isThe Devil's Horse!"[293]BrahmInsekten Kalender, ii. 383.[294]Hence we haveLocusta citrifolia,laurifolia,camellifolia,myrtifolia,salvifolia, &c. which, I believe, all belong to a genus I have namedPterophylla.[295]Voyage, &c. ii. 16.[296]Brit. Ent.t.154.[297]Oliv.Entomolog.i. no. 8. 17.[298]PlateXIX. Fig. 11.Vol.I.267. LatreilleGen. Crust. et Ins.iv. 322.[299]Apis.* * e. 2. K.[300]Dr. Fleming however,in Literis, doubts whether the reason here assigned is the cause of the resemblance between theBombusandVolucella; he thinks if a bee knows a stranger of its own species, it could not be deceived by a fly in the disguise of a bee. But the fact that these insects lay their eggs in their nests, and that they resemble humble-bees, seems to justify the conclusion drawn in the text. They must get in often undiscovered.[301]Latreille,Annal. du Mus.1810. 5.[302]One would almost wish that the same superstition prevailed here which Sparrman observes is common in Sweden, with respect to these animals. "Simple people," says he, "believe that their sins will be forgiven if they set a cockchafer on its legs."Voyage, i. 28.[303]Cigales,f.85.[304]Ibid.f.115. Coquebert,Illustr. Ic.ii.t.xxviii.f.5.[305]Stoll,Cigales,f.163. Comp. Pallas,Spicil. Zool.t.i.f.12.[306]Reaum. v. 94.[307]This was first pointed out to me by Mr. Briggs of the Post-office, who sent me an accurate drawing of the animal and of one of its hairs. I did not at that time discover that it had been figured by De Geer, iv.t.viii.f.1-7.[308]Vol.I. p.130.[309]Insect. Surinam.t.57. Two different species of caterpillars apparently related to this of Madame Merian were in the late Mr. Francillon's cabinet, and are now in my possession.[310]Vol.I. p.149.[311]To this genus belongs the apple Aphis, calledA. lanigera.[312]Nat. Hist. of the Slug-worm, 7.[313]The penetrating genius of Lord Verulam discovered in a great degree the cause of this vitality. "They stirre," says he, speaking of insects, "a good while after their heads are off, or that they be cut in pieces; which is caused also for that their vital spirits are more diffused thorowout all their parts, and lesse confined to organs than in perfect creatures."Sylv. Sylvar. cent.. vii. § 697.[314]Leeuw.Epist.77, 1694.[315]De Geer, vii. 127.[316]Bib. Nat.ii. c. 3.Vol.I. p. 399.[317]Linn. Trans.vi. 84.[318]J. Mason Good'sAnniversary Oration, delivered March8, 1808,before the Medical Society of London, p. 31.[319]De Geer, vi. 355; comp. 320, and Reaum. ii. 141-147.[320]Hill'sSwamm.i. 174.[321]Ann. du Mus.1810. 5.[322]Vol.I. p.426.[323]De Geer, iv. 229.[324]Smellic,Phil. of Nat. Hist.i. 150.[325]Rös. I. v. 27.[326]PlateI.Fig.7.Linn. Trans.x. 404—.[327]Reaum. ii. 253.[328]Reaum. ii. 260.t.20.f.10. 11. Compare Sepp. IV.t.i.f.3-7.[329]Ibid. i. 100.[330]Smith'sAbbot's Ins. of Georgia, ii. 121.[331]De Geer, iv. 74.[332]Nat. Hist.ii. 268.[333]P. Huber inLinn. Trans.vi. 219. Kirby,Mon. Ap. Angl.i. 201.[334]Kirby inLinn. Trans.xi. 87, note *.[335]Vol.I. p.164.[336]Ibid.34.[337]Huber appears to be of this opinion; he does not, however, lay great stress upon it. Yet there seems no other way of accounting for the impunity with which this animal commits its depredations. Huber, ii. 299—.[338]Hist. Nat.l. xxix. c. 6.[339]iv. 86.[340]De Geer, iii. 249. 374.[341]Ibid. 611.[342]Vol.I.480.[343]Kirby,Mon. Ap. Angl.i. 136. notea.[344]De Geer, vi. 134. MeigenDipt.v. 12.[345]De Geer, vi. 135. 33.[346]Ibid. vii. 581.[347]PlateXIX.Fig.1. a.[348]MerianSurinam.17. Jones inLinn. Trans.ii. 64.[349]De Geer, ii. 989—t.xxxvii.f.6.[350]De Geer, v. 291. Compare Ray'sLetters, 43. SeePlateXVIII.Fig.1.[351]Ann. du Mus.xviii. 70.[352]LesserL.i. 284, note 6.[353]De Araneis27.[354]This gentleman is of opinion that spiders possess the means of re-dissolving their webs. He observed one, when its net was broken run up its thread, and gathering a considerable mass of the web into a ball, suddenly dissolve it with fluid. He also observes, that when winding up a powerful prey, a spider can form its threads into a broad sheet.[355]JurineHymenopt.t.vi.f.8.[356]De Geer, ii. 971.[357]I owe the knowledge of this circumstance to Mr. MacLeay.[358]De Geer, iv. 86. Geoffr. i. 141.[359]De Geer, ii. 734.[360]Reaumur. v. 96.[361]De Geer, ii. 937—.[362]Rösel, iv. 162. De Geer, i. 273.[363]Rai.Hist. Ins.94.n.3.[364]De Geer, i. 324—.[365]Ibid. i. 208.[366]De Geer, i. 322—.[367]Ins. Surinam.t. viii. xxiii. xxxii.[368]I. iv. 122.[369]Reaum. ii. 155.t.vii.f.4-7.[370]Lewin'sProdromus.[371]De Geer, i. 149—.[372]Mr. MacLeay relates to me, from the communications of Mr. E. Forster, the following particulars respecting the history ofMutilla coccinea, which from this account appears to be one of the most redoubtable of stinging insects. The females are most plentiful in Maryland in the months of July and August, but are never very numerous. They are very active, and have been observed to take flies by surprise. A person stung by one of them lost his senses in five minutes, and was so ill for several days that his life was despaired of.[373]Hedcorne near Sittingbourne.[374]Dr. Long in Ray'sLetters, 370.[375]LesserL.i. 263. Note ‡.[376]Huber,Nouv. Obs.ii. 301—.[377]Bingley,Animal Biogr.iii. 1st Ed. 247— White,Nat. Hist.ii. 82.[378]In the former Editions of this work this insect was stated to be synonymous withTrox dubiusof Panzer, which it much resembles, except in the sculpture of the prothorax, (Fn. Ins. Germ. Init.lxii.t.5.); but as Schönherr and Gyllenhal, who had better means of ascertaining the point, regardGeoryssus pygmæus, Latr., as Panzer's insect, the reference is now omitted.G. areniferusdiffers considerably fromG. pygmæus, as described by Gyllenhal (Insect. Suec.I. iii. 675.) The front is not rugulose, the vertex is channeled, the antennæ shorter than the head; the prothorax is rather shining, marked anteriorly with several excavations, in the middle of which is a channel forming a reversed cross with a transverse impression.[379]De Geer, iii. 283— Geoffr.Hist. Ins.i. 437.[380]Reaum. iii. 391.[381]Reaum. iii. 220— Compare VallisnieriEsperienz. ed Osservaz.195. Ed. 1726.[382]Reaum. 233—.[383]Kirby inLinn. Trans.iii. 10.[384]Vol.I.457-67.[385]Apis.**. c. 2. γ. K.[386]Melitta.**. c. K.[387]Apis.**. b. K.[388]Apis.b. *. K.[389]Vol.I.64—[390]Reaum. v. 100.[391]Vol.I.464—[392]Reaum. iii. 170. De Geer, ii. 519. 545.PlateXVII.Fig.11.[393]Vol.I.453.[394]Fab.Ent. Syst. Em.iii. 70. 200.[395]Vol.I.432—[396]Vol.I.165.[397]Huber,Nouv. Obs.ii. 412.[398]Huber,Nouv. Obs.ii. 294—.[399]Hist. Nat.l. viii. c. 36.[400]Apis.* *. e. 2. K.[401]Vol.I.97—[402]Anatom. Compar.i. 144.[403]Physico-Theol.Ed. 13. 363.[404]Encycl. Brit., art.Physiology, 709.
"... Ille horridus alterDesidiâ, latamque trahens inglorius alvum."Georgic, iv. l. 93.
"... Ille horridus alterDesidiâ, latamque trahens inglorius alvum."Georgic, iv. l. 93.
[138]SeeVol.I. p.486.
[139]In hives where a queen laying male eggs has been killed, the workers continue to make only male cells, though supplied with a fertile queen, and the fertile workers lay eggs in them.Schirach, 258.
[140]Huber, ii. 425—.
[141]Thorley,On Bees, 179.
[142]Huber, i. 137.
[143]Reaumur, who was however unacquainted with this extraordinary fact, has figured one of these cells, v.t.32.f.3.h.
[144]Compare Bonnet, x. 156, with Huber, i. 134—.
[145]Schirach, 69.
[146]Huber,t.4.f.4-6.
[147]Huber, i. 292.
[148]Bonnet, x.
[149]Huber, i. 132.
[150]Schirach, 121.
[151]Huber, ii. 453.
[152]BonnerOn Bees, 56.
[153]The same gentleman subsequently sent me the following memoranda.
July 10, 1820. A late second swarm was hived into a box constructed so that each comb could be taken out and examined separately. On the 7th of August the queen was removed, and each comb taken out and closely examined: there was not the least appearance of any royal cells, but much brood and eggs in the common ones. On the 14th, three royal cells were observed nearly finished, with a large grub in each. On the 16th, the three cells were sealed. On the 18th and 21st, they remained in the same state. On the 22d, two queens were found hatched, one was removed and the other left with the stock, the remaining royal cell being still closed. On the morning of the 23d, a dead queen was thrown out of the hive, upon which examination being made, the royal cell left closed on the 22d was found open, and a living queen in the stock which was allowed to remain.
[154]Huber, ii. 445.
[155]See J. Hunter'sTreatise on certain Parts of the Animal Œconomy.
[156]Philos. Trans.1792. viii. 167. HunterTreatise on certain Parts of the Animal Œconomy, p. 65. Latham,Synops.ii. 672.t.60.
[157]Reaum. v. 271—.
[158]Huber, i. 215—. Schirach asserts, that in cold weather the disclosure of the imago takes place two days later than in warm: and Riem, that in a bad season the eggs will remain in the cells many months without hatching. Schirach, 79. 241.
[159]Schirach,t.3.f.10.
[160]Huber, i. 224.
[161]Ουκ αγαθη ἡ πολυκοιρανιη, είς κοιρανος εςω.
[162]Schirach, 209, note *. Huber, i. 170—.
[163]Huber, i. 171—.
[164]Huber, i. 174.
[165]Huber, i. 186.
[166]Reaum. v. 268.
[167]Huber, i. 190.
[168]Huber, i. 256.
[169]Huber, i. 286.
[170]See above, p.56.
[171]Huber, ii. 396—.
[172]Reaum. v. 262.
[173]Reaum. v. Pref. xv.
[174]Huber, i. 269.
[175]Huber, i. 322.
[176]Reaum. v. 265.
[177]Vol.I.376—
[178]Huber, i. 63—.
[179]Schirach, 257.
[180]Huber, i. 319—.
[181]This conjecture receives strong confirmation from the following observations of Sir E. Home, which I met with since it came into my mind. From the nipples present in man, which sometimes even afford milk, and from the general analogy between the male and female organs of generation, he supposes the germ is originally fitted to become either sex; and that which it shall be is determined at the time of impregnation by some unknown cause.Philos. Trans.1799. 157.
[182]i. 106—.
[183]Schirach, 7. 13.
[184]Ibid. 13. Thorley, 105.
[185]Bonnet, x. 258, 8vo. ed.
[186]Huber, i. 122—.
[187]See above, p.57.
[188]KeysOn Bees, 76.
[189]Reaum. v. 611.
[190]Huber, i. 251.
[191]Some critics have found fault with Mr. Southey for ascribing, in hisCurse of Kehama, to Camdeo, the Cupid of Indian mythology, a bow strung with bees. The idea is not so absurd as they imagine; and the poet doubtless was led to it by his knowledge of the natural history of these animals, and that they form themselves into strings or chaplets.—See Reaum. v.t.xxii.f.3.
[192]Reaumur, 615-644.
[193]
"Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens,(Nam duo sunt genera) hic melior, insignis et ore,Et rutilis clarus squamis: ille horridus alterDesidiâ, latamque trahens inglorius alvum."Georg.iv. 91—.
"Alter erit maculis auro squalentibus ardens,(Nam duo sunt genera) hic melior, insignis et ore,Et rutilis clarus squamis: ille horridus alterDesidiâ, latamque trahens inglorius alvum."Georg.iv. 91—.
[194]Bees are generally thought to foresee the state of the weather: but they are not always right in their prognostics; for Reaumur witnessed a swarm, which after leaving the hive at half-past one o'clock were overtaken by a very heavy shower at three.
[195]Huber, i. 271.
[196]Huber, i. 305.
[197]Ibid. 280.
[198]Huber, i. 316.
[199]Bonnet, x. 259.
[200]Bibl. Nat.i. 221.b.ed. Hill.
[201]Reaum. v. 503—.
[202]Huber, i. 24—.
[203]Ibid. 37—.
[204]Huber, i. 195.
[205]Huber, i. 199.
[206]Vol.I.376— and487—
[207]The following beautiful lines by Professor Smyth are extremely applicable to this part of a bee's labours:
"Thou cheerful Bee! come, freely come,And travel round my woodbine bower!Delight me with thy wandering hum,And rouse me from my musing hour;Oh! try no more those tedious fields,Come taste the sweets my garden yields:The treasures of each blooming mine,The bud, the blossom,—all are thine."And careless of this noon-tide heat,I'll follow as thy ramble guides;To watch thee pause and chafe thy feet,And sweep them o'er thy downy sides:Then in a flower's bell nestling lie,And all thy envied ardor ply!Then o'er the stem, tho' fair it grow,With touch rejecting, glance, and go."O Nature kind! O labourer wise!That roam'st along the summer's ray,Glean'st every bliss thy life supplies,And meet'st prepared thy wintry day!Go, envied go—with crowded gatesThe hive thy rich return awaits;Bear home thy store, in triumph gay,And shame each idler of the day."
"Thou cheerful Bee! come, freely come,And travel round my woodbine bower!Delight me with thy wandering hum,And rouse me from my musing hour;Oh! try no more those tedious fields,Come taste the sweets my garden yields:The treasures of each blooming mine,The bud, the blossom,—all are thine.
"And careless of this noon-tide heat,I'll follow as thy ramble guides;To watch thee pause and chafe thy feet,And sweep them o'er thy downy sides:Then in a flower's bell nestling lie,And all thy envied ardor ply!Then o'er the stem, tho' fair it grow,With touch rejecting, glance, and go.
"O Nature kind! O labourer wise!That roam'st along the summer's ray,Glean'st every bliss thy life supplies,And meet'st prepared thy wintry day!Go, envied go—with crowded gatesThe hive thy rich return awaits;Bear home thy store, in triumph gay,And shame each idler of the day."
[208]Reaum. v.t.xxviii.f.1. 2.
[209]Ibid.f.7.o.
[210]Huber, ii. 5.t.ii.f.8.
[211]Wildman, 43.
[212]Vol.I.196.
[213]Huber, ii. 82.
[214]Abbé Boisier, quoted in MillsOn Bees, 24.
[215]Schirach, 45. Huber, i. 179.
[216]Nicholson'sJournal, xxiii. 287.
[217]Vol.I.142.
[218]Xenoph.Anabas. l. iv. Plin.Hist. Nat.l. xxi. c. 13.
[219]Reaum. v.t.xxvi.f.1.
[220]Reaum. 295.
[221]Kirby,Monogr. Ap. Angl.i.t.12. * *. e. 1.neut.f. 19.a. b.
[222]Hist. Anim.l. ix. c. 40.
[223]xlvi. 536.
[224]ubi supra, 301.
[225]Vol.I.299.
[226]Reaum. v. 302.—comp. 433. I have seen bees out before it was light.
[227]Huber observes that the honey for store is collected by the wax-making bees only (abeilles cirières), and that the nurses (abeilles nourrices) gather no more than what is wanted for themselves and companions at work in the hive. ii. 66.
[228]Reaum. v. 448.
[229]Ibid. v. 418—.
[230]p. 38.
[231]ubi supr.419.
[232]Compare Reaum. 420, and Huber, ii. 24, with Wildman, 40.
[233]Huber, ii. 260.
[234]Insect. Theatr.36. Schirach, 241.
[235]Vol.I.496.
[236]Reaum.ubi supr.437—.
[237]Philos. Trans.1807, 242.
[238]xxxi. 148.
[239]Knight inPhilos. Trans.for 1807, 237. Marshall,Agricult. of Norfolk.
[240]It has been supposed, and the supposition was adopted originally in this work (Vol.I. 1st Ed. p. 371), that the object in this case is brooding the eggs; but upon further consideration we incline to Huber's opinion, that it has no connexion with it, the ordinary temperature of the hive being sufficient for this purpose; and the circumstance of their entering unoccupied cells proves that this attitude has no particular connexion with the eggs.Huber, i. 212.—"When large pieces of comb," says Wildman (p. 45), "were broken off and left at the bottom of the hive, a great number of bees have gone and placed themselves upon them." This looks like incubation. Reaumur however affirms (p. 591) that if part of a comb falls and loses its perpendicular direction, the bees, as if conscious that they would come to nothing, pull out and destroy all the larvæ. They might perhaps remain perpendicular in the case observed by Wildman.
[241]Reaum. v. 431. Huber, ii. 212.
[242]Reaum. v. 432—.
[243]Reaum. v. 434—.
[244]Vol.I.331, Reaum. v. 698—.
[245]Philos. Trans.1792, 160. Comp. Reaum. v. 450.
[246]Reaum.ibid.591— Hunter,ibid.161—.
[247]Reaum.ibid.697.
[248]Reaum. v. 602.
[249]Ibid. 656.
[250]ii. 339.
[251]Reaum. v. 672.
[252]Huber, ii. 338-362.
[253]Huber, ii. 359—.
[254]Reaum. v. 442.
[255]BonnerOn Bees, 102.
[256]Reaum.ubi supr.580-600.
[257]InPhilos. Trans.1807, 239.
[258]Huber, ii. 407—.
[259]Ibid. 375.
[260]Thorley, 16—. The Psalmist alludes to the fury of these creatures, when he says of his enemies, "They compassed me about like bees."Ps.cxviii. 12.
[261]Park'sLast Mission, 153. 297, Comp.Journal, 331.
[262]Thorley 150—.
[263]Lesser,L.ii. 171.
[264]See above, p.126.
[265]Reaum. v. 360-365.
[266]Philos. Trans.1807, 234—.
[267]166.
[268]Thorley,ibid.Comp. MillsOn Bees, 63.—The following account of an apiarian battle was copied from theCarlisle PatriotNewspaper:—On Saturday last, in the village of Cargo, a combat of a truly novel description was witnessed. A hive of bees belonging to a professional gentleman of this city, swarmed on Thursday last, after which they were hived in the regular way, and appeared to be doing well. On the Saturday after, a swarm of bees, from some neighbouring hive, appeared to be flying over the garden in which the hive above-mentioned was placed, when they instantly darted down upon the hive of the new settlers, and completely covered it: in a little time they began to enter the hive, and poured into it in such numbers that it soon became completely filled. A loud humming noise was heard, and the work of destruction immediately ensued; the winged combatants sallied forth from the hive, until it became entirely empty; and a furious battle commenced in "upper air," between the besiegers and the besieged. A spectator informs us, that these intrepid little warriors were so numerous, that they literally darkened the sky overhead like a cloud; meanwhile the destructive battle raged with fury on both sides, and the ground beneath was covered with the wounded and the slain, hundreds of them were lying dead, or crawling about, disabled from re-ascending to the scene of action. To one party, however, the palm of victory was at last awarded, and they settled upon the branch of an adjoining apple-tree, from which they were safely placed in the empty hive, which had been the object of their valiant contention, and where they now continue peacefully and industriously employed in adding to the stores of their commonwealth.
[269]Comp. Schirach, 49. Mills, 62— Thorley, 163—.
[270]51.
[271]ii. 380—.
[272]Vol.I.163, and281,289.
[273]Schirach, 52.
[274]170.
[275]Reaum. v. 710.
[276]Thorley, 171.
[277]White'sNat. Hist.8vo. i. 339—.
[278]Swamm.Bib. Nat.Ed. Hill. i. 160.
[279]ubi supr.665.
[280]178—.
[281]Theatr. Ins.21.
[282]Reaum. v. 540—.
[283]January 11, 1818. My bees were out, and very alert this day. The thermometer stood abroad in the shade at 51½°. When the sun shone there was quite a cluster of them at the mouth of the hives, and great numbers were buzzing about in the air before them.
[284]v. 671.
[285]i. 354. Note *.
[286]ubi supr.
[287]Reaum. v. 672.
[288]Huber, i. 313.
[289]Fabr.Vorlesungen, 321.
[290]Cimic. Helvet.t.iii.f.3.
[291]Hist. of Chili, i. 172.
[292]Since the first edition of this volume was printed, a lady from the West Indies looking at my cabinet, upon being shown this insect, exclaimed "Oh, that isThe Devil's Horse!"
[293]BrahmInsekten Kalender, ii. 383.
[294]Hence we haveLocusta citrifolia,laurifolia,camellifolia,myrtifolia,salvifolia, &c. which, I believe, all belong to a genus I have namedPterophylla.
[295]Voyage, &c. ii. 16.
[296]Brit. Ent.t.154.
[297]Oliv.Entomolog.i. no. 8. 17.
[298]PlateXIX. Fig. 11.Vol.I.267. LatreilleGen. Crust. et Ins.iv. 322.
[299]Apis.* * e. 2. K.
[300]Dr. Fleming however,in Literis, doubts whether the reason here assigned is the cause of the resemblance between theBombusandVolucella; he thinks if a bee knows a stranger of its own species, it could not be deceived by a fly in the disguise of a bee. But the fact that these insects lay their eggs in their nests, and that they resemble humble-bees, seems to justify the conclusion drawn in the text. They must get in often undiscovered.
[301]Latreille,Annal. du Mus.1810. 5.
[302]One would almost wish that the same superstition prevailed here which Sparrman observes is common in Sweden, with respect to these animals. "Simple people," says he, "believe that their sins will be forgiven if they set a cockchafer on its legs."Voyage, i. 28.
[303]Cigales,f.85.
[304]Ibid.f.115. Coquebert,Illustr. Ic.ii.t.xxviii.f.5.
[305]Stoll,Cigales,f.163. Comp. Pallas,Spicil. Zool.t.i.f.12.
[306]Reaum. v. 94.
[307]This was first pointed out to me by Mr. Briggs of the Post-office, who sent me an accurate drawing of the animal and of one of its hairs. I did not at that time discover that it had been figured by De Geer, iv.t.viii.f.1-7.
[308]Vol.I. p.130.
[309]Insect. Surinam.t.57. Two different species of caterpillars apparently related to this of Madame Merian were in the late Mr. Francillon's cabinet, and are now in my possession.
[310]Vol.I. p.149.
[311]To this genus belongs the apple Aphis, calledA. lanigera.
[312]Nat. Hist. of the Slug-worm, 7.
[313]The penetrating genius of Lord Verulam discovered in a great degree the cause of this vitality. "They stirre," says he, speaking of insects, "a good while after their heads are off, or that they be cut in pieces; which is caused also for that their vital spirits are more diffused thorowout all their parts, and lesse confined to organs than in perfect creatures."Sylv. Sylvar. cent.. vii. § 697.
[314]Leeuw.Epist.77, 1694.
[315]De Geer, vii. 127.
[316]Bib. Nat.ii. c. 3.Vol.I. p. 399.
[317]Linn. Trans.vi. 84.
[318]J. Mason Good'sAnniversary Oration, delivered March8, 1808,before the Medical Society of London, p. 31.
[319]De Geer, vi. 355; comp. 320, and Reaum. ii. 141-147.
[320]Hill'sSwamm.i. 174.
[321]Ann. du Mus.1810. 5.
[322]Vol.I. p.426.
[323]De Geer, iv. 229.
[324]Smellic,Phil. of Nat. Hist.i. 150.
[325]Rös. I. v. 27.
[326]PlateI.Fig.7.Linn. Trans.x. 404—.
[327]Reaum. ii. 253.
[328]Reaum. ii. 260.t.20.f.10. 11. Compare Sepp. IV.t.i.f.3-7.
[329]Ibid. i. 100.
[330]Smith'sAbbot's Ins. of Georgia, ii. 121.
[331]De Geer, iv. 74.
[332]Nat. Hist.ii. 268.
[333]P. Huber inLinn. Trans.vi. 219. Kirby,Mon. Ap. Angl.i. 201.
[334]Kirby inLinn. Trans.xi. 87, note *.
[335]Vol.I. p.164.
[336]Ibid.34.
[337]Huber appears to be of this opinion; he does not, however, lay great stress upon it. Yet there seems no other way of accounting for the impunity with which this animal commits its depredations. Huber, ii. 299—.
[338]Hist. Nat.l. xxix. c. 6.
[339]iv. 86.
[340]De Geer, iii. 249. 374.
[341]Ibid. 611.
[342]Vol.I.480.
[343]Kirby,Mon. Ap. Angl.i. 136. notea.
[344]De Geer, vi. 134. MeigenDipt.v. 12.
[345]De Geer, vi. 135. 33.
[346]Ibid. vii. 581.
[347]PlateXIX.Fig.1. a.
[348]MerianSurinam.17. Jones inLinn. Trans.ii. 64.
[349]De Geer, ii. 989—t.xxxvii.f.6.
[350]De Geer, v. 291. Compare Ray'sLetters, 43. SeePlateXVIII.Fig.1.
[351]Ann. du Mus.xviii. 70.
[352]LesserL.i. 284, note 6.
[353]De Araneis27.
[354]This gentleman is of opinion that spiders possess the means of re-dissolving their webs. He observed one, when its net was broken run up its thread, and gathering a considerable mass of the web into a ball, suddenly dissolve it with fluid. He also observes, that when winding up a powerful prey, a spider can form its threads into a broad sheet.
[355]JurineHymenopt.t.vi.f.8.
[356]De Geer, ii. 971.
[357]I owe the knowledge of this circumstance to Mr. MacLeay.
[358]De Geer, iv. 86. Geoffr. i. 141.
[359]De Geer, ii. 734.
[360]Reaumur. v. 96.
[361]De Geer, ii. 937—.
[362]Rösel, iv. 162. De Geer, i. 273.
[363]Rai.Hist. Ins.94.n.3.
[364]De Geer, i. 324—.
[365]Ibid. i. 208.
[366]De Geer, i. 322—.
[367]Ins. Surinam.t. viii. xxiii. xxxii.
[368]I. iv. 122.
[369]Reaum. ii. 155.t.vii.f.4-7.
[370]Lewin'sProdromus.
[371]De Geer, i. 149—.
[372]Mr. MacLeay relates to me, from the communications of Mr. E. Forster, the following particulars respecting the history ofMutilla coccinea, which from this account appears to be one of the most redoubtable of stinging insects. The females are most plentiful in Maryland in the months of July and August, but are never very numerous. They are very active, and have been observed to take flies by surprise. A person stung by one of them lost his senses in five minutes, and was so ill for several days that his life was despaired of.
[373]Hedcorne near Sittingbourne.
[374]Dr. Long in Ray'sLetters, 370.
[375]LesserL.i. 263. Note ‡.
[376]Huber,Nouv. Obs.ii. 301—.
[377]Bingley,Animal Biogr.iii. 1st Ed. 247— White,Nat. Hist.ii. 82.
[378]In the former Editions of this work this insect was stated to be synonymous withTrox dubiusof Panzer, which it much resembles, except in the sculpture of the prothorax, (Fn. Ins. Germ. Init.lxii.t.5.); but as Schönherr and Gyllenhal, who had better means of ascertaining the point, regardGeoryssus pygmæus, Latr., as Panzer's insect, the reference is now omitted.G. areniferusdiffers considerably fromG. pygmæus, as described by Gyllenhal (Insect. Suec.I. iii. 675.) The front is not rugulose, the vertex is channeled, the antennæ shorter than the head; the prothorax is rather shining, marked anteriorly with several excavations, in the middle of which is a channel forming a reversed cross with a transverse impression.
[379]De Geer, iii. 283— Geoffr.Hist. Ins.i. 437.
[380]Reaum. iii. 391.
[381]Reaum. iii. 220— Compare VallisnieriEsperienz. ed Osservaz.195. Ed. 1726.
[382]Reaum. 233—.
[383]Kirby inLinn. Trans.iii. 10.
[384]Vol.I.457-67.
[385]Apis.**. c. 2. γ. K.
[386]Melitta.**. c. K.
[387]Apis.**. b. K.
[388]Apis.b. *. K.
[389]Vol.I.64—
[390]Reaum. v. 100.
[391]Vol.I.464—
[392]Reaum. iii. 170. De Geer, ii. 519. 545.PlateXVII.Fig.11.
[393]Vol.I.453.
[394]Fab.Ent. Syst. Em.iii. 70. 200.
[395]Vol.I.432—
[396]Vol.I.165.
[397]Huber,Nouv. Obs.ii. 412.
[398]Huber,Nouv. Obs.ii. 294—.
[399]Hist. Nat.l. viii. c. 36.
[400]Apis.* *. e. 2. K.
[401]Vol.I.97—
[402]Anatom. Compar.i. 144.
[403]Physico-Theol.Ed. 13. 363.
[404]Encycl. Brit., art.Physiology, 709.