Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/791

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tain folds more white than the reft ; thefe arc dlfpofbd parallel one to another, dnd all run hi a tranfverfe direction. It is natural to fuppofe that thefe are the folds at which the Worm has a power of bending itfelf J but, when examined ftriitly, this does not appear to be the cafe, for they are found to be in reality fo many round veffels of a bright filvery whitenefs, placed under the fkin, and vifible through it, on account of that fuperior whitenefs. They may be eafily raifcd with the point of a needle, and taken out of the body, and they are then found to be of the fame ftrucfure with the tracheae of all other animals of this fmall kind ; namely, they are extremely fine and fmall cartilaginous filaments, hollow within, and rolled into a clofe rprral wreath.

The ftigmata of this Worm are eafily diftinguifhed, though they are extremely fmall. If one of the tranfverfe trachea? of the belly be traced to its extremity at each end, it will be found to terminate at each in a ftigma. Thus all the reft of them may be found out, and they will be found to lie in a regular line along each fide, running along the two great tra- cheae, which pafs longitudinally from the head to the tail on each fide of the Worm. From thefe there part fomo fhort but thick tracheae, which pafs toward the back, and there b'ecdme divided into many branches ; and on the under part of the budy, near the head, there may be diftinguifhed feveral others beau- tifully undulated, which pafs from fide to fide, though not in a regular manner. The anus of the Worm is placed in the laft ring of the body, and is very fmall; it is deitined to give paflagc but to a very fmall quantity of excrements. Reaumur - } Hift. Inf. vol. 10. p. 257.

If the progrefs of the growth of the Worm be examined, it will be found that two days after the egg is laid it is hatched, and in fix days more it arrives at itsTull growth. When it is firft hatched it rolls itfelf up into a fort of circle, which is .then however (o fmall, that it does not reach quite round the cell, and leaves a confiderable fpace within its center: this, how- ever is foon filled up by the growth of the creature ; as it be- comes longer, its head is brought to meet the tail, and is forced beyond it as far as the laft ring but one of the body : in this time the body alfo fwells fo much in thicknefs, that there can no more be any fpace left in the center of the ring, nor any room for the head to be thruft farther forwards ; as the Worm has much of its growth yet to come in this Uncom- fortable fituation, it naturally happens that the body lofes its round fhape, and becomes flatted, and in this manner rifes up fo high in the cell, as almoft to fill it up : when the cell is ex- amined in this ftate, it feems to contain two Worms rolled up, and laid in it, one upon another, fir.ee it is hard to conceive the body of one fo fafliioned as to fill it in this manner : when the Wor?n is however taken out, its fhape plainly fhews how it has filled it, and in. what manner it has conformed itfelf to the place of its abode : when at liberty, it foon recovers the natural rounded fhape of its body.

It is very plain, that the Worm muft be very little at eafe in this fituation, and that it will be neceflary for 'it to change it, in order to its own neceflary transformations. When there- fore the time of its firft change approaches, it ceafes to eat, and begins to unrol the circle its body makes, and to lay it- felf at its length in the cell. When this happens, the bees become fenfible that it has no occafion to eat any longer, and therefore they bring it no more food i but nature only re- quiring for this change a ftate of reft, and theexclufion of the external air, they perform their laft office to it in what might appear a very ftrange operation, if it were not known to be neeeflary to the Worm in this ftate; this is the fattening up the top of the cell with a covering or lid of wax, fo that the Worm now finds kfelf ihut clofe up in a fort of box, herme- tically fealed. The manner in which the bees make this cover- ing, is by beginning a circle within the mouth of the cell with new wax, and fucceeding this by feveral others, each within the laft, till they leave only a vacant point in the center, which they fill with a lump of the fame wax, fo that the cover is compofed of a great number of concentric circles. When this cover is finifhed, the Worm compleatly extends itfelf at length within, and as it is now to pafs into the ftate of a nymph, and the outer integument of that will be too thin and tender to bear the immediate contadf of the wax of which the cell is compofed, it begins a new work, which is the fpin- ning a fort of filk in the manner of the filk-worm; with this it forms a web, completely covering all its parts, and in this fafe cafe it becomes a nymph. The web of filk which the Worm fpins, on this occafion is extremely fine, and is by de- grees carried all round the cell, fo as to line it regularly throughout in the manner of a linnen hanging. This is not only applied thus dtofely to the fides and bottom of the cell, but in the fame manner to the lid or top ; and thefe are eafily feen on breaking open a cell which enclofes a nymph ; for when the wax of one fide of the cell is broke, the Worm is then only feen through a thin and tranfparent reddifh web, which is this lining of the cell, and is found to be very flexile, yet very tough. The time when this is beft of all feen, is, however, when the combs of an old hive are broken ; for, in this cafe, the webs within the cells which have been deftined to the raifing of young ones, are fo thick that they will not break; but maybe eafily examined and pulled to pieces, and

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they are then found to be made of a great number of crafts- one within another. Reaumur, Hift. Inf. vol. 10. p. 26I. h is not to be fuppofed that one Worm could have formed thefe complex webs, as they are neither neceflary to it, nor to be fafhioned in the time that animal has to work in. It is very certain that one of thefe cells deftined to the breeding up of the young offspring, is not only allotted to one Worm* but to feveral fucceffively j and each of thefe having in its turn fpttn. its web, by this means the whole web is found compofed of fo many crufts or doubles* or is, in reality, a collection of fo many webs as there have been Worms.

As foon as ever one of thefe nymphs iflu.es out of the cell, in the bee- ftate, the working bees clean out the cell, and render it perfectly fit for the office of educating another young one ; and as foon as that is done, the female bee lays another ego- in it, and fo on ; fo that almoft as long as the comb lafts, every three weeks there is a new Worm to inhabit it, and a new web fpun, and added to the former number. By feparatteg the crufts of one of thefe complex webs one from another, it be- comes eafy to reckon how many bees have been hatched in each. The feveral crufts are fo very thin, that there may be a great number of them applied one over another, before they will fenfibly fill up or ftraiten the cavity within the cell, and,. in other refpefts, the cell is the better for it, every coat of this matter adding a lining to it, which is at leaft as ftrong as the fides of the cell.

The web that this Worm fpins is remarkably fine and delicate. Its threads are of a fmalnefs fcarce conceivable, and its work- manfhip worthy the materials ; for they are wove in fo com- pact a manner, that it is not eafy to fee the ftructure ; info- much that Mr. Maraldi, a very accurate obferver of the bees in other refpefls, fuppofes this lining of the cell to be formed of the fkin of the Worm, thrown offat its entering into the nymph- ftate. He is a little embarrafled to conceive in what manner the fkin becomes fo regularly and nicely applied to all the an- gles of the cell ; but a dofer obfervation fhews the truth ■> for if the cells be opened when newly covered by the bees, the Worm within will be found to be yet in its own form, and will be detected in the acf of fpinning its web ; or if glaffes be called in to our affiftance afterwards, the web, whofe ftru&ure is imperceptible to the naked eye, will be feen to be compofed of fine threads regularly woven together like thofe of other fpinning animals.

The female bees are treated with a peculiar diftinction, even in this ftate of the Worm^ as well as afterwards. We fee that the common cells ferve fucceffively to the hatching of feveral of the common Worms, and bringing them to perfection in the bee-ftate ; but this is not the cafe in the females, each celt only ferves to raife one bee of this kind, and is never found covered within with any more than one web or filky lining. tndeed the bees always deftroy thefe royal cells as foon as ever the bee is hatched from them, or, at the moil they only leave the bottoms of them, to ferve as the bafe of other cells ; and this indeed is wholly neceflary, in order to their carrying on their common work, and enlarging their combs. Reaumur^ Hift. Inf. vol. 10. p. 263.

The fucceffive hatching of feveral bees in the fame common cell, is of great ufe to it, as the web left by every one within it, greatly ttrenghens the cell ; but this is by no means necef- fary, in regard to the royal cells, or thofe deftined to the pro- ducing the female bees, as the fides of thofe are always made fo thick, that they can require no additional ftrengthening. When the common Worm of the bee has arrived at its growth, the labouring bees bring it no more food, fo that it eats up the whole of what remains, and the cell becomes dry and clean. It then extends itfelf at full length under the cover of the lid of the cell, and by giving itfelf feveral motions, it caufes the fkin of its back to fplit open with a fmall longitudinal fif- fure. The internal motion of the creature foon enlarges this flit, and at length the body of the nymph appears in the fif- fure, and by degrees makes its way compleatly out. The fkin left behind is then only a dry membrane, and this nymph is to be looked on as the animal : this is an oblong body of a deli- cate ftrucfure, but without any power of motion. In this, if nicely examined, thee may, howev/er, bedifcovered all the parts of the future bee, and it feems indeed' no other than the perfect bee, with its limbs as yet all foft and tender, and concealed under a thin membrane, till they acquire a due ftrength and firmnefs. The rings of the back may be eafily traced on the back of the nymph, and when its belly is exa- mined, the legs and horns, or antennae, and the trunk, are all diftincfly kei\ extended lengthwife, and the wings are folded in fmall knobs, which are afterwards to be unfolded hi a wonderful manner.

The drones, or male bees, which the common working bees fo unmercifully mafiacre and deftroy in the month of July, or thereabouts, are not Iefs taken care of in their worm-ftate, than thofe of the common kind. The Worms of thefe drones do not differ in any particular from thofe of the cornmon work- ingkind, except that they are larger, and are placed in larger cells.

The bees bring food to thefe Worms in the fame manner as tc* the others, and when the time of their change into the nymph- ftate approaches, they as regularly and carefully cover their

cells