Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/505

Rh the level of other insects, is the disposition to social union. It may in general, indeed, be remarked, that animals which associate together so as to form large communities, display a higher degree of sagacity than those which lead a solitary life. This is especially observable among insects. The spidef and Formica leonis may exhibit particular talents, or practise particular stratagems in the pursuit and capture of their prey ; but their history is limited to a single generation, and embraces none of those interesting relations which exist between individuals composing the gregarious tribes, such as the ant, the wasp, and the bee. Among these we trace a community of wants and desires, and a mutual intelligence and sympathy, which lead to the con stant interchange of good offices, and which, by introducing p. systematic division of labour, amidst a unity of design, leads to the execution of public works on a scale of astonish ing magnitude. The attachment of bees to their hive, which they defend with a courage and self-devotion truly admirable, their jealousy of intruders, their ready co operation in all the labours required for the welfare of the community, their tender care of their young, the affection and homage which they bestow on their queen, imply qualities such as we could hardly persuade ourselves could animate a mere insect, on which w r e are in the habit of proudly looking down as placed in one of the lowest orders of created beings. We shall content ourselves at present with these general observations, as the instances which serve to illustrate their moral and intellectual character belong properly to the history of the different processes they follow in the con struction of their combs, the hatching and rearing of their progeny, and the mode of conducting their migrations. To these subjects, therefore, we shall now proceed ; and in order to present the most connected and complete account of their economy, we shall begin the history from the period when a new swarm has just occupied a hive, and when all the arrangements for their habitation, and the construction of the cells in which their eggs and provisions are to be deposited, are yet to be effected.

The first care of the worker bees, on their settlement in their new abode, is to clean it out thoroughly. While one set of bees is thus employed, another is distributed about the country in order to procure the proper materials for blocking up the small holes and chinks of the hive, and for laying a firm foundation for the edifice which is to be constructed within it. The substance which is principally employed in this preliminary stage is propolis, a species of glutinous resin, of an agreeable aromatic odour, and reddish-brown colour, in process of time becoming darker, and acquiring a firmer consistence. According to the analysis of Vauquelin (3fem. Soc. Agricult. Dejiartem. Seine), it is composed chiefly of resin, with a small propor tion of wax, and of acid and aromatic principles. It is soluble in alcohol, ether, and oils, both fixed and volatile, and tinges the solvent of a beautiful red colour. Cadet has since ascertained in it the presence of benzole and gallic acids. Reaumur had not been able to discover from what plants the bees collect this substance. Riem asserts that it is chiefly from pines and other trees of the fir kind. The observations of Huber have assisted in the solution of this question. On placing branches of the wild poplar tree before the hive, he found that the bees eagerly seized upon the varnish which exudes from the buds ; and examining the chemical properties of this varnish, he identified it with the propolis with which the inside of the hive is lined. The propolis adheres so strongly to the legs and feet of the bee which has collected it, that it cannot be detached without the assistance of its fellow-labourers. For this purpose the bee that is loaded presents its legs to the workers in the hive, which carry off with their jaws this adhesive substance, and immediately apply it, while yet ductile, all round the interior of the hive, and particularly over all the projecting parts ; hence its name, of Greek derivation, signifying before the city. In like manner all the foreign bodies that are introduced into the common habitation and are too heavy for removal are covered over with this resinous substance. If a snail, for instance, should happen to introduce itself into the hive, after despatching it with their stings, they encrust it over with propolis.

The next object of their labours is the construction of the combs, the future receptacles for the eggs with which the queen is pregnant and which are row to be laid. The material employed is wax ; and the bees, for the purpose of secreting this, are actively employed in collecting honey. When they have filled their crops with honey they hang together in a thick cluster from the top of the hive, and thus remain in a state of inactivity for a considerable period, during which time the secretion of wax is proceed ing. It may be seen collected in laminae under the abdo minal scales, whence it is removed by the hind legs of the bee, transferred to the fore legs, and from thence taken up by the jaws. In this operation they are often assisted by their companions, who even sometimes directly seize upon the wax from under the abdomen of those who are before them. When a sufficient quantity of material has thus been collected together, the process of building is com menced ; but in order to understand the subsequent opera tions it is necessary to have a correct idea of the form of the cells which compose the combs. We shall, therefore, proceed to give some account of the structure when it has attained its perfect state.

The combs of a bee-hive are formed in parallel vertical Forms o strata, each of which is about an inch in thickness, the the com distance between the surfaces of adjoining strata being about half an inch, a space which allows for the passage of the bees over both surfaces. The combs generally extend the whole breadth of the hive, and nearly the whole length from the top to the bottom. They consist of thin partitions which enclose hexagonal cells, opening on both surfaces of the comb and closed by a partition which is common to those on both sides, and occupies the middle distance between the two surfaces. This partition is not, however, a plane, but is composed of a collection of rhombs. Three and sometimes four of these rhombs incline to one another at a certain angle from the bottom of each cell, which thus has the shape of a flattened pyramid, of which the base is towards the mouth of the cell. The geometric form of each individual cell is therefore a hexagonal prism, termi nated by a trihedral pyramid, the three sides of which are rhombs which meet at the apex by their obtuse angles, and, forming oblique angles with the sides of the prism, truncate a portion of these, and convert them from rect angles, which they would be in a regular prism, into trapeziums. Of the two angles of these trapeziums adjoining the base of the pyramid one must be acute and the other obtuse, the acute angle of one trapezium being next to the acute angle of the adjoining trapezium, and the obtuse angle being in like manner next to another obtuse angle of the preceding trapezium ; so that in going round the base we meet with pairs of acute and of obtuse angles alternately succeeding each other. The two adjoining acute angles of the trapezium are adjoining to two of the terminal rhombs which here present their acute angles, so that at these points a solid angle of four planes is formed, all the angles being acute. Each pair of obtuse angles of the trapezia, on the other hand, are adjacent to the obtuse angle of one of the rhombs only, thus composing a solid angle of three planes of which the angles are all obtuse : and these two kinds of solid angles succeed one another 