Page:Jardine Naturalist's library Bees.djvu/71

 —as sometimes happens—against the glass, and where that substance forms one side of the cell. There they are, the fatigued labourers, stretched at full length, with their heads at the bottom, and every limb apparently in a relaxed state, while the little body is seen heaving gently from the process of respiration. Huber thinks he has ascertained that there are two kinds of workers in a hive, one of which he calls Wax-workers, and the other Nurses. The difference between these Bees had probably been observed by Aristotle and Pliny. The former speaks of "optimum genus apum, quæ breves, variæ, et in rotunditatem compactiles; secundæ quæ longæ et vespis similes." Pliny uses similar language. It does not appear, however, that these naturalists were acquainted with the different functions—if the difference really does exist—of the two classes. The office of the first class, according to Huber, is not only to collect honey—which both kinds do—but also to elaborate the wax, and construct the combs. The particular function of the other, is to take care of the young. They may be distinguished in entering the hive, by carefully examining their shape; the wax-workers having their bellies somewhat cylindrical, while those of the nurses retain their ovoidal figure. The anatomical structure of the two is said to be different, and the capacity of stomach not the same; so that the one species is incapable of fulfilling all the functions of the other. Huber has also directed our attention to a class of workers, which he calls Black