their honey, fly about at unusual times, and eventually pine
away, if not supplied with another sovereign. The death of the queen is
proclaimed by a clear and uninterrupted humming, which should be a
warning to the owner to provide the bees if possible with another queen,
whose presence will restore vigour and exertion; of such importance is a
sovereign to the existence and prosperity of this community. It is
computed that a pregnant queen bee contains about five thousand eggs,
and that she produces from ten to twelve thousand bees in the space of
two months.--Drones are smaller than the queen, but larger than the
working bees, and when on the wing they make a greater noise. Their
office is to impregnate the eggs of the queen after they are deposited
in the cells; but when this is effected, as they become useless to the
hive, they are destroyed by the working bees and thrown out; and having
no sting, they are without the power of resistance. After the season of
the encrease of the bees is past, and when they attend to the collection
of winter stores, every vestige of the drones is destroyed to make room
for the honey. When drones are observed in a hive late in autumn, it is
usually a sign that the stock is poor.--Working bees compose the most
numerous body of the state. They have the care of the hive, collect the
wax and honey, fabricate the wax into combs, feed the young, keep the
hive clean, expel all strangers, and employ themselves in promoting the
general prosperity. The working bee has two stomachs, one to contain the
honey, and another for the crude wax. Among the different kinds of
working bees, those are to be preferred which are small, smooth, and
shining, and of a gentle disposition.--Considering the rich productions
of these little insects, and the valuable purposes to which they may be
applied, it is truly astonishing that so important an object in rural
economy has been so little attended to by the inhabitants of this
country. In Egypt, the cultivation of bees forms a leading object, and
their productions constitute a part of its riches. About the end of
October, when sustenance cannot be provided for them at home, the
inhabitants of Lower Egypt embark their bees on the Nile, and convey
them to the distant regions of Upper Egypt, when the inundation is
withdrawn, and the flowers are beginning to bud. These insects are thus
conducted through the whole extent of that fertile country; and after
having gathered