APIS, or BEE, in zoology, a genus of insects belonging to the order of insecta hymenoptera. The mouth is furnished with two jaws, and a proboscis infolded in a double sheath; the wings are four in number, the two foremost covering those behind when at rest: In the anus or tail of the females and working bees there is a hidden sting.
These insects are distinguished into several species, each of which has its peculiar genius, talent, manners, and disposition. Variety prevails in the order of their architecture, and in the nature of their materials. Some live in society, and share the toils; such are the common bee and the drone. Others dwell and work in solitude, building the cradles of their families; as the leaf-cutter bee does with the rose-tree leaf; the upholsterer with the gaudy tapestry of the corn-rose; the mason-bee with a plaster, the wood-piercer with sawdust. All are employed in their little hermitage, with the care of providing for the wants of their posterity. —The species enumerated by Linnæus are no fewer than 55; of which the following are the most remarkable:—
1. The florifonnis, or black bee with a cylindrical incurvated belly, having two tooth-like protuberances at the anus, and a kind of prickles on the hind-legs. This bee sleeps in flowers. 2. The dentata, or shining green bee, with black wings, and a kind of teeth on the hind thighs. The tongue of this bee is almost as long as its body. 3. The variegata; the breast and belly are variegated with white and black spots; the legs are of an iron colour. It is a native of Europe. This species sleeps in the geranium phæum, or spotted crane's-bill. 4. The rostrata is distinguished by the upper-lip being inflected and of a conical shape, and by the belly being invested with bluish belts. They build their nests in high sandy grounds, and there is but one young in each nest. 5. The ferruginea, or smooth black bee, with the feelers, mouth, belly, and feet of an iron colour. This is a small bee, and supposed to be of an intermediate kind between the bee and wasp. It is a native of Europe. 6. The cariola is a yellowish hairy bee; and the feet and front are of a bright yellow colour. It builds in the rotten trees of Europe. 7. The brasiliænorum, or pale-red hairy bee, with the basis of the thighs black. This is a very large bee, every where covered with a testaceous skin. It is a native of America. 8. The lapidaria, or red hairy bee, with a yellow anus, builds in holes of rocks. 9. The terrestris is black and hairy, with a white belt round the breast, and a white anus: it builds its nest very deep in the earth. 10. The violacea is a red bee, and very hairy, with bluish wings. It is a native of Europe. The violacea is said to perforate trees, and hollow them out in a longitudinal direction; they begin to build their cells at the bottom of these holes, and deposit an egg in each cell, which is composed of the farina of plants and honey or a kind of gluten. 11. The muscorum, or yellow hairy bee with a white belly, builds in mossy grounds. The skill displayed by these builders is admirable. In order to enjoy the
pleasure of seeing their operations, let a nest be taken to pieces, and the moss conveyed to a distance. The bees will be seen to form themselves into a chain, from their nest to the place where the moss has been laid. The foremost lays hold of some with her teeth, clears it bit by bit with her feet (which circumstance has also gotten them the name of carding-bees), then, by the help of her feet, she drives the unravelled moss under her belly; the second, in like manner, pushes it on to the third. Thus there is formed an uninterrupted chain of moss, which is wrought and interwoven with the greatest dexterity by those that abide by the nest; and to the end, their nest may not be the sport of the winds, and may shelter them from rain, they throw an arch over it, which they compose with a kind of wax, tenacious, though thin in substance, which is neither the unwrought bees-wax nor the real wax. Dissolved in oil of turpentine, it may be used in taking off impressions. 12. The centuncularis, leaf-cutter, or black bee, having its belly covered with yellow down. The nests of this species are made of leaves curiously plaited in the form of a matt or quilt. There are several varieties of the leaf-cutting bees, all equally industrious. They dig into the ground, and build their nests, of which some have the form and size of thimbles inserted one within another, others the shape and size of goose-quills. These nests are composed of pieces of leaves. Each sort of bees cut into its own materials; some the rose-tree leaf, others the horse chestnut. A careful observer may discover rose-tree leaves cut as it were with a pinking iron; and there he may procure himself the pleasure of seeing with what dexterity a bee, destitute of any mathematical instrument, cuts out a circular piece, fit to be either the bottom or the lid of one of those nests; others it cuts out into ovals and semi-ovals, which form the sides of the nests, into each of which it deposits one egg with ready prepared victuals. 13. The mellifica, or domestic honey-bee. But the particulars concerning this valuable species are so numerous and interesting as to require a separate article for their detail; which the reader will therefore find at due length under the English or popular name BEE.
In the Philosophical Transactions, No 172o, we have an account of a species of honey-bee found in some parts of America, very different in form and manners from the common bee of Europe. Their combs are composed of a series of small bottles or bladders of wax, of a dusky brown or blackish colour; and each of these is much of the size and shape of a Spanish olive. They hang together in clusters, almost like a bunch of grapes, and are so contrived, that each of them has its aperture, while the bees are at work upon it; but as soon as it is filled with honey, this aperture is closed, and the bees leave it, and go to work upon another vessel. Their lodgings are usually taken up in the hollow of an old tree, or in some cavity of a rock by the sea-side. They are sagacious in choosing the most secure retreats, because their honey is so delicious a bait, that they are hunted after by many animals; and they have no power of defending themselves, having no stings as our bees have. The combs are brittle; and the honey is clear and liquid like rock-water. It is used by the natives rather as a drink with their food than as honey. They use it also in medicine as a purge, drinking half a pint of it in the morning fasting.
The Abbé Clavigero, in his history of Mexico, mentions a species similar in every respect to ours, but without the sting. This is the bee of Yucatan and Chiapa, which makes the fine clear honey of Estabentún, of an aromatic flavour, superior to that of all the other kinds of honey with which we are acquainted. The honey is taken from them six times a-year, that is, once in every other month; but the best is that which is got in November, being made from a fragrant white flower like jessamine, which blows in September, called in that country Estabentún, from which the honey has derived its name. This honey is said to be in high estimation with the Europeans who touch at the ports of Yucatan. According to our author, the French of Guarico buy it sometimes for the purpose of sending it as a present to the king. Another species described by the same author, resembles in its form the winged ants, but is smaller than the common bee and without a sting. This insect, which is peculiar to warm and temperate climates, forms nests in size and shape resembling sugar-loaves, and even sometimes greatly exceeding these in size, which are suspended from rocks, or from trees, and particularly from the oak. The populousness of these hives are much greater than those of the common bee. The nymphs of this bee, which are eatable, are white and round, like a pearl. The honey is of a greyish colour, but of a fine flavour.