BRITISH BEES.
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BRITISH BEES:
AN INTRODUCTION
TO THE STUDY OF THE
NATURAL HISTORY AND ECONOMY OF THE BEES
_Indigenous to the British Isles_.
BY
W. E. SHUCKARD,
AUTHOR OF ‘ESSAY ON THE FOSSORIAL HYMENOPTERA,’ ‘COLEOPTERA
DELINEATED,’ ‘ELEMENTS OF BRITISH ENTOMOLOGY,’ MONOGRAPHS OF THE
‘DORYLIDÆ,’ ‘AULACIDÆ,’ ETC. ETC.; AND TRANSLATOR OF BURMEISTER’S
‘MANUAL OF ENTOMOLOGY.’
[Illustration: Decoration]
LONDON:
LOVELL REEVE & CO., 5, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN.
1866.
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J. E. TAYLOR AND CO., PRINTERS,
LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN’S INN FIELDS.
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TO
WILLIAM WILSON SAUNDERS, ESQ.,
F.R.S., TREAS. & V.P.L.S., F.Z.S.,
TREASURER OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY,
ETC. ETC. ETC.,
IN TESTIMONY OF THE ABILITY, ZEAL, AND LIBERALITY
WITH WHICH HE CULTIVATES AND PROMOTES
THE SCIENCE OF ENTOMOLOGY;
AND
AS AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MUCH KINDNESS,
EXTENDING OVER MANY YEARS,
_This Volume_
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED,
BY HIS FAITHFUL SERVANT,
W. E. SHUCKARD.
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PREFACE.
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A FEW words are necessary explanatory of the course pursued in the
following work, as regards the citation of authorities.
All the facts recorded without reference to authorities, are the result
either of personal observation or of diligent study, which, from the
length of time that has intervened, have become so blended in my mind
that I can no longer separate their sources. I may, however, state that
observation has, certainly, as often anticipated the perusal of the
discoveries of others, as their record has stimulated direct observation
to confirm them.
The habits of animals, in which instinct is the sole prompter, are so
uniform, that these, once well observed, may be considered as
permanently established. The slight deviations that have been
occasionally noticed, although temporarily infringing, do not abrogate
the inflexibility of the law which regulates this faculty; and the
descendants inevitably resume the economy of the ancestor.
The merit that attaches to the discovery of such facts is due merely to
patience and diligence, very common attributes; and the repeated mention
of the supposed first observer must, necessarily, in a work of this
kind, which is far from being of a strictly scientific character,
diminish the interest of the narrative by interrupting its connection,
and thus making it an incongruous mosaic. The omission to cite
authorities may also take place without any wish to detract from the
merit of the discoverer, which is patent to all by his own record in the
archives of science.
Before concluding, I wish to express my best thanks to Thomas Desvignes,
Esq., for the kindness and willingness with which he lent me, for the
purposes of this work, my own selection from the Bees of his choice
collection of British insects.
I now dismiss the book—truly a labour of love—with the hope that it will
fall into the possession of many, who may be sufficiently interested in
the subject to induce them to become ardent entomologists, by showing
them within how small a compass much agreeable instruction lies.
_June, 1866._
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CONTENTS.
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CHAPTER I.
PAGE
PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS, 1
COMPRISING GENERAL REMARKS
UPON THE USES OF BEES IN THE
ECONOMY OF NATURE, THEIR
DIVISION INTO SOCIAL AND
SOLITARY, AND A NOTICE OF
THEIR FAVOURITE PLANTS