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British Bees: An Introduction into the Studies of the Natural History and Economy of the Bees Indigenous to the British IslesShuckard, William Edward

Science

British Bees: An Introduction into the Studies of the Natural History and Economy of the Bees Indigenous to the British Isles

Name: British Bees: An Introduction into the Studies of the Natural History and Economy of the Bees Indigenous to the British Isles
Author: Shuckard, William Edward

Shuckard, William Edward

Bees; Hymenoptera -- Great Britain

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.

                                -------

                               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


                              CHAPTER II.

                  GENERAL HISTORY OF BEES           17
                  THE EGG                           18
                  THE LARVA                         19
                  THE PUPA                          22
                  THE IMAGO                         23


                              CHAPTER III.

                  SKETCH OF THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE    61
                    GENERA OF BRITISH BEES


                              CHAPTER IV.

                  NOTICE OF THE MORE CONSPICUOUS   101
                    FOREIGN GENERA


                               CHAPTER V.

                  PARASITES OF BEES AND THEIR      109
                    ENEMIES


                              CHAPTER VI.

                  GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF            118
                    SCIENTIFIC ARRANGEMENT

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British Bees: An Introduction into the Studies of the Natural History and Economy of the Bees Indigenous to the British Isles

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