Of the insect tribe, the bee is certainly the most distinguished; with the exception of the silkworm, none can approach her in ministering to the wants, or rather to the luxuries, of the human family. The instinct bees possess for feeding on flowers, bringing home honey and pollen, and secreting wax, entitles them to our close consideration of their structure and of the tools provided them by Nature for carrying on their handiwork. In a treatise of this kind, intended to be of a popular character, we shall endeavour to place these details before our readers in a concise and simple manner, avoiding as much as may be technical terms, and referring those who wish to go more deeply into this branch of the subject to the works of Bonnet, Huber, Kirby and Spence, Dr. Bevan, &c. . In the course of our description, we shall frequently have to refer to the steel engravings, Plates I. and II., drawn by Mr. E. W. Robinson, artist to the Entomological Society of London, who has most carefully dissected bees we sent him for the purpose, subjected these dissections to the microscope, and skilfully produced the accompanying illustrations, which will so much assist us in our agreeable task. These delineations are so clear, that a little explanation will suffice to bring home to the understanding of the curious the component parts of the bee, and the uses to which the various members are applied. Because the bee is so small an insect, its organization ought not to be neglected to be investigated. "The bee is little among such as fly, but her fruit is the chief of sweet things." The enlightened Boyle, when contemplating the wonders of Nature, declared that his astonishment had been more excited by the mite than by the elephant; and that his admiration dwelt "not so much on the _clocks_ as on the _watches_ of creation."[5] [Footnote 5: Dr. Bevan.] The figures 1, 2, and 3, Plate I., in the frontispiece, respectively represent the exterior forms of the queen, the worker, and the drone. They are thus coloured to illustrate the Yellow Italian Alp, or Ligurian bee, now deservedly held in such high estimation by bee-keepers, and of whose good qualities we shall, in a subsequent section of this work, have occasion more fully to treat. All the bees constituting a stock may not be of quite so bright a colour as those represented: the old bees differ in appearance from the younger ones;--darkened bodies and ragged wings, not grey hairs and wrinkled faces, are the signs of old age; so that with bees (especially Ligurians), as with the gentler sex of the human race, there is appointed a period both of youth and beauty.