_Bees live in extremely numerous societies, either in decayed trees, or in habitations prepared for them by mankind, called_ hives. _Each hive contains, 1, a single female which has the name of_ queen-bee; _2, about 1600 males, called_ drones; _and, 3, about 20,000 individuals of neither sex, called_ working-bees. _It is upon the latter that the whole trouble devolves of constructing combs, or cells, for the honey and for the eggs deposited by the female; collecting and forming the honey, and feeding the grubs which proceed from the eggs, and which afterwards change into bees._ _Bees' wax_ is the substance of the combs after the honey has been extracted from them. The best kind is hard, compact, of clear yellow colour, and an agreeable odour, nearly similar to that of honey. It is melted, and cast in moulds of different sizes and shapes. _White wax_ is prepared from common bees' wax by melting it into water, and exposing it, for a considerable time, to the action of the sun, air, and water. When sufficiently bleached, it is cast into thin cakes. The purposes for which wax is applicable are very numerous. Great quantities of white wax are annually consumed in the manufacture of candles; and in making cerates, plasters, and ointments. _Honey_ is a sweet and fluid substance, which is collected from flowers, and deposited in the combs for support of the bees and their offspring. The honey made by young bees is purer than any other, and is thence called _virgin honey_. Before the discovery of sugar, honey was of much greater importance than it is at present. Yet both as a delicious article of food, and as the basis of a wholesome fermented liquor called _mead_, it is of no mean value even in this country; but in many parts of the Continent, where sugar is much dearer than with us, few articles of rural economy, not of primary importance, would be dispensed with more reluctantly than honey. In the Ukraine some of the peasants have each 400 or 500 bee-hives, and make more profit of their bees than of corn. And in Spain the number of hives is almost incredible: a single parish priest is stated to have possessed 5000.