QUE
QUE
Vefalmsj Fabricius, and many other anatomifts, to a mufcle now generally called the a,raohyoid<£us.
QuartCs ocuhan rmveti', in anatomy, a name given by Vefa- lius to one of the mufclcs of the eye, called by fome reffus in- ferior, and by others hum'dis.
It is the depre/for eculi of Albinus, being one of the quatuor reSti ocul't of that author.
QUATERNA/^, among botanifts. See Leaf.
QUATO TON I, in zoology, the name of an American bird of the wood-pecker kind, having a red creft on its head, and two white lines running down the fides of the neck to the breaft. It is called by Nieremberg pkus in.brifwtm.
QUATRICHROMA, in the Italian mufic, is what we call a de?m-feml-quaver, thirty-two whereof make a bar in common time. SeeTlME, Triple, and Bischroma.
QUAVITL, in botany, a name given by fome authors to the cocoa-tree. Hern, p. 79.
QUAUHAYOHUATLI, in botany, a name by which fome au- thors have called the tree whofe fruit is the caffia fiftula of the fhops. Hern. p. 87-
QUAUHTZONECOLTM, in zoology, the American name for a bird called by mofl a quail-, but efteemed by Nieremberg a fpecies of partridge.
It is of the fize of the European partridge, and of a brownifh colour, and ornamented wiih a creft upon its head. 1 here a;e alfo in America two other fpecies of partridge much allied to this, the one with a yellow body, and black and white head the other fmall and brown, and without a creft. Ray's Orni thology, p. 304.
QUEEN (Cycl.)— Queek-£?<7, a term given by late writers to what ufed to be called the king-hee^ or king of the bees ; a lar°e and long-bodied bee, of which kind there is only one found in every fwarm, and which is always treated wi.h the greateft refpect by the reft.
This is, indeed, the parent of the fwarm, and from the fee- cunditv of this one female, a whole hive is eafdy and foon re- peopled .
It is to be obfervcd, that the autumn and winter feafons de- ftroy a great number of the bees ; fo that a hive, which was full in the fummer, is often found fo thinly peopled before the end of winter, that the bees feem only a few inhabitants in a very large city: by midfummer azain this fame hive fball, how- ever, be found fo well filled with inhabitants, that there fhall be a neceffity of fending out a colony in the name of a new fwarm, and yet the hive will remain as full as it can well hold. This increafe might well appear very amazing, if all th remaining bees of the hive were fuppofed to be females, and to join in it ; but how much more fo when it mull be acknow- ledged, that it is all owing to one female, and that this queen- bee, or bee-mother, alone, has given origin to fuch an im- menfe progeny ?
The form of this bee, and there being only one fuch in a hive, naturally led all who faw it into an opinion of fomething fin- gular in its nature, and the antients determined that it muft be the king over the reft : they made it an abfolute monarch, and have fuppofcd that all the bufmefs of the hive was done hy its immediate orders; and that the feveral parties of bees allotted to work in the making the combs, in the filling their cells, in the flopping the crevices of the hives, and in carrying away the filth, C5V. had all their feveral ftations allotted them by this wife and provident monarch. This was giving great talents to the monarch-bee ; but this was mere fancy, and it is ■plain, that if this creature rules, it is over a people who all nerfedtly well know their feveral bufmefs : but it rather ap- pears, that there is no fovercignty at all, but that this creature is refpected in a very high degree by the reft as the common patent of the whole nation.
'There were not wanting among the antients, however, fome who believed this large bee to be a female, and thefe pretend that fhe brought forth only females like herfelf, which fucceed- ed her in her reign. They had a very different opinion as to the origin of the common bees, not fuppoftng them generated of animal parents like themfclvcs, hut produced out of cor- ruption, and born of the flefh of a bull or cow. Among the later writers this opinion, notwithstanding the fanction of the poet Virgil, has been laughed out of the world; yet it was long betore the true origin of bees, even after this, was lcnown. The author of the female monarchy, tho* well ap- prized of this great bee being of the female fex, yet fuppofed that fhe only produced young ones hke herfelf; and pretended ' that the common bees copulated together for the production of other bees- like themfelvcs : this, however, has been fince found to be wholly erroneous, the female, or queen-bee, giving birth to all, and thefe common bees being of no fex at all. A'lany of the authors who have not given into the idle opinion of the bees being bred of putrid flefh, have yet given them an origin not lefs idle and ridiculous. They pretend that the bees are exempted from the pain of producing either eggs or young; and thut their offspring are formed of the juices of flowers, the different kinds, as the drones, females, &c. owing their rife to juices of different kinds. Thefe, and a number of oiher falfe notions, have been propagated in regard to bees; but their true odgin could not welt be found till we were in a
condition to fee what paffes at certain times within the reifies of the hive, which is done by the ufe of that excellent inven- tion the glafs hive. By this, and by the help of directions, we may edi]y inform ourfelves perfectly of the true ftate of the cafe.
The parts of generation are the fubjects of our enquiry for this purpofe, and tho' the bodies of thefe animals are fo fmall, thefe are ufually fufficiently large to be diftinguifhed, often taking up more room in the abdomen than all the other parts together. Thus, if the large long-bodied bee be opened, the abdomen will be found to contain vaft numbers of oblon^ bodies, which any one acquainted with infects will eafily dif- tmguifh to be eggs : vaft' numbers of thefe are large enough to be obfervable by the naked eye, but when the aiflftance of glaffes is called in, there are difcerncd a vaft number of other fmaller eggs, which exceed all computation. It is eafy to de- termine from this, that this creature, fo long efteemed a male is in reality a female, and is in condition to give birth to a very numerous pofterity.
In order to diftinguifh this, however, a proper time muft be chofen for the diuecticn, and the moft proper of all is when the creature is juft ready to depofit her eggs. This is in the months of April and May, and the moft certain time of all is when fhe is in a hive where a new fwarm have been received about ten days before: if fhe be differed at other times, the e^s are lefs vifible; and particularly in winter, there requires a food glafs to fhew the rudiments of them. This is a difaerecable experiment, indeed, becaufe it is always the deftruction of a future fwarm ; all the eggs we fee in the diflected female be- ing what would have produced bees to labour for our benefit. When the body of one of the drones is opened, there is found, inftead of thefe vaft numbers of eggs, a part feeming proper for a male organ of generation ; and in the abdomen a number of veficls running in feveral windings and contortions and filled with a milky humour. Thefe feem deftined for the important ufe of impregnating the eggs in the belly of the fe- male, and it is very natural to determine from this that thefe are the males.
The common bees, when diflected, at whatever time of the year, never fhew the leaft marks of any fex at all. The in- terlines of thefe bees are found at times to be more or lefs diflendcd with honey, and with rough wax; but there are never difcovered any eggs, nor any of the winding feminal veffels, fo that it is plain they have no fhare in propagat- ing the fpecies : and the obfervation of the fwarms from tTme to time, with the afliftance of glafs hives, gives proof to what the diflections feem to make fufficiently certain without this evidence.
The female bee refides within the center of the hive, always living in one of the fpaces between the combs ; if fhe occa- fionally comes out to the furface, and is feen walking over the edge of a comb, fhe is to be well obferved at thofe limes ■ for her only bufmefs is the laying her eggs in fome of the empty cells of that part of the comb, which done, fhe always retires again.
In order to fee the female, or mother bee, employed in this operation, we are to obferve in the morning hours, between feven and ten, what paffes in a glafs hive into which a fwarm have been received a few days before. The fpeed with which the common bees labour in making their combs on this occa- fion is almoft incredible, and they feem not only to labour to have cells to depofit their honey in, but to know that the pa- rent bee is at this time loaded with eggs for the production of a numerous progeny, and that file has an immediate neceffity of cells for the depofiting them in. This neceffity is fo ur- gent, that ihe is often forced to depofit them in cells not yet finifhed; tho' the bees labour fo vigoroufly, that they often will erect a whole large comb in one day. If the hive be narrowly watched at thefe times in the morning hours, the' female bee will be foon found employed in her work, and will be feen dropping her tad by turns into feveral cells every day. If the combs be examined a day or two after this, they will alfo be found to contain the eggs ; one of thefe is placed in each cell, and appears in form of an oblong white body fixed either to the folid angle of the bafe, or to one of the angles compofed by the rhombs which form the triangular bafe of the cell, and is always attached in fuch a manner, that it lies nearly in an horrizontal pofition.
The flat glafs hives are the moft favourable for the making thefe obfervations, fince in thofe the combs are fo narrow and fo numerous, that the whole is taken in view at a time, from one fide or the other; and there are always feveral combs to be made choice of for the operation ; in the morning hours of April and May, the female mother bee will be ufually {een. walking very foberly over one or other of thefe combs, attend- ed by a guard of about twenty of the common bees, all placing thcmfelves in fuch a manner, that their faces are turned to- ward her, and all paying her the greateft marks of homage and adoration. As fhe walks along in this ftate, fhe examines every cell as fhe paffes over, and fuch as fce finds yet empty, and fit for her purpofe, fhe refts at; and introducing the hin- der part of her body at the top, plunges it fo deep in that her tail touches the bottom. Then fhe depofites one egg and no
more,
