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(From *Bencao Shiyi* [Supplement to Materia Medica])

[Collected Explanations]
Chen Cangqi stated: It is produced in the Lingnan region. It resembles a small black bee, with only one leg attached to the tree root, unable to detach or move. It is collected in the fifth month. There is also a "one-legged ant" (Dujiao Yi), which is also attached under the tree root and can move; its efficacy is the same as that of the bee.
Li Shizhen stated: In Lingnan, there are "tree children" (Shu Xiao'er) and "tree butterflies" (Shu Jia Die). As well as this bee and ant, all growing on trees, this is also a result of Qi transformation, where formless entities give rise to sentient beings. *Youyang Zazu* records: In Lingnan, there is a venomous insect whose bite is extremely toxic. The transformations among species are indeed varied.

[Therapeutic Actions]
Treats carbuncles and sores (Dingzhong Yongju); burnt to ash, ground into powder, mixed with oil, and applied externally. (Chen Cangqi)

[Names]
Earth Bee (Tu Feng, from *Bielu*); Thin-waisted Bee (Xi Yao Feng, from *Zhuangzi*).
Tao Hongjing stated: There are many such bees. Although named Earth Bee, they do not make nests in the soil but rather build houses using mud.
Li Shizhen stated: The character "" imitates its sound.

[Collected Explanations]
*Bielu* records:
Tao Hongjing stated: Currently, there is a type of bee that is black with a very thin waist. It carries mud to build nests on human houses and around utensils, resembling parallel bamboo tubes. Its eggs are as large as millet grains, placed in the center. It then captures more than ten green spiders from grass, fills the nest with them, seals the opening, and waits for its offspring to grow large enough to feed on them. Another type enters reed tubes and also captures green insects from grass. The *Classic of Poetry* states, "Instruct your son, let him be like you," implying transformation into one's own offspring, which is absurd. The poet did not examine closely, so why did Confucius cite this biased view? Even sages have omissions, mostly similar to this.
Han Baosheng stated: According to *Mao Shi Zhengyi*: Mingling refers to the silkworm/moth larva on mulberry trees. Guoluo refers to the wasp on reeds. It means the reed wasp carries the mulberry worm to raise its young. It also carries other insects, sealing them; after several days, they transform into bees and fly away. Now, some people wait for the sealed hole, break it open to inspect, and see eggs like millet grains on top of dead insects, exactly as Tao Hongjing described. Perhaps the poet knew the general outline but not the details. This bee lives among trees.

[Correction of Errors]
Li Hanguang stated: Incantations transforming larvae into offspring have been seen numerous times recently; it is not false talk.
Su Song stated: The *Classic of Poetry* says, "Mingling has offspring, Guoluo carries them." Yang Xiong's *Fayan* also says, "The son of Mingling dies, and encounters Guoluo. It instructs it, saying, 'Be like me.'" Others say: Such insects are common in study rooms. The accounts differ. However, the transformations of species are indeed incalculable. Grasshoppers and cicadas arise from turning pellets; silverfish arise from melon seeds, among others. The transformation of mulberry worms and spiders into bees is not strange. Regarding Tao Hongjing's description of eggs like millet, it may well be that Guoluo conceives the offspring of Mingling, transmitting its essence and spirit, taking no fixed form. This statement is accurate.
Kou Zongshi stated: Various scholars' theories ultimately dare not abandon the meaning of the *Classic of Poetry*. I once dismantled a nest to inspect it; indeed, there were offspring half the size of a millet grain, white with a slight yellow tint. The green vegetable worms carried were below the offspring, not touching them. Tao's theory is close to the truth.
Li Shizhen stated: Theories vary. Now, comprehensively examining all theories, observing their eggs, and seeing bees coming and going in pairs, indicating male and female, we should accept the theories of Tao Hongjing and Kou Zongshi as correct, and those of Li Hanguang and Su Song as erroneous. According to *Jieyi Xinyu*: Guoluo naturally produces eggs like millet,寄 (parasitizing) on the body of the insect. That insect neither dies nor lives, (waiting to hatch). *Liezi* states pure males without females; *Yayi* states: Tao's theory actually conforms to natural principles. But... Guoluo carries it. "Instruct your son, let him be virtuous like him." This refers to the ruler... similarity. Misinterpreting "like" as "similarity," they thus accommodated this theory. Just as saying "Owl, owl, having taken my child," does it mean the owl takes all birds as children? Now, repeatedly breaking open its nests, we see the offspring coexisting with other insects, or the offspring gone while the insect remains in an empty shell, or the insect becoming a pupa while the offspring is still small. Generally, the insect does not decay until it becomes a pupa, at which point the offspring eats it and emerges. Recently, Wang Junchuan's *Zheya Shu*...

[Properties and Flavor]
Acrid, Neutral, Non-toxic.
Meng Shen stated: Toxic. For medicinal use, stir-fry before application.

[Therapeutic Actions]
Treats chronic deafness, coughing with reverse qi and toxic vapors, extracting splinters and inducing sweating (*Shennong Bencao Jing*). Treats embedded bamboo or wood splinters (Meng Shen. *Bencao Shiyi* states it instills fear/submission).
Earth Bee Nest: See Section on Earth.

[Appendix]
Realgar Worm. Listed in *Bielu* as "Named but Unused": Brightens eyes, wards off weapons and misfortune, tonifies Qi and strength.