BEE. 
325 
“ The queen has a sting similar to the work’- 
ing bee. 
‘‘ Of the Number of Queejis in a Hive. 
I believe a hive, or swarm, has but one queen, 
at least I have never found more than one in a 
swarm, or in an old hive in the winter; and pro- 
bably this is what constitutes a hive; for when 
there are two queens, it is likely that a division 
may begin to take place. Supernumerary queens 
are mentioned by Riem, who asserts he has seen 
them killed by the labourers, as well as the males, 
“ November 18th, 1788, 1 killed a hive that had 
not swarmed the summer before, and which was 
to appearance ready to swarm every day; but 
when I supposed the season for swarming was 
over, and it had not swarmed, I began to suspect 
that the reason why it did not was owing to there 
being no young queen or queens; and I found 
only one. This is a kind of presumptive proof 
that I was right in my conjecture; unless it be 
supposed, that when they were determined not to 
swarm, they destroyed every queen except one. 
In a hive that died, I found no males, and only 
one queen. This circumstance, that so few queens 
are bred, must arise from the natural security 
the queen is in from the mode of their society; 
for, although there is but one queen in a wasp’s, 
hornet’s, and humble bee’s nest or hive, yet these 
breed a great number of queens; the w^asp and 
