74 ELEMENTAEY STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE 



winter the hive may dwindle far below twenty-five thou- 

 sand and still retain its organization. 



In every hive there is a form of government, political 

 you may call it, but uniform throughout the whole 

 realm of the bee world. The same offices exist in all 

 and the functions of each office are constant. 



The Queen. - The most important personage in the 

 beehive is the queen, whom people, before her true 

 function was known, called the " king bee," on account 

 of her size. From neither of these terms must it be 



FIG. 59. A queen bee. X 2. 



inferred that she is in any sense a despot, for, though 

 the most important and attractive personage in the hive 2 

 she is more frequently ruled than ruler. She receives, 

 however, every attention that can be bestowed upon her 

 by her attendants ; and well may they caress her, for 

 around her centers the existence of the hive. 



The queen is the only fully developed female in the 

 hive. She is the mother of the entire colony; she lays 

 all the eggs, from which hatches every bee that exists 

 within the hive. The eggs which she lays bring forth 

 workers, queens and drones in accordance with the well- 



