CH. I.J THE HIVE BEE. 31 



these had been enclosed, in less than a quarter of an 

 hour they seemed to have discovered that a queen 

 was in captivity, and scarcely a single bee remained 

 in the box, but all came and covered the glass hive. 

 At first Reaumur attributed this effect to the attrac- 

 tion of the constant noise kept up by the agitation 

 of the bees within the glass hive ; but when this 

 hive was placed, under the same circumstances, 

 near another which possessed a queen, very few of 

 the workers of the latter hive seemed disposed to 

 quit their own habitation and sovereign in order to 

 attend the stranger, however hard her lot. It would 

 appear, then, that the bees who were without a 

 queen knew where there was one ; but those who 

 possessed one paid no regard to another. Having 

 kept the queen and her five hundred subjects pri- 

 soners, Reaumur opened the entrances of the glass 

 hive ; upon which most of them went into the fields, 

 but returned, bringing with them some of the other 

 bees which had been excluded when the five hun- 

 dred were enclosed with the queen. How these 

 creatures had found out their queen excited Reau- 

 mur's wonder. Observing his glass hive becoming 

 too full, he contrived to make the mass of supernu- 

 meraries join another set. 



On the Wednesday, however, the bees left the 

 glass hive for the third time, but after a short space 

 returned ; which encouraged him to hope that they 

 would permanently adhere to it. The next day the 

 workers laboured in good earnest, brought home 

 good loads of materials oii their thighs, and con- 

 structed cells. But the situation of the hive being 

 too hot, they quitted it for the fourth time, fled to a 

 large hive in the neighbourhood, and were massacred 

 by its inhabitants. 



Such was the end of this division of the original 

 swarm. That of the other was not less tragical. 

 It has been already observed, that when Reaumui 



