CH. IT. J THE HIVE BEE. 41 



this should take place, for an especial provision ap- 

 pears to be made for such an attack on the young 

 queens. The cocoon* which the royal grubs spin 

 differs from that spun by the workers' grubs. The 

 latter are closed in every direction, so that the silk 

 coating would ward off the sting. The former, on 

 the contrary, are left open and uncovered on the 

 only part of the body which is vulnerable — the 

 lower rings of the belly. 



Hence it appears that bees remember, recognise, 

 and distinguish — that they act differently towards 

 different queens ; that they take measures to reduce 

 their hives to the simplest economy, by getting rid 

 of supernumeraries ; that in order to effect this they 

 do not trust to that instinctive antipathy of queens 

 to each other, but seem to take precautions that it 

 should be forced into action : for it has been ob- 

 served, that they confine both queens as soon as it 

 is known that a stranger is in the hive. If they 

 did not, it is very possible that a long period might 

 elapse before the rivals should meet, and it is cer- 

 tain that, if fecundated, the prodigious fertility of 

 one of these creatures would be wasted, since one 

 hive of workers is not more than adequate to pro- 

 vide for the progeny of one queen. 



Observing the effect of the antennas in agitating 

 bees, Huber contrived a beautiful series of experi- 

 ments to ascertain their uses. He divided a hive 

 into two portions by the sudden introduction of a 

 grating, through which a bee might hear, see, and 

 smell, but not touch its queen. In the course of an 

 hour one of these divisions was agitated, and the 

 bees were seen scampering over their cells, neglect- 

 ing their labours, and crossing their antennae. In 

 the other, they were quietly at work. It was easy, 

 therefore, to infer in which half the queen had been 

 included. In the division which was destitute of a 

 queen, the workers, after waiting the usual time, 



* The ball made by an insect while in its grub-state is a cocoon. 



D2 



