406 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



• 

 itants of the hive to their queen. She appears to be the very soul of all 

 their actions, and the centre of their instincts. When they are deprived 

 of her, or of the means of replacing her, they lose all their activity, and 

 pursue no longer their daily labors. In vain the flowers tempt them with 

 their nectar and ambrosial dust: they collect neither; they elaborate no 

 wax, and build no cells; they scarcely seem to exist; and, indeed, 

 would soon perish, were not the means of restoring their monarch put 

 within their reach. But, if a small piece of comb containing the brood 

 grubs of workers be given to them, all seem endued with new life : their 

 instincts revive ; they immediately set about building royal cells ; they 

 feed with their appropriate food the grubs they have selected, and every 

 thing proceeds in the usual routine. Virgil has described this attachment 

 of the bees to their sovereign with great truth and spirit in the following 

 lines: — 



" Lydian nor Mede so much his king adores, 

 Nor those on Nilus' or Hydaspes' shores : 

 The state united stands while he remains ; 

 But should he fall, what dire confusion reigns ! 

 Their waxen combs and honey, late their joj'', 

 With grief and rage distracted, they destroy : 

 He guards the works, with awe they him surround, 

 And crowd about him with triumphant sound ; 

 Him frequent on their duteous shoulders bear, 

 Bleed, fall, and die for him in glorious war." 



M. Huber thus describes the consequences of the loss of a queen. 

 When the queen is removed from a hive, at first the bees seem not to 

 perceive it, their order and tranquillity not being disturbed, and their labors 

 proceeding as usual. About an hour after her departure, inquietude 

 begins to manifest itself amongst them ; the care of the young brood no 

 longer engages their attention, and they run here and there, as if in great 

 agitation. This agitation, however, is at first confined to a small portion 

 of the community. The bees that are first sensible of their loss meet 

 with others ; they mutually cross their antennae, and strike them lightly. 

 By this action they appear to communicate the sad intelligence to those 

 who receive the blow, who in their turn impart it in the same way to 

 others. Disorder and confusion increase rapidly, till the whole population 

 is in a tumult. Then the workers may be seen running over the combs, 

 and against each other, impetuously rushing to the entrance and quitting 

 the hive ; from thence they spread themselves all around ; they re-enter, 

 and go out again and again. The hum in the hive becomes very loud, 

 and increases the tumult, which lasts two or three hours, rarely four or 

 five : they then return, and resume their wonted care of the young ; and 

 if the hive be visited twenty-four hours after the departure of the queen, 

 it will be seen that they have taken steps to repair their loss by filling 

 some of the cells with a larger quantity of jelly than is the usual portion 

 of common larvae ; which, however, is intended, it seems, not for the food 

 of the inhabitant, but for a cushion to elevate it, since it is found uncon- 

 sumed in the cell when the grub has descended into the pyramidal habita- 

 tion afterwards prepared for it.^ 



If, after being removed, their old queen is restored to the hive, they 

 instantly recognize her, and pay her the usual attentions ; but if a strange 



' Huber, ii. 396. 



