HYMENOPTERA. ^^^ 



ipproaches them the workers pbch her, pull her about, drive her 

 v^vay, and oblige her to move on, and, as the royal cells are numeroiT 

 jh^iinds with difhculty any comer in her hive where she may be at rTs ' 

 [ncessantly tormented by the desire of attacking the other females' 

 md incessantly driven back by the guard, she becomes very much 

 -xcited, passes through the different groups of workers at a run 

 md communicates to them her agitation. She leads the inmates of 

 he hive the same sort of dance frequently in the course of the day 



Sometimes the young queen at the end of her attempts utters a 

 hrill song, analogous to that of the grasshopper. This son- so 

 nusual among these insects, has the effect of petrifying the bees."" So 



> ays Francis Huber, speaking of a queen which had just been hatched 



> nd which was trying m vain to satisfy her jealous instincts. "She 

 I mg^' says he, " twice. When we saw her producing this sofmd, she 

 ii -as motionless, her thorax rested against the honeycomb, her wings 

 i eing crossed on her back, and she moved them about without un- 

 ^ -ossmg them, and without opening them. Whatever cause it. was 



lat made her choose this attitude, the bees seemed affected by it, all 

 ; them now lowered their heads and remained motionless. Next 

 ly the hive presented the same appearances, there remained still 

 • enty-three royal cells, which were all assiduously guarded by a great 

 imber of bees. The moment the queen approached these, all the 

 lards were in a state of agitation, surrounded her, bit her, hustled 

 :r in every way, and generally finished by driving her off; some- 

 iies when this happened she sang, resuming the attitude which I 

 .>t now described ; from that mioment the bees became motionless."" 

 It the fever which had seized on the young queen ended by com- 

 iinicating itself to her subjects, and, at a particular moment, a new 

 :arm set out under her guidance. 



When the emigration is effected, the workers which had remained 

 ; home set free another female. This one acts in the same ^-ay as 

 1- first. She tries to get at her rivals still imprisoned, and whom she 

 <ii smell in their cradles ; but the guard repel her with vigour, and 

 <feat all her attempts, till she makes up her mind to emigrate \\\X\\ a 



: i\v swarm. This curious scene is repeated, with the same circum- 

 ^Vnces, three or four times in the space of a fortnight, if the ^^•eather 

 iTavourable, and the hive well peopled. In the end, the number of 

 ^-s is so much reduced, that they can no longer keep such vigilant 

 ^ird round the royal cells, and it then happens that two females 



: <^iie out together from their cradles. Immediately the two rivaled 



" Observations sur les Abeilles," tome i., p. 265. 



