THE HONEY-BEE. 37 



fore, make a small hole in the ceiling of the royal cell, 

 through which the captive queen thrusts her tongue, and 

 receives food from the workers. In this state of confine- 

 ment the young queen utters a low querulous note, which 

 has been compared to singing. When the reigning, or a 

 newly-created queen, finds one of these captives, she uses 

 every effort to tear open the cell and destroy her rival : to 

 prevent this, the workers often interpose, pulling her away 

 by the legs and wings ; to this she submits for a short time, 

 when, uttering a peculiar cry, called her voice of sove- 

 reignty, she commands instant attention and obedience, 

 and is at once freed from her assailants. The cocoon spun 

 by the maggots of the workers and drones completely en- 

 velopes the chrysalis ; but that spun by the maggot of the 

 queen appears imperfect, covering only the upper end of 

 the chrysalis : it has been supposed that they are thus de- 

 signedly exposed to the attacks of other queens, and their 

 destruction, before emerging, facilitated. When the chry- 

 salis of the queen is about to change to a perfect insect, 

 the bees make the cover of the cell thinner by gnawing 

 away part of the wax ; and with so much nicety do they 

 perform this operation, that the cover at last becomes pel- 

 lucid, owing to its extreme thinness. 



The combs of a bee-hive comprise a congeries of hex- 

 agonal cells, built by the bees as a receptacle for honey, 

 and for the nurseries of their young : each comb in a hive 

 is composed of two ranges of cells, backed against each 

 other : the base or partition between this double row of 

 cells is so disposed as to form a pyramidal cavity at the 

 bottom of each. There is a continued series of these 

 double combs in every well-filled hive ; the spaces between 

 them being just sufficient to allow two bees, one on the 

 surface of each comb, to pass without touching. Each 

 cell is hexagonal, the six sides being perfectly equal. This 



