242 THE HUMBLE-BEE t 
commencing to do so within an hour or two after 
the queen was removed or began to sicken, They 
fight to become mothers. On July 1, 1911, I re- 
moved the queen from a strong /apzdarius colony. 
Two days later I killed and dissected several of the 
most pugnacious of the workers ; they all contained 
eggs. This colony settled down somewhat after a 
day or two, several workers having gained the 
coveted position, but desultory quarrelling con- 
tinued, and that it was sometimes carried to the 
death was shown by the presence of fourteen dead 
workers (out of a total of about sixty) in the nest 
on July 15. 
To return to the nest in my study. On July 22 
at 6.30 A.M. the queen was seen lying dead in the 
vestibule, no doubt dragged there by the workers. 
Later in the morning I examined all my outdoor 
lapidarius nests, and found that one that was 
reigned over by a satellite, the original queen hav- 
ing died, was the least prosperous, this having 
been the nest that I had assisted least during the 
prevailing bad weather. I therefore brought this 
nest indoors and united it to the queenless one. 
The queen flew out of the cavity, but I gently beat 
her down with a piece of card into the grass and 
popped a jar over her; I brought her indoors and 
let her fly to the window, where I clipped her 
wings without exciting her, and then put her into 
the nest. She was pleased to find herself in so 
large and prosperous a colony, and after running 
over the brood and hugging it she went to a honey- 
