164 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



harangue of the queen to animate her subjects to the 

 ffreat undertaking; which she now meditates — the found- 

 ing of a new empire. There sometimes seem to hap- 

 pen suddenly amongst them, says Reaumur, events 

 which put all the bees in motion, for which no account 

 can be given. If you observe a hive with attention, 

 >ou may often remain a long time and hear only a slight 

 Uiuriiiur, and then, all in a moment, a sonorous hum 

 will be excited, and the workers, as if seized with a 

 panic terror, may be seen quitting their various la- 

 bours and running oft' in different directions. At these 

 moments if a young queen goes out, she will be fol- 

 lowed by a numerous troop. 



. Huber has given a very lively and interesting ac- 

 count of the interior proceedings of the hive on this 

 occasion. Tlie queen, as soon as she began to exhi- 

 bit signs of agitation, no longer laid her eggs with ordt r 

 as before, but irregularly, as if she did not know what 

 she was about. She ran over tlie bees in her way ; 

 they in their turn struck her with their aritennae, and 

 mounted upon her back ; none offered her honey, but 

 she helped herself to it from the cells in her path. The 

 usual homage of a court attending round her w as no 

 longer paid. Those however that were excited by her 

 motions followed her, rousing such as were still tran- 

 quil upon the combs. She soon had traversed the whole 

 hive, when the agitation became general. The workers, 

 now no longer attentive to the young brood, ran about 

 in all directions ; even those that returned from foraging, 

 before the agitation was at its height, no sooner entered 

 the hiv« than they participated in these tumultuous 

 movements, and neglecting to free themselves from 



