PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 175 



fury of the bees against the males, is not easy to dis- 

 cover; but some conjecture may perhaps be formed 

 from the circumstances last related. When only males 

 are produced by the queen, the bees seem aware that 

 something more is wanted, and retain the males ; the 

 same is the case when they have no queen ; and when 

 one is procured, they appear to know that she would not 

 profit them without the males. Their fury then is con- 

 nected with their utility : when the queen is impreg- 

 nated, which lasts for her whole life, as if they knew 

 that the drones could be of no further use, and would 

 only consume their winter stores of provision, they de- 

 stroy them ; which surely is more merciful than expel- 

 ling them, in which case they must inevitably perish from 

 hunger. But when the queen only produces males, 

 their numbers are not sufficient to cause alarm ; and 

 the same reasoning applies to the case when there is 

 no queen. 



Having brought the males from their cradle to their 

 untimely grave, and amused you with the little that is 

 known of their uneventful history, I shall now, at last, 

 call you to attend to the proceedings of the mrkers 

 themselves ; and here I am afraid, long as I have de- 

 tained you, I must still press you to expatiate with me 

 in a more ample field ; but the spectacles you will be- 

 hold during our excursion will repay, I promise you, 

 any delay or trouble it may occasion. 



When I consider the proceedings of these little crea- 

 tures, both in the hive and out of it, they are so nume- 

 rous and multifarious, that I scarcely know where to 

 begin. You have already, however, heard much of 



