38S NOISES OF INSECTS. 



terpretation. He asserts, that the candidate for the 

 new throne is then with earnest entreaties, lanienta-' 

 tions, and groans, supplicating- the queen-mother of 

 the hive to grant her permission to lead the intendeci 

 colony ; — that this is continued, before she can obtain 

 her consent, for two days ; when the old queen relent- 

 ing gives her fiat in a fuller and stronger tone. That 

 should the former presume to imitate the tones of the 

 sovereign, this being the signal of revolt, she would be 

 executed on the spot, with all whom she had seduced 

 from their loyalty^. — But it is time to leave fables: 

 I shall therefore next relate to you what really takes 

 place. You have heard how the bees detain their 

 young queens till they are fit to lead a swarm. — I then 

 mentioned the attitude and sound that strike the for- 

 mer motionless''. When she emits this authoritative 

 sound, reclining her thorax against a comb, the queen 

 stands with her wings crossed upon her back, which, 

 without being uncrossed or further expanded, are kept 

 in constant vibration. The tone thus produced is a 

 very distinct kind of clicking, composed of many notes 

 in the same key, which follow each other rapidly. This 

 sound the queens emit before they are permitted to 

 leave their cells ; but it does not then seem to affect 

 the bees. But when once they are liberated from con- 

 finement and assume the above attitude, its effects upon 

 them are very remarkable. As soon as the sound was 

 heard, Huber tells us, bees that had been employed in 

 plucking, biting, and chasing a queen about, hung 

 down their heads and remained altogether motionless j 



" Roamn. v. 6! 5. Butler's Female 3Ionarchij, c. v. § 4. 

 •' See above, p. 1 19 — 



