Si BEES. 



The ordinary tenor of the bees' unwritten constitution 

 regarding- the succession to the throne having- been thus 

 indicated, there remains to ask what do the}"" do in case of 

 accident, supposing their queen to be lost or dead, and no 

 other young* queens forthcoming from the royal cells ? This 

 is perhaps, even among so many interesting phenomena as 

 bees afford, the most interesting of all. And first, let us 

 ask how they know when a queen is lost ? Of course if she is 

 lying dead before them, they can at once perceive the extent 

 of their calamity, and very touching is the mournful respect 

 they pay to her deceased body. But how is it that in a 

 hive, say of twenty thousand bees, the whole are in a state 

 'of profound agitation very soon after her abstraction? It has 

 been said, that if they do not touch her with their antennae 

 -occasionally they at once conclude she is lost. But sureh'' 

 it is not meant to say that twenty thousand bees can be for 

 ever touching the queen in endless and due rotation in order 

 to be satisfied of her presence? Clearly the bees have a 

 language. Look at the many incidents already narrated, for 

 which some kind of language appears indispensable, and 

 without which we cannot imagine their truth. Indeed, there 

 is not one of them in which the supposition of a power of 

 rapid communication from one to many does not seem in- 

 volved. Ruber's experiment showed, we think, that the 

 bees have a language, and that the antennae form the organ. 

 He divided the bees of a hive into two portions — so that no 

 physical communication could take place. The bees, where 

 the queen was not, soon grew agitated, and after waiting a 

 due time, three or four hours usually, evidently said to them- 

 selves, ^' Our queen is lost; let us make another," and set to 

 work accordingly. How, we shall show presently. Huber 

 then repeated the experiment, but opened a communication 

 through a grating wide enough for the antennae to pass 

 through. All remained perfectly quiet. Every bee's loyal 

 heart remained placid and content. Now, how could this 

 happen except in one or other of these three modes ? The 

 queen must have come to the grating, and remained there 

 while every one of the bees in the sundered portion came and 

 touched her Avith his antennie ; or the bees knew positively 

 from each other there was nothing the matter; or lastly, 

 and this is the most rational supposition, they took it for 



