THE HONEY-BEE. 89 



she was their Queen. " What was my astonishment," 

 he proceeds, " when, wishing to introduce her among 

 the combs, I saw that the bees remaining had already 

 planned and almost finished three royal cells ! Struck 

 with the activity and sagacity of these creatures, to 

 save themselves from impending distruction, I was 

 filled with admiration, and adored the infinite goodness 

 of God in the care taken to perpetuate his works. 

 Having carried away two of the cells to ascertain 

 whether the bees would continue their operations, 

 I beheld, next morning, with the utmost surprise, 

 that they had removed all the food from around the 

 third worm left behind, on purpose to prevent its 

 conversion to a Queen." The fact of this po\ver 

 possessed by the bees is so extraordinary, that its 

 reality was at first called in question by several emi- 

 nent naturalists, among others, by the justly cele- 

 brated Bonnet. This naturalist was at last, however, 

 convinced of its reality by experiments instituted by 

 himself, and, satisfied that all the working-bees are 

 females of imperfect organisation, expressed his opi- 

 nion that the evolution of the germ is effected by 

 the action of the prolific matter as a stimulant, as 

 a substantial nutriment suitable for that purpose ; and 

 he supposes that a certain quality of food, administered 

 more copiously than in ordinary cases, may unfold 

 those organs in the larvae of bees that never would 



o 



have appeared without it. He conceived, also, that 

 a habitation, like a Queen-cell, considerably more 

 spacious, and differently placed, is absolutely neces- 

 sary to the complete developement, of organs, which 



