THE FARMER'S 



by Apiarians. Mr. Huish is decidedly of opinion, 

 that the queen knows not coition, that she is a virgin 

 mother, and that her eggs are impregnated by the 

 drones, after she has deposited them in the cells ; but 

 a whole host of Apiarians are opposed to the senti- 

 ment, yet all agree in this, that the act of coition has 

 never been discovered. The queen is not only the 

 mother and queen of the hive, but the soul of the 

 hive. All is order whilst she lives, arid all is confu- 

 sion the moment she is dead ; hence the reason why 

 she seldom if ever ventures abroad, and why the 

 whole swarm s*o cheerfully and affectionately support 

 and protect her in the hive. Thus nature provides 

 for their peace and order, by giving the queen Bee 

 short and feeble wings for flight, and short and feeble 

 teeth for labour, fitted only for her own feeding, to- 

 gether with a feeble sting, and a mild temper to 

 shield her from exposure to violence and death. 

 The queen not only governs the swarm by their affec- 

 tions, but she leads them wherever she goes, and is 

 their rallying point, both in and out of the hive, 

 whenever she ventures abroad. All this, together 

 with every movement and operation of the Bee, is 

 the result, not of their particular municipal laws, but 

 of that general law of instinct, derived from God 

 their Creator, at their first formation. Much visiona- 

 ry speculation has infested the brains of Apiarians 

 upon the fecundation of the queen Bee, but all are 

 agreed in this, that the cell in which the queen Bee 

 is born, is perpendicular and circular, whereas all 

 the others are hexagonal and horizontal, and the 

 queen mother knows what will be the offspring of the 

 egg that she lays in the circular cells. The cell of 

 the drone is different still, being neither circular, nor 

 hexagonal, but irregular; this has again led Apia- 

 rians into much hypothetical disquisition, without de- 

 monstration, and all fraught with more theory thar 

 profit. 



