1 20 Trails to Woods and Waters 



created new royal families, but we have never 

 actually created new queens, as the bees have 

 done. 



Several queen cells containing eggs, that 

 have previously been laid by the absconding 

 queen, are now sealed up and allowed to 

 hatch, and the first new queen hatched crawls 

 forth to receive the homage of her subjects 

 which is hers in full measure once she has 

 mated. But she at once takes a precaution 

 against usurpers that our human royalty have 

 often employed, for she kills all the unhatched 

 or partially developed queens and thus in- 

 sures her sovereignty. 



This act done, her admiring subjects crowd 

 around her and do homage, feeding her pre- 

 pared food from their small tongues, and 

 looking for all the world, as they cluster 

 about her, like a large daisy, with its golden 

 queenly centre. 



It is a time of perturbation when the new 

 queen flies forth to mate. She is at once 

 missed and clouds of bees pour forth from the 

 hive in search of her. This confusion often 



