HYMENOPTERA. 343 



If the loss of the mother bee takes place at a period at which 

 there still exist in the hive some larvae of working bees of less than 

 three days old, the nurse (as we have already said) adopt some ot 

 these larvae, and make them into queens by means of the physical 

 education and special nourishment which they give them. In this 

 case, then, the evil can be repaired ; the workers themselves find a 

 remedy without assistance. But if the hive possesses a degenerate 

 queen, which only lays male eggs, the intervention of man is necessary 

 to save it, by the substitution of a properly impregnated queen. If, 

 indeed, a strange queen wished to penetrate alone into a hive already 

 containing a sovereign, she would infallibly be stopped at the door 

 and stifled by the sentinels who guard the entrance to the hive. 

 These would surround her immediately, and keep her captive under 

 them till she perished, either through suffocation or hunger. They 

 do not employ their stings against an intruding queen, except in the 

 case of an attempt being made to deliver her from their clutches : 

 they get rid of her by stifling. 



When it is wished to introduce into a hive a stranger queen, after 

 having removed the original sovereign, many precautions must be 

 used before putting her into the common home. It is only after 

 some time that the bees become aware of the disappearance of their 

 queen ; but they then manifest great emotion. They run hither and 

 thither, as though mad, leaving off their work, and making a peculiar 

 buzzing sound. If you return to them their original sovereign, they 

 recognise her, and calm is immediately restored ; but the substitution 

 of a new queen for the original sovereign does not produce the same 

 effect in every case. If you introduce the new queen half a day only 

 after the removal of the old queen, she is very badly received, and is 

 at once surrounded, the workers trying to suffocate her. Generally 

 she sinks under this bad treatment. But if you allow a longer interval 

 to elapse before you introduce the substitute, the bees, rendered 

 more tractable by the delay, are better disposed towards her. If you 

 allow an interregnum of twenty-four hours, the stranger queen is 

 always received with the honours due to her rank, a general buzzing 

 announcing the event to the whole population of the hive. They 

 assign to their adopted queen a train of picked attendants; they 

 draw up in line on her passing by ; they caress her with the tips of 

 their antennas ; they offer her honey. A little joyful fluttering of the 

 escort announces that every one in the little republic is satisfied. 

 The labours out of doors and indoors then begin anew with more 

 activity than ever. 



It is principally during stormy days, when the heat and the 



