QUEENS 133 



when she leaves home and shuts herself up in her cave to 

 found a new colony? 



ANT. The greater part of a year, and the large workers 

 can go almost as long say, seven to nine months. 



FLORENCE. That's nothing to brag about. "Popular 

 Science" says Anna Garbero lived 32 months and 11 days 

 without taking food or drink of any kind. 



DOROTHY. I saw one of your wingless queens at work 

 today. She was busy on the second relay carrying out 

 chaff. I could see the scars where the wings had grown. 

 I have never seen a finer looking ant nor one of yours 

 with sharper teeth. 



CECIL. I've seen our winged queens at work, but not 

 the wingless ones. 



FLORENCE. I think your queens are very beautiful, 

 with their gauzy wings one-half longer than their slender, 

 shapely bodies. I saw one at work. She moved an earth 

 pellet from one side of the yard to the other, and then 

 carried some seeds into the house. 



ANT. She was setting a good example. 



FLORENCE. A light breeze caught her wings several 

 times and tipped her over. I picked her up, examined 

 her, and then let her fall, but she couldn't fly. 



DOROTHY. You said queens differ in size. 



ANT. Yes. Some queens are larger than others, even 

 in the same colony. An ant colony is made up of kings, 

 queens and workers. A few odd kinds seem to be combi- 

 nations and parts of these. Of course, ants have their 

 dwarfs and giants, the same as man has. 



DOROTHY. I saw a queen carry out several loads of 

 dirt today after all other ants had quit on account of the 

 sun. It was eleven o'clock when she stopped. The work- 

 ers quit at nine. 



