THE PASTORAL BEES 11 



It is worthy of note that the position of the queen 

 cells is always vertical, while that of the drones and 

 workers is horizontal; majesty stands on its head, 

 which fact maj^ be a part of the secret. 



The notion has always very generally prevailed 

 that the queen of the bees is an absolute ruler, and 

 issues her royal orders to willing subjects. Hence 

 Napoleon the First sprinkled the symbolic bees over 

 the imperial mantle that bore the arms of his dynasty ; 

 and in the country of the Pharaohs the bee was used 

 as the emblem of a people sweetly submissive to the 

 orders of its king. But the fact is, a swarm of bees 

 is an absolute democracy, and kings and despots can 

 find no warrant in their example. The power and 

 authority are entirely vested in the great mass, the 

 workers. They furnish all the brains and foresight 

 of the colony, and administer its affairs. Their word 

 is law, and both king and queen must obey. They 

 regulate the swarming, and give the signal for the 

 swarm to issue from the hive ; they select and make 

 ready the tree in the woods and conduct the queen 

 to it. 



The peculiar office and sacredness of the queen 

 consists in the fact that she is the mother of the 

 swarm, and the bees love and cherish her as a mo- 

 ther and not as a sovereign. She is the sole female 

 bee in the hive, and the swarm clings to her because 

 she is their life. Deprived of their queen, and of 

 all brood from which to rear one, the swarm loses 

 all heart and soon dies, though there be an abun- 

 dance of honey in the hive. 



