THE BEE FAMILY 



prerogatives she exercises, but rather because 

 she is the sole reproducer of workers, and her 

 death usually means the extinction of the 

 swarm unless the workers have means of 

 replacing her. Their solicitude for her is 

 founded upon the law of self-preservation, 

 and not because she rules them as a monarch. 



When hatched from a queen cell she is a 

 virgin, and of no use in the matter of repro- 

 duction until she takes her matrimonial flight, 

 which usually occurs a few days after she is 

 born, and mates with a drone. Many times 

 a virgin is lost to a colony while seeking to be 

 impregnated, as a bird may catch her in flight, 

 and during her absence the bees are greatly 

 agitated until she returns with evidences of 

 having accomplished her purpose. The mat- 

 ing occurs outside of the hive while the queen 

 is on the wing, and may take place within a 

 hundred yards of the hive or a mile or so away, 

 the distance depending upon the presence of 

 drones in the vicinity. 



If it were possible to mate our queens in the 

 41 



