150 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



endued with new life : their instincts revive ; they im- 

 mediately set about building royal cells ; they feed with 

 their appropriate food the grubs they have selected, and 

 every thing proceeds in the usual routine. Virgil has 

 described this attachment of the bees to their sovereign 

 with great truth and spirit in the following lines : 



" Lydian nor Mede so much his king adores, 

 Nor those on Nilus* or Mydaspes' shores : 

 The state united stands while he remains, 

 But should he fall, what dire confusion reigns ! 

 Their waxen combs and honey, late their joy, 

 With grief and rage distracted, they destroy : 

 He guards the works, with awe they him surround, 

 And crowd about him with triumphant sound ; 

 Him frequent on their duteous shoulders bear, 

 Bleed, fall, and die for him in glorious war." 



M. Huber thus describes the consequences of the loss 

 of a queen. When the queen is removed from a hive, 

 at first the bees seem not to perceive it, their order and 

 tranquillity not being disturbed, and their labours pro- 

 ceeding as usual. About an hour after her departure, 

 inquietude begins to manifest itself amongst them ; the 

 care of the young brood no longer engages their atten- 

 tion, and they run here and there, as if in greai agita- 

 tion. This agitation, however, is at first confined to a 

 small portion of the community. The bees that are first 

 sensible of their loss meet with others, they mutually 

 cross their antennae, and strike them lightly. By this 

 action they appear to communicate the sad intelligence 

 to those who receive the blow, who in their turn impart 

 it in the same way to others. Disorder and confusion 

 increase rapidly, till the whole population is in a tumult. 



