384 NOISES OF INSECTS. 



mission to lead the intended colony ; that this is con- 

 tinued, before she can obtain her consent, for two days ; 

 when the old queen relenting gives her fiat in a fuller 

 and stronger tone. That should the former presume to ( 

 imitate the tones of tlie sovereign, this being the signal 

 of revolt, she would be executed on the spot, with all 

 whom she had seduced from their loyalty a . But it is 

 time to leave fables : I shall therefore next relate to you 

 what really takes place. You have heard how the bees 

 detain their young queens till they are fit to lead a swarm. 

 I then mentioned the attitude and sound that strike 

 the former motionless b . When she emits this authori- 

 tative sound, reclining her thorax against a comb, the 

 queen stands with her wings crossed upon her back, 

 which, without being uncrossed or further expanded, are 

 kept in constant vibration. The tone thus produced is 

 a very distinct kind of clicking, composed of many notes 

 in the same key, which follow each other rapidly. This 

 sound the queens emit before they are permitted to leave 

 their cells ; but it does not then seem to affect the bees. 

 But when once they are liberated from confinement and 

 assume the above attitude, its effects upon them are very 

 remarkable. As soon as the sound was heard, Huber 

 tells us, bees that had been employed in plucking, biting, 

 and chasing a queen about, hung down their heads and 

 remained altogether motionless; and whenever she had re- 

 course to this attitude and sound, they opera ted upon them 

 in the same manner. The writer just mentioned observed 

 differences both with regard to the succession and in- 

 tensity of the notes and tones of this royal song ; and, as 



a Reaum. v. 615. Butler's Female Monarchy , c. v. 4. 

 b See above, p. 147- 



