10 LOCUSTS AND WILD HONEY 



is in the cell and in the food; the cell being much 

 larger, and the food a peculiar stimulating kind of 

 jelly. In certain contingencies, such as the loss of 

 the queen with no eggs in the royal cells, the work- 

 ers take the larva of an ordinary bee, enlarge the 

 cell by taking in the two adjoining ones, and nurse 

 it and stuff it and coddle it, till at the end of six- 

 teen days it comes out a queen. But ordinarily, in 

 the natural course of events, the young queen is 

 kept a prisoner in her cell till the old queen has left 

 with the swarm. Later on, the unhatched queen is 

 guarded against the reigning queen, who only wants 

 an opportunity to murder every royal scion in the 

 hive. At this time both the queens, the one a pris- 

 oner and the other at large, pipe defiance at each 

 other, a shrill, fine, trumpet-like note that any ear 

 will at once recognize. This challenge, not being 

 allowed to be accepted by either party, is followed, 

 in a day or two, by the abdication of the reigning 

 queen; she leads out the swarm, and her successor 

 is liberated by her keepers, who, in her time, abdi- 

 cates in favor of the next younger. When the bees 

 have decided that no more swarms can issue, the 

 reigning queen is allowed to use her stiletto upon 

 her unhatched sisters. Cases have been known 

 where two queens issued at the same time, Avhen a 

 mortal combat ensued, encouraged by the workers, 

 who formed a ring about them, but showed no pref- 

 erence, and recognized the victor as the lawful sov- 

 ereign. For these and many other curious facts we 

 are indebted to the blind Huber. 



