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.59 



with tlieir own. When the operation of 

 laying the eggs is completed, and it gene- 

 rally occupies some time, the queen retires 

 to that part of the hive which is most filled 

 with bees. During her progress the sur- 

 face of the comb is very little intruded upon, 

 and the space seems purposely to be left 

 unoccupied. Some few of the cells, how- 

 ever, in a brood comb, are passed over by 

 the queen, and afterwards filled either with 

 honey or farina. These serve as deposits of 

 food, from which the neighbouring brood may 

 be fed more readily, as such cells are never 

 covered with wax. Jesse. 



" It has been already stated, that the 

 queen, for nearly a year, lays no eggs that 

 are destined to produce queens ; it therefore 

 follows, that if any evil befall her, the hive 

 is left without a queen : it sometimes hap- 

 pens that she dies, or is taken away by the 

 owner of the hive, to observe the result. 

 For twelve hours little notice is taken of 

 the loss ; it appears not to be known, and 

 the workers labour as usual : after that 

 period, a hubbub commences ; work is aban- 

 doned ; the whole hive is in an uproar ; 

 every bee traverses the hive at random, and 

 with the most evident want of purpose. 

 This state of anarchy sometimes continues 

 for two days ; then the bees gather in clus- 

 ters of a dozen or so, as though engaged in 

 consultation, the result of which seems to be 

 a fixed resolution to supply the loss. A few 

 of the workers repair to the cells in wliich 

 are deposited the eggs of workers ; three of 

 these cells are quickly broken into one, the 

 edges polished, and the sides smoothed and 

 rounded, a single egg being allowed to re- 

 main at the bottom. When this egg hatches, 

 the maggot is fed with a peculiarly nutritive 

 food, called royal bee-bread, which is never 

 given to any maggots but such as are to pro- 

 duce queens ; work is now resumed over the 

 whole hive, and goes on as briskly as before: 

 on the sixteenth day the egg produces a 

 queen, whose appearance is hailed with every 

 demonstration of delight, and who at once 

 assumes sovereignty over the hive. When, 

 under ordinary circumstances, a young queen 

 emerges from the chrysalis, the old one 

 frequently quits the hive, heading the first 

 swarm for the season, and flying to some 

 neighbouring resting-place, is observed by 

 the owner, captured, placed under a new 

 hive, and a new colony is immediately com- 

 menced. Before a swarm leaves the hive, 

 sure indications are given of the intended 

 movement ; the workers leave their various 

 occupations and collect in groups, especially 

 near the door of the hive, as though in con- 

 sultation on the important event about to 

 take place. 



" As the summer advances many queens 

 are hatched, but the workers do not allow 

 them instant liberty, as severe battles would 

 take place between them and the reigning 

 queen, in wliich one would be killed : the 

 workers, therefore, make a small hole in the 

 ceiling of the royal cell, through which the 

 captive queen thrusts her tongue, and re- 

 ceives food from the workers. In this state 

 of confinement the young queen utters a low 

 querulous note, which has been compared to 



singing. When the reigning, or a newly- 

 created queen, finds one of these captives, 

 she uses every effort to tear open the cell 

 and destroy her rival : to prevent this, the 

 workers often interpose, pulling her away 

 by the legs and wings ; to this she submits 

 for a short time, when, uttering a peculiar 

 cry, called her voice of sovereignty, she com- 

 mands instant attention and obedience, and 

 is at once freed from her assailants. The 

 cocoons spun by the maggots of the workers 

 and drones completely envelope the chrysa- 

 lis; but that spun by the maggot of the queen 

 appears imperfect, covering only the upper 

 end of the chrysalis : it has been supposed 

 that they are thus designedly exposed to the 

 attacks of other queens, and tlieir destruc- 

 tion, before emerging, facilitated. When 

 the chrysalis of the queen is about to change 

 to a perfect insect, the bees make the cover 

 of the cell thinner by gnawing away part of 

 the wax ; and with so much nicety do they 

 perform this operation, that the cover at last 

 becomes pellucid, owing to its extreme thin- 

 ness. 



" The combs of a bee-hive comprise a con- 

 geries of hexagonal cells, built by the bees 

 as a receptacle for honey, and for the nur- 

 series of their young : each comb in a hive 

 is composed of two ranges of cells, backed 

 against each other : the base or partition 

 between tliis double row of cells is so dis- 

 posed as to form a pyramidal cavity at the 

 bottom of each. There is a continued series 

 of these double combs in every well-filled 

 hive ; the spaces between them being just 

 sufficient to allow two bees, one on the sur- 

 face of each comb, to pass without touching. 

 Each cell is hexagonal, the six sides being 

 perfectly equal. This figure ensures the 

 greatest possible economy of material and 

 space ; the outer edges of the cells are slight- 

 ly thickened, in order to gain strength ; the 

 same part is also covered with a beautiful 

 varnish, which is supposed to give additional 

 strength. The construction of several combs 

 is generally going on at the same time : no 

 sooner is the foundation of one laid, with a 

 few rows of cells attached to it, than a se- 

 cond and a third are founded on each side, 

 parallel to the first, and so on till the hive 

 is filled, the combs which were commenced 

 first being always in the most advanced 

 state, and therefore the first completed. 



" The design of every comb is sketched 

 out, and the first rudiments laid by a single 

 bee : this foundress-bee forms a block out of 

 a rough mass of wax, drawn partly from its 

 own resources, but principally from those of 

 other bees, which furnish wax from small 

 sacs, in which it has been secreted, that are 

 situated between the segments of the body 

 of the bee ; taking out the plates of wax 

 with their hind feet, and carrying it with 

 their fore feet to their mouths, where it is 

 moistened, masticated, and rendered soft 

 and ductile. The foundress-bee determines 

 the relative position of the combs, and their 

 distance from each other, the foundations 

 which she marks serving as guides to the 

 ulterior labours of the wax-working bees, 

 and of those which build the cells, giving 

 them the advantage of the margins and 



