242 THE HUMBLE-BEE 



commencing to do so within an hour or two after 

 the queen was removed or began to sicken. They 

 fight to become mothers. On July i, 1911, I re- 

 moved the queen from a strong lapidarius colony. 

 Two days later I killed and dissected several of the 

 most pugnacious of the workers ; they all contained 

 eggs. This colony settled down somewhat after a 

 day or two, several workers having gained the 

 coveted position, but desultory quarrelling con- 

 tinued, and that it was sometimes carried to the 

 death was shown by the presence of fourteen dead 

 workers (out of a total of about sixty) in the nest 

 on July 15. 



To return to the nest in my study. On July 22 

 at 6.30 a.m. the queen was seen lying dead in the 

 vestibule, no doubt dragged there by the workers. 

 Later in the morning I examined all my outdoor 

 lapidarius nests, and found that one that was 

 reigned over by a satellite, the original queen hav- 

 ing died, was the least prosperous, this having 

 been the nest that I had assisted least during the 

 prevailing bad weather. I therefore brought this 

 nest indoors and united it to the queenless one. 

 The queen flew out of the cavity, but I gently beat 

 her down with a piece of card into the grass and 

 popped a jar over her ; I brought her indoors and 

 let her fly to the window, where I clipped her 

 wings without exciting her, and then put her into 

 the nest. She was pleased to find herself in so 

 large and prosperous a colony, and after running 

 over the brood and hugging it she went to a honey- 



