THE HONEY-BEE. 53 



Strikes the Bees motionless/'* This discovery of 

 Huber has been brought forward on his authority by 

 Naturalists, as a conclusive evidence of line existence 

 of the auditory faculty in Bees. And so it would 

 be, if Huber was not mistaken in his supposed dis- 

 covery. A voice of sovereignty producing such 

 powerful and instantaneous effects on her subjects, 

 is so remarkable a property of her Bee-majesty, that 

 it would be desirable to have its existence proved 

 beyond doubt by succeeding experiments. With 

 much confidence in the accuracy of this distinguished 

 Naturalist's observations, we entertain some hesita- 

 tion on the subject of this magical sound. We have 

 seen the queen in all the circumstances, and in all 

 the positions observable within a hive ; (with one 

 exception, viz. combating a rival queen,) we have 

 observed her very frequently in the particular situa- 

 tion described by Huber when he first heard the 

 commanding voice, endeavouring to tear open the 

 cell of a rival, and angrily repulsed by the workers ; 

 then standing at a little distance on the surface of 

 the comb, with her wings crossed over her back, 

 and in motion, though not fully unfolded, and emit- 

 ting the dear distinct sound which is heard in a hive 

 for a day or two before the departure of a second 

 swarm ; and certainly we never witnessed any such 

 effect produced on the Bees as Huber speaks of, and 

 which, had it taken place, could not possibly have 

 escaped our observation. On the contrary, the Bees 

 Eeemed not in the slightest degree affected by her 

 * Huber, 162. 



