GOVERNMENT OF WASPS AND BEES. 319 



attendants, in a box. He took this into his parlour, 

 and opened it, when she flew immediately to the 

 window with her attendants. He then cut off one 

 of her wings, and returned her to the box, where he 

 confined her for above an hour. The swarm, in less 

 than a quarter of an hour, ascertained their loss, 

 when, instead of clustering as before in a conglo- 

 merated mass, they spread themselves about, became 

 agitated and restless, and uttered a doleful sound. 

 About an hour after, they all took flight and settled 

 on the hedge where they had first alighted on 

 migrating from the parent hive ; but instead of 

 hanging together, as is usual with swarms accom- 

 panied by a queen, they scattered themselves along 1 

 the hedge, in small parties of forty or fifty. In these 

 circumstances the Doctor presented them with their 

 queen, around whom they immediately congregated, 

 uttering a joyful hum, and uniting in a suspended 

 cluster. He hived them again at night, and on the 

 following morning repeated his experiment, to ascer- 

 tain whether they would rise, for the queen, in con- 

 sequence of the loss of her wing, could not fly to 

 accompany them ; but they continued with her for 

 several hours, appearing to be willing to die rather 

 than desert her. Upon removing her a second time, 

 they again spread about as if in search of her; and 

 when she was restored to them repeatedly, at dif- 

 ferent parts of their circle, " these poor loyal and 

 loving creatures (in the words of the Doctor) always 

 marched and counter-marched every way the queen 

 was laid." He continued the same experiments for 

 five days and five nights, during which period they 

 had not tasted food, and at length the whole perished, 

 the queen surviving the others only a short period. 

 He infers that the queen was no less attached to the 

 bees than they to her, for she uniformly refused to 



