HYMENOPTEEA. 345 



they give them. In this case, then, the evil can be repaired ; the 

 workers themselves find a remedy without assistance. But if the 

 hive possesses a degenerate queen, which only lays male eggs, 

 the intervention of man is necessary to save it, by the substitution 

 of a properly impregnated queen. If, indeed, a strange queen 

 wished to penetrate alone into a hive already containing a sovereign, 

 she would infallibly be stopped at the door and stifled by the sen- 

 tinels who guard the entrance to the hive. These would surround 

 her immediately, and keep her captive under them till she perished, 

 either through suffocation or hunger. They do not employ their 

 stings against an intruding queen, except in the case of an attempt 

 being made to deliver her from their clutches. They get rid of 

 her by stifling. 



"When it is wished to introduce into a hive a stranger queen, 

 after having removed the original sovereign, many precautions 

 must be used before putting her into the common home. It is only 

 after some time that the bees become aware of the disappearance 

 of their queen : but they then manifest great emotion. They run 

 hither and thither, as though mad, leaving off their work, and 

 making a peculiar buzzing sound. If you return to them their 

 original sovereign, they recognise her, and calm is immediately 

 restored ; but the substitution of a new queen for the original 

 sovereign does not produce the same effect in every case. If 

 you introduce the new queen half a day only after the removal 

 of the old queen, she is very badly received, and is at once sur- 

 rounded, the workers trying to suffocate her. Generally she sinks 

 under this bad treatment. But if you allow a longer interval to 

 elapse before you introduce the substitute, the bees, rendered more 

 tractable by the delay, are better disposed towards her. If you 

 allow an interregnum of twenty-four hours, the stranger queen is 

 always received with the honours due to her rank, a general 

 buzzing announcing the event to the whole population of the hive. 

 They assign to their adopted queen a train of picked attendants. 

 They draw up in line on her passing by ; they caress her with the 

 tips of their antennae ; they offer her honey. A little joyful flut- 

 tering of the escort announces that every one in the little republic 

 is satisfied. The labours out of doors and indoors then begin anew 

 with more activity than ever. 



