230 THE MARVEL OF INSECT LIFE. 



but little practical acquaintance with bees cannot fail to 

 understand the sharp menacing hum of anger, and to 

 take themselves away as fast as possible. 



Anatomists can appreciate this point in the bee's his- 

 tory more than those who have never dissected an insect, 

 because they are completely puzzled as to the production 

 of results with such apparently inadequate means. The 

 wings of insects are not limbs, nor are they moved 

 directly by muscles and tendons, as are the legs. They 

 are attached directly to the thorax, the interior of which 

 is furnished with a multitude of simple muscular fibres, 

 crossing and recrossing much like the warp and woof of 

 a woven fabric. 



Physicists see also that the hum of the bee is con- 

 nected with the theory of acoustics, and know that by 

 means of the instrument called the Siren the number of 

 vibrations per second of a bee's wing can be counted with 

 absolute certainty 



Besides the sound produced by the wings, there is the 

 remarkable language employed by the queens shortly 

 before their emerging from the cell. I have already 

 mentioned that when a hive becomes overstocked the 

 queen goes off and takes with her a swarm of her sub- 

 jects, a new queen being ready in a cell to take her 

 place. These cells are big, shapeless lumps of wax, 

 always stuck on the edge of the comb, lest they should 

 interfere with the symmetry of the ordinary cells. 



When the young queen is nearly ready to take her 

 place as head of a community, she begins to utter a 



