PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 371 



the'r wishes ; yet when they are once acknowledged as governors of the 

 hive, and leaders of the colony, their instinct assumes a new and wonderful 

 direction. From this moment they become the "publica cura" the ohjects 

 of constant and universal attention ; and wherever they go, are greeted by 

 a homage which evinces the entire devotion of their subjects. You seemed 

 amused and interested in no slight degree by what I related in a former 

 letter of the marked respect paid by the ants to their females l ; but this 

 will bear no comparison with that shown by the inhabitants of the hive to 

 their queen. She appears to be the very soul of all their actions, and the 

 centre of their instincts. When they are deprived of her, or of the means 

 of replacing her, they lose all their activity, and pursue no longer their 

 daily labours. In vain the flowers tempt them with their nectar and am- 

 brosial dust: they collect neither ; they elaborate no wax, and build no 

 cells ; they scarcely seem to exist; and, indeed, would soon perish, were 

 not the means of restoring their monarch put within their reach. But, if 

 a small piece of comb, containing the brood-grubs of workers, be given to 

 them, all seem endued with new life: their instincts revive ; they imme- 

 diately set about building royal cells : they feed with their appropriate food 

 the grubs they have selected, and everything proceeds in the usual routine. 

 Virgil has described this attachment of the bees to their sovereign with 

 great truth and spirit in the following lines : 



Lydhm nor Mede so much his king adores, 

 Nor those on Nilus' or Hydaspes' shores : 

 The state united stands while he remains ; 

 But should he fall, what dire confusion reigns! 

 Their waxen combs and honey, late their joy, 

 With grief and rage distracted, they destroy : 

 He guards the works, with awe they him surround, 

 And crowd about him with triumphant sound; 

 Him frequent on their duteous shoulders bear, 

 Bleed, fall, and die for him in glorious war." 



M. Huber thus describes the consequences of the loss of a queen. When 

 the queen is removed from a hive, at first the bees seem not to perceive it, 

 their order and tranquillity not being disturbed, and their labours proceed- 

 ing as usual. About an hour after her departure, inquietude begins to 

 manifest itself amongst them ; the care of the young brood no longer en- 

 gages their attention, and they run here and there as if in great agitation. 

 This agitation, however, is at first confined to a small portion of the com- 

 munity. The bees that are first sensible of their loss meet with others ; 

 they mutually cross their antennae, and strike them lightly. By this action 

 they appear to communicate the sad intelligence to those who receive the 

 blow, who in their turn, impart it in the same way to others. Disorder 

 and confusion increase rapidly, till the whole population is in a tumult. 

 Then the workers may be seen running over the combs, and against each 

 other, impetuously rushing to the entrance and quitting the hive ; from 

 thence they spread themselves all around ; they re-enter and go out again 

 and again. The hum in the hive becomes very loud, and increases the 

 tumult, which lasts two or three hours, 'rarely four or five: they then 

 return, and resume their wonted care of the young ; and if the hive be 

 visited twenty-four hours after the departure of the queen, it will be seen 



1 See above, p. 320. 



B 13 2 



