HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 17 



from the cell, rush to those of its sisters, and tear 

 to pieces even the imperfect larvae." 



A curious circumstance occurs with respect 

 to the hatching of the queen bee. When the 

 pupa or nymph is about to change into the 

 perfect insect, the bees render the cover of the 

 cell thinner, by gnawing away part of the wax ; 

 and with so much nicety do they perform this 

 operation that the cover at last becomes pellucid, 

 owing to its extreme thinness, thus facilitating 

 the exit of the fly. After the transformation is 

 complete, the young queens would, in common 

 course, immediately emerge from their cells, as 

 workers and drones do ; but the former always 

 keep the royal infants prisoners for some days, 

 supplying them in the mean time with honey for 

 food, a small hole being made in the door of each 

 cell, through which the confined bee extends its 

 proboscis to receive it. The royal prisoners con- 

 tinually utter a kind of song, the modulations of 

 which are said to vary. Vide Chapter xv. Huber 

 heard a young princess in her cell emit a very 

 distinct sound or clacking, consisting of several 

 monotonous notes in rapid succession, and he sup- 

 poses the working bees to ascertain, by the loud- 

 ness of these tones, the ripeness of their queens. 

 Huber has suggested that the cause of this tem- 

 porary imprisonment may possibly be to enable 



