1 8 THE HONE Y-BEE. 



circumstance of the continued existence of the race 

 depending upon her, that she is the object of such 

 intense affection, attention, and devotion. 



This is corroborated by the circumstance that it is 

 only after she has been fertilised, and begins to lay, 

 that she is much honoured. As princess merely, not 

 the slightest respect is paid to her. She is not even 

 fed by the workers, but has to help herself, and in 

 doing so must scramble over the busy crowd in her 

 way, not one of whom will trouble to move out of 

 her path. 



Two or three prominent characteristics serve readily 

 to distinguish the queen from the rest of the bees. 

 In the first place, her body is much longer and more 

 tapering towards its lower extremity. Her wings are 

 shorter in comparison with her length. The upper 

 surface of her body is of a darker and more glossy 

 hue than that of her subjects. Her movements are 

 slower and less anxious in appearance than those 

 of the workers, except at swarming time, when ex- 

 citement quickens her steps, and gives' her an air 

 of purposeless solicitude ; though, in reality, her 

 anxiety is caused by the desire to slay a royal and 

 rival daughter, whose co-existence in the hive she 

 cannot tolerate. 



A closer examination reveals several other points 

 of difference. In our English species, of which we 

 are now especially speaking, her colour is yellowish 

 underneath ; her head is rounder, her legs are longer, 

 her tongue is more slender and not so extensile as 

 that of the other bees ; and her sting is curved instead 

 of being straight, like the formidable weapon of the 

 workers. It is asserted by some writers that she 



