THE QUEEN-BEE. 19 



has a peculiar odour readily distinguishable, and so 

 powerfully attractive to her people, that they will 

 alight on the ringer of any one who has been 

 handling their queen. 



Several characteristics of a negative kind may also 

 be noted. Her proboscis is not fitted for extracting the 

 nectar of flowers, and she can only lap food, or take 

 it from the tongues of her attendants. She, more- 

 over, has no expansion of the gullet for a honey-bag, 

 since she never requires to collect and carry home 

 the sweet liquid. She possesses no cysts for the 

 elaboration of wax, as she takes no part in con- 

 tributing to the materials of her dwelling. The last 



FIG. 6. THE QUEEN OF THE HIVE. 



pair of legs are convex on the outside, containing no 

 pocket for carrying pollen or propolis ; and the other 

 legs are without the brushes of the workers, which 

 enable them to clear their bodies of the powdery 

 discharge of the anthers of flowers, for she never 

 visits plants. All her wants in the way of nourish- 

 ment are supplied by her subjects. 



She mates once in her life, when she is a few days 

 old, with a single drone, and on the wing. That is 

 the only occasion of her leaving the hive, except 

 when she leads forth a swarm. Her grand function 



C 2 



