170 ZOOLOGY. 



side may IK- M-CII working l><-es. which strive,asit w< 

 her in tin- royal cell by >liuttin<_; up all ai-ct-ss to it ; 



, as it were, to retain 

 on the other 



hand may he >rm the oll queen bee approaching to endeavour 

 to destroy her. in which attempt she is obstructed hy hosts of 

 working bees, which endeavour to obstruct her progress, hut 

 make no attack on her. At last, as if in a passion, she quits 

 the hive, and with her the greater part of the \vorkii._ 

 and males over whom she presided. The young bees, too 

 feeble to leave, remain with the young queen bee, which now 

 becomes the sovereign of a new colony, occupying the seat of 

 the original one. The hive which has left with the old queen 

 remain together, and form anew society, which, recommencing 

 again all the labours we have just described, furnishes, after 

 a certain time, a second swarm, whose emigration is deter- 

 mined by the same causes as those which gave rise to the 

 first. A hive gives off several swarms durinir ;i >'-ason, but 

 the last are always feeble. The colony sometimes breaks up 

 on the death of the queen bee, the attacks of enemies, or the 

 weakness of the swarm; but the bees thus dispersed seek 

 shelter in other hives, where they are uniformly destroyed by 

 the proprietors of the hive, for no strange bee is admitted into 

 a hive in which it was not born. Sometimes, also, a whole 

 colony attacks another, and robs it of its stores of provisions. 

 333. This pillaging instinct on the part of bees resembles 

 what we find takes place in some other insects, hut which is 

 manifested in a different manner. Animals of a different 

 species are captured and reduced to slavery. The natural 

 history of ants gives us the example. 



These interesting insects live in colonies, composed of males, 

 females, and labourers. These latter are steriles, or neutrals : 

 they do all the necessary work, and are provided with strong 

 mandibles, a large head, but are without wings. Thus they 

 may be known from the other ants. Each species has its 

 own mode of procedure. Some build their houses in earth; 

 others in wood. The first dig in the soil a number of gal- 

 leries, disposed in floors. The debris rejected forms a hillock, 

 in which the indefatigable ants construct other dwellings, also 

 in floors or stages; but sometimes, with the earth thus thrown 

 out, they construct galleries along branches of trees. The 

 ants which establish their dwellings in trees, attach them- 

 selves to one going into decay, and already attacked by other 

 With their mandibles they vigorously as>ail the 

 timber, forming it into galleries and dwellings, and supporting 



