BEES AND WASPS — SWAKMING. 163 



in course of development, and matters are so arranged by 

 the foresight of the bees, that one or more young queens 

 are ready to emerge at a time when otherwise the hive 

 would be left queenless. But the young queen or queens, 

 although perfectly formed, must not escape from their 

 royal prison-houses until the swarm has fairly taken place ; 

 the worker bees will even strengthen the coverings of 

 these prison-houses if, owing to bad weather or other 

 causes, swarming is delayed. The prisoner queens, 

 which are fed through a small hole in the roof of their 

 cells, now continually give vent to a plaintive cry, called 

 by the bee-keepers ' piping,' and this is answered by the 

 mother queen. The tones of the piping vary. The 

 reason why the young queens are kept such close 

 prisoners till after the departure of the mother queen 

 with her swarm, is simply that the mother queen would 

 destroy all the younger ones, could she get the chance, 

 by stinging them. The workers, therefore, never allow 

 the old queen to approach the prisons of the younger 

 ones. They establish a guard all round these prisons or 

 royal cells, and beat off the old queen whenever she 

 endeavours to approach. But if the swarming season is 

 over, or anything should prevent a further swarm from 

 being sent out, the worker bees offer no further resistance 

 to the jealousy of the mother queen, but allow her in cold 

 blood to sting to death all the young queens in their nursery 

 prisons. As soon as the old queen leaves with a swarm, 

 the young queens are liberated in succession, but at 

 intervals of a few days ; for if they were all liberated at 

 once they would fall upon and destroy one another. Each 

 young queen as it is liberated goes off with another 

 swarm, and those which remain unliberated are as carefully 

 guarded from the liberated sister queen as they were 

 previously guarded from the mother queen. When the 

 season is too late for swarming the remaining young 

 queens are liberated simultaneously, and are then allowed 

 to fight to the death, the survivor being received as 

 sovereign. 



The bees, far from seeking to prevent these battles, appear 

 to excite the combatants against each other, surrounding and 



v 2 



