164 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 



bringing them back to the charge when they are disposed to 

 recede from each other ; and when either of the queens shows a 

 disposition to approach her antagonist, all the bees forming the 

 cluster instantly give way to allow her full liberty of attack. 

 The first use which the conquering queen makes of her victory 

 is to secure herself against fresh dangers by destroying all her 

 future rivals in the royal cells ; while the other bees, which are 

 spectators of the carnage, share in the spoil, greedily devouring 

 any food which may be found at the bottom of the cells, and 

 even sucking the fluid from the abdomen of the pupse before 

 they toss out the carcasses.^ 



Similarly, when a strange queen is put into a hive 

 already provided with a queen — 



A circle of bees instinctively crowd around the invader, not, 

 however, to attack her — for a worker never assaults a queen — 

 but to respectfully prevent her escape, in order that a combat 

 may take place between her and their reigning monarch. The 

 lawful possessor then advances towards the part of the comb 

 where the invader has established herself, the attendant workers 

 clear a space for the encounter, and, without interfering, wait 

 the result. A fearful encounter then ensues, in which one is 

 stung to death, the survivor mounting the throne. Although 

 the workers of a de facto monarch will not fight for her defence, 

 yet, if they perceive a strange queen attempting to enter the 

 hive, they will surround her, and hold her until she is starved 

 to death ; "but such is their respect for royalty that they never 

 attempt to sting her.^ 



All these facts display a wonderful amount of ap- 

 parently sagacious purpose on the part of the workers, 

 although they may not seem to reflect much credit on the 

 intelligence of the queens. But in this connection we 

 must remember the observation of F. Huber, who saw 

 two queens, which were the only ones left in the hive, 

 engaged in mortal combat; and when an opportunity 

 arose for each to sting the other simultaneously, they 

 simultaneously released each other's grasp, as if in horror 

 of a situation that might have ended in leaving the hive 

 queenless. This, then, is the calamity to avert which all 



» Art. ' Bees,' Encycl. Brit. 



2 dj.^ Kemp, Indications of Instinct, 



I 



