MANAGING BEES. 41 



grass, the fence, or any place most convenient 

 for her to alight, when her strength fails her. 

 1 once had quite a search for her majesty, 

 without much apparent success. At the same 

 time there were flying about me a dozen or 

 more common workers. At last her royal 

 highness was discovered, concealed from my 

 observation in a fold of my shirt sleeve. I then 

 returned her to her colony, which had already 

 found their way home to the parent stock. 



The Queen may be taken in the hand with- 

 out danger, for she never stings by design, ex- 

 cept when conflicting with another Queen ; 

 and yet she has a stinger at least one third 

 longer, but more feeble than a worker. 



The Queen is known by her peculiar shape, 

 size, and movements. She differs but little in 

 color from a worker, and has the same number 

 of lefrs and winf^s. She is much larger than 

 any of the bees. Her abdomen is very large 

 and perfectly round, and is shaped more like 

 the sugar-loaf, which makes her known to the 

 observer the moment she is seen. Her wings 

 and proboscis are short. Her movements are 



