58 NATURE STUDY 



days. They have been abundantly fed on royal jelly, 

 and are not allowed to escape until the sound of their 

 voice {" piping ") makes it certain that they are mature. 

 Meanwhile, they are fed through a hole. Then the old 

 queen and some of the workers, gorged with honey, leave 

 the hive for a new home. This is called " swarming." If 

 there is more than a single queen, they fight for suprem- 

 acy, using their stings. The victor takes her nuptial 

 flight, and returns to lay eggs to replenish the hive, 

 often at the rate of three thousand a day. Their sense 

 of sight and of smell is very acute. They prefer blue to 

 other colors. They appear not to hear sounds other than 

 their own. Wonderful as they are, however, Lubbock 

 says that bees are less wise than ants. 



The life history of wasps, hornets, and ants is similar 

 to that of the bees. Space cannot be given to them here, 

 but no one should attempt to teach them without 

 thorough preparation. 



Flies : 



The house fly has but one pair of wings, although close 

 examination shows a small pair of winglets that at first 

 sight appear to be sejDarate, although 

 they really belong to the wings proper. 

 These wings vibrate very rapidly, hun- 

 dreds of times a second, making in the 

 air the figure 8. With them move also 

 the balancers, short-knobbed threads, 

 occupying the place of a second pair 

 of wings, and supposed to be modifi- 

 cations of them. They are probably 

 organs of hearing or breathing. They may be seen more 

 easily by examining the fly from the under side. 



