546 ARTIFICIAL PRODUCTION OF QUEENS. 



nourished, until the time when they are about to pass into 

 the pupa state. The mouth of the cell is then sealed by a 

 waxen cover ; and the larva spins a delicate silken cocoon, 

 within which it undergoes its metamorphosis. In the 

 chrysalis state it remains quite inactive for some days ; and 

 during the latter part of this period, when it is rapidly ap- 

 proaching the condition of the perfect Insect, its development 

 is aided by the heat supplied by the "nurse-bees," whose 

 remarkable instinct has been already described ( 411). 



716. One of the most curious features in the whole 

 economy of Bees is the manner in which they manufacture 

 new Queens, when from any cause (as by the intentional 

 removal of her from the hive) their sovereign has been lost. 

 In order to understand the process, it is necessary to be 

 aware that the ordinary working-bees may be regarded as 

 females, with the reproductive organs undeveloped ; and it 

 appears to depend on the manner in which they are treated 

 in the larva state, whether the egg shall be made ultimately 

 to produce a queen or a working-bee. For if, when the 

 queen has been removed, the royal cells (which are usually 

 among the last constructed) be not sufficiently forward, and 

 contain no eggs, the bees select one or more worker- eggs or 

 larvae, remove the egg or larva on either side of it, and throw 

 the three cells into one. The larva thus promoted is liberally 

 fed with "royal jelly," a pungent food prepared by the 

 working-bees' for the exclusive nourishment of the queen 

 larvae; and in due time it comes forth a perfect queen. 

 This change is doubtless owing to the peculiar effect of the 

 food ; and it is remarkable that it should operate, not only in 

 developing the reproductive organs, but also in altering the 

 shape of her tongue, jaws, and sting, in depriving her of the 

 power of producing wax, and in obliterating the hollows just 

 referred-to, which would otherwise have been formed upon 

 her thighs. 



Manifestations of Intelligence. 



717. The amount of reasoning power possessed by some 

 among the lower animals, may be considered as very much 

 upon a par with that exhibited by an intelligent child, about 

 the time when it is learning to speak. One of its first exer- 

 cises is in the connexion or association of ideas, which is the 



