NATUKAL HISTORY. ^05 



At the swarming time, the eld queen is sadly put out by 

 the encroachments of various young queens, who each -wish for 

 the throne, and at last is so agitated that she rushes out of 

 the hive, attended by a large body of subjects, and thus the 

 first swarm is formed. In seven or eight days, the queen 

 next in age also departs, taking with her another supply of 

 subjects. When all the swarms have left the original hive, 

 the remaining queens fight until one gains the throne. 



The old method of destroying bees for the sake of the 

 honey was not only cruel but wasteful, as by burning some 

 dry " puff-ball " the bees are stupefied, and shortly return to 

 consciousness. The employment of a " cap" on the hive is 

 an excellent plan, as the bees deposit honey alone in these 

 caps, without any admixture of grubs or bee-bread. Extra 

 hives at the side, with a communication from the original hive, 

 arc also useful. 



The queen bee lays about eighteen thousand eggs. Of 

 these about eight hundred are males or drones, and four or five 

 queens, the remainder being workers. 



THE SWALLOW-TAILED BUTTERFLY. 



We now arrive at the Haustellate Insects, so called, because 

 they suck liquid food through an apparatus resembling the 

 proboscis of an elephant. The first order of haustellate insects 

 is the LEPIDOPTERA, containing the butterflies and moths. 

 The butterflies always fly by day, from which circumstance 

 they are sometimes called Diurnal Lepidoptera. Most of the 

 moths fly by night, and are called Nocturnal Lepidoptera. 

 This is not a rule, however, as many moths fly by day. 



Butterflies are usually lighter in the body than moths, from 

 which insects they are easily distinguished by the shape of 

 the antennae, which in the butterflies are slender, and termi- 

 nate in a small knob, but in the moths terminate in a point, 

 and are often beautifully fringed. 



The name Lepidoptera is given to these insects because 

 their wings are covered with myriads of minute scales, by 

 which the beautiful colouring of the wings is produced. 

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