THE HIVE BEE. 



395 



sucks the honey from the other's mouth. When not 

 stopped on the road, the bee proceeds to the hive, 

 and in the same manner offers its honey to those 

 who are at work, as if it meant to prevent the ne- 

 cessity of quitting their labour in order to go in quest 

 of food. In bad weather, the bees feed on the 

 honey laid up in open cells ; but they never touch 

 their reservoirs while their companions are enabled 

 to supply them with fresh honey from the fields. 

 But the mouths of those cells which are destined 

 for preserving honey during the winter they always 

 cover with a lid or thin plate of wax *. 



How numerous soever the bees in one swarm may 

 appear to be, they all originate from a single parent. 

 It is indeed surprising, that one small insect should in 

 a few months give birth to so many young ; but, 

 on opening her body at a certain time of the year, 

 eggs to the number of many thousands are to be 

 found contained in it. 



The queen is easily distinguished from the rest by 

 the size and shape of her body. On her depends the 

 welfare of the whole community j and, by the atten- 

 tion that is paid to all her movements, it is evident 

 how much they depend on her security. She is seen 

 at times with a numerous retinue, marching from 

 cell to cell, plunging the extremity of her body into 

 each of them, and leaving in each an egg. 



A day or two after this egg is deposited, the grub 

 is excluded from the shell, having the shape of a 

 maggot rolled up in a ring, and lying softly on a 



* Reaumur. 



