150 Retrospective Criticism. 



had happened. This, Mr. Wighton will please to observe, was before the first 

 swarm, which, from his letter, does not appear to have been the case with his. 

 If these remarks should be of any service to Mr. Wighton, I shall be happy 

 that I have embraced the opportunity of sending them.. — B. Feb. 1839. 



Calling of the Queen Bees before Swarming, (p. 25.) — Nearly twenty years 

 ago, I sent to the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal an account of some ob- 

 servations I had made on the proceedings of the queen bee during the 

 swarming season. By the help of an experimental hive, which I had con- 

 structed, I made some interesting discoveries on that subject, of no very 

 great importance certainly, yet adding some little to our stock of bee-know- 

 ledge. Of these discoveries, perhaps the one most worthy of notice related 

 to the piping of the queen ; and I am induced, for the satisfaction of your 

 correspondent, Mr. Wighton, in your last Number, who has very modestly 

 and ingenuously stated his belief on the subject, to give the rationale of the 

 said piping. 



In the month of May, earlier or later, according to the locality, the season, 

 and other circumstances, the queen begins to lay eggs in the royal cells, 

 which the workers, instinctively aware of the necessity, had previously con- 

 structed. These eggs are deposited, generally, at intervals of twenty-four 

 hours, though sometimes at longer intervening periods ; thus causing a 

 succession of young queens, hatched at different periods, to head successive 

 swarms. 



When the first-laid of these eggs is hatched, and the larva, or worm, then 

 produced is about to be transformed into a nymph, and before the royal cell 

 so inhabited is finally closed, a period occupying altogether about eight days, 

 the old queen leaves the hive with the first swarm. The family left behind 

 is then without a head, and it is not till the 5th, 6th, or 7th day, according 

 to circumstances, that the senior of the young queens leaves her cell. In- 

 stantly on her emerging, she flies to the cradles of the remaining royal brood, 

 and eagerly attempts to tear open the cells and destroy the inmates. But 

 the working bees interpose most effectually, guarding the cells with the most 

 determined firmness, and repulsing the violence of the queen without any 

 ceremony ; for I have seen, on such occasions, half a dozen bees hanging close 

 on her skirts ; one hauling at each leg or wing, and forcing her away from 

 the spot. At every repulse the discomfited queen stands sulkily hard by, 

 moving her wings across her back without expanding them, and utters the 

 well-known peep, peep, peep ; sounds expressive of her anger and irritation 

 at her deadly attempts being frustrated. After a minute or two have elapsed, 

 she repeats the assault, is again defeated, and again gives vent to her wrath 

 in the same cry. And this scene of violence continues almost without inter- 

 mission for three days, sometimes longer ; when the queen, irritated at last 

 beyond endurance, traverses the hive in a state of great agitation ; commu- 

 nicates that excitement to the workers ; and, finally, leaves the hive with a 

 great mass of the population ; thus forming the second swarm. 



The same process goes on with the next in seniority of the royal brood, 

 provided the population be abundant; but at a shorter interval of time, cor- 

 responding with the interval between the laying of the royal eggs. 



Mr. Wighton notices correctly the fact of several queens piping at the 

 same time, though the sounds are somewhat different. The shrill sound, 

 consisting of a long succession of clear notes, proceeds from the hatched 

 queen, and is heard in different quarters of the hive, as she moves from 

 one cell to another, to attempt the destruction of their respective in- 

 mates. The other sounds are of a hoarser kind, somewhat resembling the 

 quack of a duckling, and proceed from the queens that are still prisoners in 

 their cells; the sounds being stronger or weaker according to the age of the 

 insects, and always proceeding from the same fixed points. Such is the* 

 rationale of the piping of the queen; and I shall be glad if your correspondent 

 is satisfied with it- I witness the process every summer, as any one may who pos- 

 sesses the facilities afforded by an experimental hive like that I have mentioned, 



