182 Retrospective Criticism. 



nothing to excite her anger, therefore she does not express, by piping, what 

 in fact she does not feel. 



Again, after expressing his satisfaction at having his doubts on the subject 

 of piping removed, Mr. Wighton continues : " Nevertheless, I must be al- 

 lowed to point out some incongruities in his (Dr. D.'s) manner of stating 

 certain points in his subject, as well as some very doubtful quotations from 

 Huber." Passing by, for the present, the " incongruities," I would apply my- 

 self to the " very doubtful quotations from Huber," a phraseology which I do 

 not very clearly understand. But Mr. Wighton, on looking over my former 

 paper attentively, will observe that, strictly speaking, I have made no quot- 

 ations whatever from Huber; but merely stated that, " as to the secret m.eans 

 nature employs to induce the old queen to leave her abode without having re- 

 course to the same violence towards her successors as these last offer to 

 theirs, even Huber acknowledges we must confess our ignorance." My au- 

 thority for saying so will be found in his Observations on Bees, p. 172. ; where 

 he says : " To preserve the race, it is necessary that the old queen should con- 

 duct the first swarm. But what is the secret means employed by nature to 

 induce her departure ? I am ignorant of it." So much for " some very doubt- 

 ful quotations from Huber." 



Then, as to the " incongruities," the first adverted to is thus expressed : 

 " He (Dr. D.) states that the queen, in the after-swarms, hearing her rivals in 

 their cells, attacks them ; some of the bees prevent her efforts, and she, in a 

 rage, goes off, taking a part of the bees with her. By this, it appears that she 

 leaves the hive before any of her rivals have come forth, which certainly is not 

 the case ; as there are frequently several queens in an after-swarm," 



There are two errors here : 1. I do not state that " the queen, hearing her 

 rivals in their cells, attacks them ; " fori knew she would attack them,'whether 

 they cried or not. But, 2., I do say that " she leaves the hive before any of 

 her rivals come forth ;" in opposition to Mr. Wighton's assertion that " this 

 is certainly not the case, as there are frequently several queens in an after 

 swarm." 1 have only to repeat the substance of what I said on this point in 

 my former communication, that, as soon as the senior of the young queens 

 leaves her native cell, which she does in a few days (not viinides) after the 

 old queen has led forth the prime swarm, she hastens to destroy the royal 

 brood still in their cells, but is prevented from doing so by the workers ; 

 and that, annoyed by the failure of her repeated attempts, she hurriedly tra- 

 verses the hive, communicating her agitation to the bees, and goes off with 

 a swarm. Immediatel}' after her departure, the workers allow the next in 

 seniority to emerge from her cell; but, at the moment of the exit of the 

 swarm, there is, I repeat, no queen hatched. I am quite aware that there is 

 sometimes more than one queen in a second swarm, though not at all so fre- 

 quently as in a third or fourth. But this is not inconsistent with the above 

 assertion ; because, in fact, the supernumerary queen or queens are hatched 

 during the outgoing of the swarm, after the leader has disappeared; that is, 

 they take advantage of the confusion caused by the mass of bees, including 

 their guards, following the departed queen, to escape from their cells, and 

 mingle with the crowd rushing out. This happens only when the population, 

 diminished by swarming, is scanty, and when the bees guarding the royal brood 

 are reduced in numbers, and is of very frequent occurrence in third and fourth 

 swarms. 



The next " incongruity" is stated as follows : " The assertion that the old 

 queen is not fiercely disposed towards the young ones is, in some degree, set 

 aside by the after-statement, that, if delayed by stormy weather till they are 

 hatched, she destroys them." The assertion is true, notwithstanding, in both 

 cases. The old queen is not fiercely disposed towards the young ones at the 

 usual time of a first swarm coming off, because these last have not 3'et reached 

 the stage oi nynqihs, when they are sealed up. Why this should be, I do not 

 pretend to give a reason ; we can only say that such is the fact, and refer it 

 to instinct. But, should the swarming be delayed on account of unpropitious 



