OF NATURAL HISTORY. 347 



' mon bees I confined in it. The other piece of brood-comb I placed 



* under another glafs-bell, No. 2. with a few drones, a queen, and 

 ' a number of common bees proportioned to the fize of the glafs. 



* The refult was, that, in the glafs No. i. no impregnation happen- 

 ' ed ; the eggs remained in the fame ftate they were in when put in- 



* to the glafs ; and, upon giving the bees their liberty on the feventh 



* day, they all flew away, as was found to be the cafe in the former 



* experiment : Whereas, in the glafs No. 2. I faw, the very day af- 

 ' ter the bees had been put under it, the impregnation of the eggs 

 ' by the drones in every cell containing eggs ; the bees did not leave 



* their hive on receiving their liberty; and, in the courfe of twenty 



* days, every egg underwent all the above mentioned neceflary 



* changes, and formed a pretty numerous young colony, in which I 

 ' was not a little ftartled to find tivo queens,' 



The appearance of a new queen in a hive where there was no 

 large or royal -cell, made Mr Debraw conjedure that the bees are 

 capable, by fome particular means, of transforming a common fub- 

 jedl into a queen. To afcertain the truth of this conjedure, he pro- 

 vided himfelf with four glafs-hives, into each of which he put a piece 

 of brood-comb taken from an old hive. Thefe pieces of brood- 

 comb contained eggs, worms, and nymphs. In each hive he con- 

 fined a fufficient number of common bees, and fome drones or males, 

 but took care that there fhould be no queen. 



' The bees,' Mr Debraw remarks, * finding ihemfelves without a 



* queen, made a ftrange buzzing noife, which lafted near two days, 



* at the end of which they fettled, and betook themfelves to work. 



* On the fourth day, I perceived in each hive the beginning of a 



* royal cell, a certain indication that one of the inclofed ivorms -would 



* foon be converted into a queen. The conftrudion of the royal cell 



* being nearly accOQiplilhed, i ventured to leave an opening for the 



X X 2 • bees 



