HYMENOPTERA. 343 
which still contain females. She may be seen to throw herself 
with fury on the first cell she comes to. She makes an opening 
in it with her mandibles large enough to allow her to introduce 
her abdomen, and then turns herself about till she has succeeded 
in giving a stab with her sting to the female which it contains. 
She then withdraws, highly satisfied with what she has done. The 
working bees, who up to this moment have remained indifferent 
spectators of her efforts, take upon themselves the rest of the 
business. ‘They set to work to enlarge the hole made by the 
ruling queen, and to draw out the carcass of the victim. 
In the meanwhile, the fierce and jealous sovereign throws her- 
self on another cell, and breaks into it with violence. If she does 
not find in it a perfect insect, but only a pupa, she does not con- 
descend to make use of her royal weapon. The workers take on 
themselves to empty the cell and destroy its contents. These 
executions over, the queen can for the future occupy herself in 
laying, without having anything to fear from rivals. Let us 
remark, in passing, that man is not much behind these insects, 
whose savage exploits in cruelty we have just related. Among 
certain tribes of Ethiopians the first care of the newly-crowned 
chief is to put in prison all his brothers, so as to prevent wars by 
pretenders to the throne. Delivered from all dread of rivals, our 
queen sets to work with an indefatigable zeal; and the workers, 
animated by the hope of a numerous progeny, heap up provisions 
around them. 
But now a new tragedy is about to be enacted. The drones, 
that is to say, the males, are now no longer wanted in the colony: 
their mission is over. By an inexorable law of nature they must 
be got rid of, and the working bees proceed to make general 
massacre of them. It is in the months of July and August that 
this frightful carnage takes place. The workers may then be seen 
furiously giving chase to the males, and pursuing them to the ex- 
tremity of the hive, where these unfortunate insects seek a place of 
safety. ‘Three or four workers dash off in the pursuit after a male. 
They seize hold of him, pull him by his legs, by his wings, by his 
antenne, and kill him with their stings. This pitiless massacre 
includes even the larvee and pup of the males. The executioners 
drag them from their cells, run them through with their stings, 
