60 Longevity of the Honey -Bee. 



out and replenished with honey, and, in short, not the slightest evi- 

 dence was afforded of the absence of the queen. The usual period 

 for enlarging and sealing up the royal cells passed away, but they 

 never proceeded beyond the state of acorn cups. There was, how- 

 ever, no remission in the attention paid to them by the workers. 

 In a few days the young workers began to issue from their cells, 

 and on the 13th of July, I perceived the first issue of drones. 

 From this period both were to be seen emerging daily ; the latter 

 continued to come forth till the 25th. This state of affairs some- 

 what perplexed me, and, as was natural, gave birth to theorizing. 

 Some might have said it was a case of instinct at fault : to me it ap- 

 peared to be an instance of one instinct overpowering another. I 

 have stated, that on the second day of the queen's removal, I per- 

 ceived the rudiments of royal cells ; I question much whether if, at 

 that time, I had more narrowly inspected the combs, I might not 

 have seen the acorn-cups when I removed her : if so, I should re- 

 gard this as the cause of failure, for in case of their being found 

 during her majesty's occupancy of the hive, the bees would natural- 

 ly expect her to make the usual deposits in them, and the constant 

 attention which they paid to these cells, by incessantly popping in 

 their heads, gives countenance to the opinion. That such was the 

 expectation of the bees, receives still farther countenance from the 

 situation of these royal cradles; they were constructed upon the 

 edges of the combs, as I believe the natural cradles of royalty always 

 are ; not formed by the breaking down of worker-cells, as is the 

 case when artificial cradles are constructed. Admitting this to be 

 a sound view of the matter, it would seem not improbable, consider- 

 ing the populousness of the stock, and the warmth of the weather, 

 that, had I removed the queen a day or two earlier or a day later, one 

 or more royal cradles would have been perfected ; as in the first case 

 there would most likely have been a formation of artifcial ones, 

 and a consequent raising of artificial queens ; in the latter case there 

 might have been a tenanting of the natural cells of royalty, and a 

 maturation of natural queens. In both these respects I was dis- 

 appointed ; ,no queen was raised, and yet, though no substitute for 

 the old one was presented to the family, there was no abatement 

 of their watchfulness, nor any relaxation of their diligence. 



The circumstances under which this family of bees was placed, 

 appeared to offer a favourable opportunity for ascertaining the age 

 to which the life of the working-bee as well as that of the drone 

 might extend. I knew that all the young workers were hatched 

 within three weeks after the removal of the queen, and all the drones 



