238 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 



influx of new blood to the colony. This can only 

 be effected out-of-doors, and as far as possible 

 from the parent hive. The strongest impulse, 

 therefore, of the virgin-queen, when she goes off 

 on her mating- flight, is to get away quickly from 

 her home surroundings. She flies straight off at 

 tremendous speed, and thus has every chance of 

 getting unperceived into new country, and so into 

 the reconnoitring ground of strange drones. 



Another reason for her extended flight and its 

 remarkable pace is that only the strongest and 

 swiftest drone of all the pursuing multitude is 

 likely to overtake her, and this again makes for 

 the betterment of the race. Perhaps there is no 

 parallel instance in nature where the selection of 

 the fittest individuals to continue a species is so 

 carefully provided for, and no doubt this accounts 

 for the high place of the honey-bee in the scale of 

 created things. But this scheme involves enormous 

 risk to the young queen. A hundred dangers lurk 

 on her path. She is a tempting morsel for every 

 bird that throngs the air of the June morning. 

 Her untried wings may fail her. Even if she gets 

 back safely to the bee-garden, she may enter the 

 wrong hive, to her instant destruction. But she 

 must take her chance of all risks; and the only 

 thing to do is to render her absence from home as 

 brief as may be, and her fertilisation as sure, by 

 making the wandering drone-population large 

 enough to cover all probable ranges of flight. 



