42 PHYSIOLOGY OP THE HONEY-BEE. 



99. The laying of the queen is not equal at all seasons. 

 She lays most during the spring and summer months, pre- 

 vious to the honey crop and during its flow. In late autumn 

 and winter months, she lays but little. 



100. Her shape is widely different from that of the other 

 bees. While she is not near so bulky as a drone, her body is 

 longer; and as it is considerably more tapering, or sugar- 

 loaf in form, than that of a worker, she has a somewhat wasp- 

 like appearance. Her wings are much shorter in proportion 

 than those of the drone or worker;* the under part of her 

 body is of a golden color, and the upper part usually darker 

 than that of the other bees.t Her motions are generally slow 

 and matronly, although she can, when she pleases, move with 

 astonishing quickness. No colony can long exist without the 

 presence of this all-important insect; but must as surely 

 perish, as the body without the spirit must hasten to in- 

 evitable decay. 



101. The queen is treated with the greatest respect and 

 affection by the bees. A circle of her loving offspring often 

 surround her, testifying in various ways their regard; some 

 gently embracing her with their antennae, others offering her 

 food from time to time, and all of them politely backing out 

 of her way, to give her a clear path when she moves over the 

 combs. If she is taken from them, the whole colony is thrown 

 into a state of the most intense agitation as soon as they 

 ascertain their loss; all the labors of the hive are abandoned; 

 the bees run wildly over the combs, and frequently rush from 

 the hive in anxious search for their beloved mother. If they 

 cannot find her, they return to their desolate home, and by 

 their sorrowful tones reveal their deep sense of so deplorable 

 a calamity. Their note at such times, more especially when 

 they first realize their loss, is of a peculiarly mournful char- 

 acter; it sounds somewhat like a succession of wailings on 

 the minor key, and can no more be mistaken by an experienced 

 bee-keeper, for their ordinary happy hum (76), than the 



' The wings of the queen are in reality longer than those ot the 

 worker. 



t This applies only to queens of the black or common race. 



