The Queen. 95 



Like the workers, and unlike the drones, she 

 has a sting, but she very seldom uses it. hi 

 fact, you can handle her with as little fear of 

 being stung as you can handle a drone. 



The queen's sting is very, very precious, 

 and she will not run the risk of losing 

 it by stinging you. 



There is only one queen in a hive, and 

 she very seldom flies abroad. There is 

 too much to be done at home, for we 

 must not forget that she is really the mother 

 of the whole colony. The workers are 

 her daughters, and the drones her sons. 

 We call her a queen, but she is queen only 

 in the sense that every true mother is a 

 queen in her home. 



If the people who named her long ago had 

 known as much about bees as we know to- 

 day, they doubtless would have called her 

 the mother-bee instead of the queen-bee. 



The chief occupation of the queen-bee 

 is to lay eggs. She lays the eggs for the 

 whole colony. 



