The Queen. 99 



a bee could not be expected to eat ordinary 

 food. 



Queen Apis has tasters, as did the old 

 kings of France and England. Only the 

 king's taster ate a little of the king's dish 

 in his Majesty's presence, that he might be 

 sure nobody had poisoned it, for they were 

 fond of poisoning kings in those days. 



But Queen Apis is not afraid of poison. 

 She knows her children love her too well 

 for that, and that they taste her food out 

 of love to her. In fact, they do more than 

 taste it, they swallow and digest the bee- 

 bread and honey, and in their bodies it 

 is made into a very nutritious food with 

 which they feed their queen. 



When she is hungry she goes to a worker 

 bee, inserts her short tongue into its mouth, 

 and takes what she wants, though sometimes 

 she eats honey from the combs as well. 



Occasionally bees feed one another on 

 honey in this way, and they also feed the 

 drones. 



