The Young Queens 



ent hives of an apiary as in the different 

 human nations of a continent. But it is 

 clear that the bees will act imprudently 

 in giving their consent ; for if the queen 

 should die, or stray in the nuptial flight, 

 it will be impossible to fill her place, 

 the workers' larvae having passed the 

 age when they are susceptible of royal 

 transformation. Let us assume, how- 

 ever, that the imprudence has been 

 committed ; and behold our first-born, 

 therefore, unique sovereign, and recog- 

 nised as such in the spirit of her people. 

 But she is still a virgin. To become as 

 was the mother before her, it is essential 

 that she should meet the male within the 

 first twenty days of her life. Should the 

 event for some reason be delayed beyond 

 this period, her virginity becomes irrevo- 

 cable. And yet we have seen that she is 

 not sterile, virgin though she be. There 

 confronts us here the great mystery — ^or 

 269 



