BEES, BEE-HIVES, AND BEE CULT0RE. 5 



the same time, the two are speedily brought into contact with each 

 other in order to fight it out and decide by a struggle, mortal to one 

 of them, which is to be the ruler; — the stronger of course is 

 victorious, and remains supreme. Tliis, it must be admitted, is a 

 wiser method of settling the afi'air than it would be to range the 

 whole band under two distinct banners, and so create a civil war, 

 killing and destroying each other for matters with which they indi- 

 vidually have little or no concern : for the bees care not which 

 queen it is, as long as they are certain of having one to rule over 

 them and perpetuate the community. 



After perusing the description given above of the attachment 

 of bees to their queen, it may be easy to imagine the consternation 

 a hive is thrown into when deprived of her presence. The bees first 

 make a diligent search for their monarch in the hive, and then after- 

 wards rush forth in immense numbers to seek her. When such a 

 commotion is observed in an apiary, the experienced bee-master will 

 repair the loss by giving a queen : tlie bees have generally their 

 own remedy for such a calamity, in their power of raising a new 

 queen from amongst their larvae ; but if neither of these means be 

 available, the whole colony dwindles and dies. The following is the 

 method by which working bees provide a successor to the throne 

 when deprived of their queen by accident, or in anticipation of the 

 first swarm, which is always led by the old queen : — 



They select, when not more than three days old, an egg or grub 

 previously intended for a worker-bee, and then enlarge the cell so 

 selected by destroying the surrounding partitions ; they thus form 

 a royal cradle, in shape very much like an acorn cup inverted. The 

 chosen embryo is then fed liberally with a peculiar description of 

 nurture, called by naturalists " royal jelly " — a pungent food, prepared 

 by the working bees exclusively for those of the larvse that are 

 destined to become candidates for the honour of royalty. Should 

 a queen be forcibly separated from her subjects, she resents the 

 interference, refuses food, pines, and dies. 



The whole natural history of the queen-bee is in itself a subject 

 that will well repay for continuous study. Those who desire to 

 follow it, we would refer to the complete works of Hubep, — the 

 greatest of apiarians, — Swammekdam, Bevan, Langsteoth, &c. 

 The observations upon the queen-bee needful to verify the above men- 

 tioned facts can only be made in hives constructed for the purpose, 



