THE BRIDE-WIDOW 123 
her every act and impulse. It has already been 
seen how she is led from cell to cell over the 
combs; how she is caused to lay, in earliest 
spring, only a few eggs a day, while in the summer 
she may produce several thousand ; and how her 
output may be checked or augmented at any point 
between. Now we are to realise how it is all 
brought about; or, at least, bring conjecture as 
near to certainty as may be with so difficult a 
theme. 
During the first two days of her life as a perfect 
insect, we saw the young virgin queen mingling 
with the throng in the hive almost unnoticed, and 
left to seek her own food from the common store 
like the rest. But now that her fecundation has 
been achieved, she has a whole suite of chamber- 
women, whose principal duty is to attend to her 
nourishment. From their mouths they feed her, 
giving her, in all probability, the same rich sub- 
stance that was administered to her when but a 
larva in the cell. This bee-milk consists mainly 
of honey and pollen pre-digested, but it has been 
proved that its composition can be altered at will 
by the ministering bees. Additions to it are made, 
either separately, or combined in varying propor- 
tions, from three or four distinct glands, each of | 
which exudes a liquid differing in nature from that 
of the rest. The particular kind of nourishment 
given to a queen who is to be urged on in the 
work of egg-laying, has the effect of stimulating 
