166 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
by the wings or legs being sharply rubbed together, 
much as a cricket or grasshopper utters its cry. 
The louder note is made by the old queen, and 
there is no doubt of its import. Jealousy and the 
lust of battle are on her, and she is trying to get 
at the young princesses in their cells. The cry is 
one of baffled fury as she strives with the guards 
about the cells, and the answering notes come 
from the imprisoned queens who are just as eager 
for the fray. The old skeppists are never far out 
in their reckoning. When this state of affairs has 
begun, the crisis is imminent; and the morrow is 
sure to see the emigrating party setting off for 
its new home, carrying the old queen irresistibly 
with it. si 
It has been said that the nurse-bees, who have 
the entire charge and care of the young brood, 
feed the larve from their mouths with a thick 
white fluid, which is aptly called bee-milk. All the 
time the nurses are engaged on this work, they are 
themselves hearty eaters of both honey and pollen; 
so that at first sight it appears as if the bee had 
the power of instantaneous digestion, feeding her- 
self at one moment, and, at the next, regurgitating 
this food, changed into a totally different substance, 
to feed the young grubs. Moreover, there is 
another wonderful thing regarding this bee-milk. 
It has been proved by careful analysis that its © 
composition varies considerably. The male, female, 
and queen-larve are all fed with it, but its con- 
