THE BEE. 



their loss by smell, touch, or any imknown cause. He first 

 divided a hive by a grate, which kept the two portions about 

 three lines apart, so that they could not come at each other. 

 In that part in which there was no queen the bees were soon 

 in great agitation, and as they did not discover her where she 

 was confined, in a short time they began to construct royal 

 cells, which quieted them. He next separated them by a par- 

 tition through which they could pass their antennss, but not 

 their heads. In this case the bees all remained tranquil, nei- 

 ther ceasing their ordinary labour nor troubling to begin a royal 

 ceU. The means they u^ed to assure themselves that their 

 queen was near at hand, and to communicate with her, was to 

 pass their antennae through the openings in the grate. An 

 infinite number of these organs might be seen at once, as it 

 were, inquiring in all directions, and the queen was observed 

 answering these inquiries of her subjects in the most marked 

 manner, for she was always fastened with her feet to the grate 

 crossing her antennae with those of the inquirers. 



Messrs. Eirby and Spence, who record the above experiments 

 of the bUnd naturalist, famish another from the same source, 

 showing how essential to the creature's existence these antennae 

 are. " The amputation of one of the antennae of a queen bee 

 appears not to aflfect her perceptibly ; but cutting off both these 

 organs produces a very striking derangement of her proceedings. 

 She seems in a species of delirium, and deprived of all her 

 instincts; everything is done at random; yet the respect and 

 homage of the workers towards her, though they are received 

 by her with indifference, continue undiminished. If another in 

 the same condition be put in the hive, the bees do not appear 

 to discover the difference, and treat them both alike ; but if a 

 perfect one be introduced, even though fertile, they seize her, 

 keep her in confinement, and treat her very imhandsomely. One 

 may conjecture from this circumstance, that it is by these won- 

 derful organs, the antennae, that the bees know their own queen." 



The organs of the bee's mouth are scarcely less wonderful 

 than the antennae. Its mandibles or jaws, when separated, 

 resemble a pair of toothed pincers ; they are composed of the 

 same homy substance as constitutes the rings of the body, and 

 are extremely powerful. Besides these, there are a second pair of 

 laws (called the maxfllss), composed of two long-pointed blades, 

 whose thin edges work together after the manner of a pair Of 

 scissors. It is with these latter instruments that the bee cuts 

 and moulds its wax in its work of cell-making. 



