18 AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF AN 



never had before. The wax of my cell was 

 porous so that a trifle of air, sound and light 

 were possible. I kept doubling up, and 

 then thrusting up my antennae against the 

 closed door of my cell. Such a commotion 

 seemed to be going on over my head, like 

 I have since heard when raindrops patter 

 down on the cover of my colony's hive. A 

 kind of shuffling, scratching and hurried 

 stamping of feet, as when my master's Uni- 

 versity pupils poured over the walk not far 

 distant on their way to their classes. And 

 I subsequently found that he was a Pro- 

 fessor of Natural Philosophy and taught 

 some classes in experimental Apiculture. 



Now, therefore, craving food, and aware 

 of rapidly increasing powers, I cried out 

 with the only voice and language that I 

 could muster, saying "Cheep, Cheep, 

 Cheep,* ee-e-e." I was terrified to find that 



* It is an exact reproduction into English sound of what 

 is known among Apiarists as "The Piping of the Queen," 

 heard when one places an ear against the hive when swarm- 

 ing is soon to occur, and occasionally at other times. On 



