§ 11.] THE QUEEN. 9 



majesty indisputably sways her sceptxe by a divine right, 

 because she lives and reigns in the hearts of loving 

 children and subjects. 



The queen may very readily be distinguished from the 

 rest of the bees by the greater length of her body and 

 the comparative shortness of her wings; her legs are 

 longer, and are not furnished with either brushes or 

 baskets as those of the working bee, for, being constantly 

 fed by the latter, she does not need these implements ; 

 the upper surface of her body is of a brighter black than 

 the other bees', whilst her colour underneath is a yellowish 

 brown ;* her wings, which do not extend more than half 

 the length of her body, are sinewy and strong ; her long 

 abdomen tapers nearly to a point ; her head is rounder, 

 her tongue more slender, and much shorter, than that 

 of the working bee, and her sting is curved. Her move- 

 ments in the hive are measured and majestic, though 

 when out of her proper sphere, as at swarming time, 

 she is distinguished, on the contrary, by the rapidity of 

 her steps. She has a peculiar scent, which is so attrac- 

 tive to workers, that ^Nlr. !Mahan, of Philadelphia, states 

 he has several times had them alight upon his fingers, a 

 mile away from his apiar)-, after he had been handling 

 the royal mother. 



It is the chief function of the queen to lay the eggs 

 from which all future bees originate, the multiplication of 



* Yellow Italian queens form an exception in point of colour. 

 See Plate I. Fig. I. 



