52 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



They rushed quickly upon oae another, apparently in great 

 anger, and grasped one another's antennae, so that the head, 

 corselet and abdomen of the one, were touching the head, corse- 

 let and abdomen of the other. Had they curved the posterior 

 extremity of their bodies, they could have stung each other, and 

 both would have perished. But it seems that Nature has not 

 wished that their duels should result in the death of both com- 

 batants, and that it is prescribed to queens, while in this posi- 

 tion, to flee instantly with the greatest haste. As soon as both 

 rivals understood that they were in danger from one another, 

 they disentangled themselves and fled apart A few min- 

 utes after, their fears ceased and they attacked one another 

 again, with the same result. The worker bees were much dis- 

 turbed, all this time, and more so while the combatants were 

 separated. Each time, the bees stopped the queens in their 

 flight, keeping them prisoners for a minute. At last, in a 

 third attack, the stronger, or more savage, of the queens, ran 

 to her unsuspecting rival, seized her across the wings, and, 

 climbing upon her, pierced her with her sting. The vanquished 

 queen, crawled languidly about, and soon after died." — ("Nou- 

 velles Observations. ' ') 



117. Although it is generally admitted that two queens 

 cannot inhabit the same hive, it happens, sometimes, that 

 mother and daughter are found living peaceably together, 

 and even laying eggs at the same time. This is when the 

 bees, having noticed the decrease in fecundity of the old 

 queen, have raised a young queen to replace her. But this 

 abnormal state lasts only a few weeks, or a few months at 

 most. 



118. Our junior partner was, one day, hunting for a 

 queen with his sister. "What a large and bright-colored 

 queen !" exclaimed he, on finding her. "Why, no ! she is dark 

 and small," said his sister. Both were right, for there were 

 two queens, mother and daughter, on the same comb, and 

 not six inches apart. At another time we were looking for 

 an old queen, whose prolificness had decreased, intending to 

 supersede her. To our wonder, the hive was full of brood. 

 We found the old queen. Evidentlj' a queen so small, so 



