THE YOUNG QUEENS 139 



and the two warriors, stricken with simultaneous terror, 

 divide and fly, to meet shortly after and separate again 

 should the double disaster once more menace the future of 

 their people ; till at last one of them shall succeed in sur- 

 prising her clumsier, or less wary rival, and in killing her 

 without risk to herself. For the law of the race has called 

 for one sacrifice only. 



73 



The cradles having thus been destroyed and the rivals 

 all slain, the young queen is accepted by her people ; but she 

 will not truly reign over them, or be treated as was her mother 

 before her, until the nuptial flight be accomplished ; for until 

 she be impregnated the bees will hold her but lightly, and 

 render most passing homage. Her history, however, will 

 rarely be as uneventful as this, for the bees will not often 

 renounce their desire for a second swarm. 



In that case, as before, urged on by the same desires, 

 the queen will approach the royal cells ; but instead of 

 meeting with docile servants who second her effbrts, she 

 will find her path blocked by a numerous and hostile guard. 

 In her fury, and urged on by her fixed idea, she will en- 

 deavour to force her way through, or to outflank them ; but 

 everywhere sentinels are posted to protect the sleeping prin- 

 cesses. She persists, she returns to the charge, to be repulsed 

 with ever-increasing severity, to be somewhat roughly handled 

 even, until at last she begins vaguely to understand that these 

 little inflexible workers stand for a law before which that law 

 must bend whereby she is inspired. 



