UNDER THE APPLE-TREES 
may meet the queen while she is coursing at random 
on her nuptial flight through the upper air. 
Speaking of the queen of the hive-bee reminds me 
how literally the life of the hive revolves around her. 
The queen’s moral support of the swarm, so to 
speak, is vital. If any accident befall her, in the case 
of a new swarm before it has established itself, the 
whole mass of worker bees instantly becomes de- 
moralized; the swarm loses heart, and gradually 
perishes without making any attempt to start a new 
colony. The members seem to know instinctively 
that there can be no increase, and that their own 
lives are worthless. 
I have seen the whole swarm, when it was sud- 
denly discovered that the queen was missing, show 
the greatest agitation, every individual insect rush- 
ing about with quivering body and wings, in a panic 
of alarm. What one bee knew and felt, apparently 
the whole swarm knew and felt simultaneously. 
It is worthy of note that though it costs the drone 
his life to fertilize the queen, dozens of them course 
through the air during the period that the mating- 
flight of the queen is due to take place, ready to sac- 
rifice themselves in performing this duty. Alike 
with drone, worker, queen, the paramount instinct 
is the perpetuity of the race. 
So careless of the male of most species is Nature, 
so solicitous for the well-being of the female! The 
function of the male is a brief one, that of the female 
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