THE QUEEN-BEE. 21 



hastily from her path. So long as she remains sound 

 and well in the hive, all the varied works go on 

 peacefully and incessantly. Should she die or be 

 removed,, immediate consternation is manifested. 

 Her subjects rush about in excitement and distress. 

 They buzz around the neighbourhood of the hive, but 

 all active and productive work ceases. They know 

 that unless the disastrous loss can be repaired, their 

 community must perish for lack of new progeny, and 

 when despair seizes them, they seem to act upon the 

 motto, " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." 



But the skilled bee-keeper comes to the rescue 

 when he has ascertained the death or loss of a queen, 

 and introduces another monarch to the distressed 

 community. Care and caution, hoWevpr, have to be 

 exercised in this operation ; for, until convinced that 

 there is no hope of the restoration of their rightful 

 sovereign, the workers will not tolerate a substitute 

 for her. Even when their hopes are extinguished, it 

 is much safer to cage the new queen, for thirty-six or 

 forty-eight hours, on a comb, so that a gradual 

 acquaintance with one another may be formed before 

 free intercourse is allowed. Otherwise, it will fre- 

 quently happen that the introduced mother-bee will 

 come to grief by stings or by suffocation. Cases, 

 indeed, have occurred in which it has been found 

 impossible to induce a hive to receive a stranger 

 queen, and it has become necessary to amalgamate 

 such a community with another already possessed of 

 a monarch. 



Biit, under certain circumstances, the bees will'i 

 in a marvellous way, provide themselves with a 

 sovereign. If at the time of discovering their loss 



