16 BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 



cases prevents persons from engaging in apiarian 

 pursuits (which are both pleasing and profitable), 

 from a dread of being unable to understand and 

 manage properly such a complicated kind of stock, 

 and one so uncertain and so diflicult to comprehend. 



I apprehend that when the facts connected with 

 this subject are fully known, and a true knowledge of 

 the internal economy of the society of bees is simpli- 

 fied and presented truthfully, without being inter- 

 mixed with the remains of superstition, it will theff be 

 demonstrated that bees can be understood and man- 

 aged by the community at large upon the same gen- 

 eral principles, and with similar assurances of suc- 

 cess, as any other domestic stock. Any thing which 

 I may present will be for the purpose of simplifying 

 and removing objections which have by many been 

 considei'ed insurmountable to bee-keeping, and not 

 with any desire to provoke controversy upon the part 

 of any with whom I may chance to differ. 



In connection with my first proposition, that no 

 sovereignty is exercised by the queen, I have already 

 given my reasons for this conclusion to a considera- 

 ble extent, but will give some experiments to show 

 that each individual bee fully understands its own 

 duty from instinct, without any instruction. Just as 

 soon as they were able to commence the performance 

 thereof, I took a number of frames, (being full of 

 combs, brood, &c.) shook the bees down on a sheet 

 in front of the hive; all the old bees, or nearly so, 

 would within a few minutes take wing and return to 

 their hive. I should remark, however, that a hive 



