HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 21 



around her. But this is not their natural way of 

 doing ; it is the exception, and not the rule. Hence 

 I conclude the worker bees lead off in swarming and 

 in clustering, the queen following instead of leading. 

 Her presence is absolutely necessary to the welfare 

 of the swarm, simply for the purpose of supplying 

 the means of replenishing the stock; of this they 

 seem perfectly aware. They prefer returning to the 

 parent stock to setting up without her. 



When a swarm is hived, the workers lay the foun- 

 dation of the combs, and carry on the work until 

 finished ; the queen depositing eggs in the cells as 

 they are progressing, not waiting for their comple- 

 tion. They also collect the food necessary for the 

 sustenance of the entire colony. But some one is 

 ready to say, perhaps the queen directs all this. Just 

 take her away, and see how quickly a change will 

 take place. Now let us see what the change will be. 

 Suppose the queen has laid a few eggs in the first 

 comb built, and we remove her from the hive en- 

 tirely ; the bees will set to work to rear queens from 

 those eggs, and the other business of the hive will 

 go on as if nothing unusual had happened ; honey 

 and pollen will be gathered and stored ; whatever 

 eggs or brood may be in the hive are properly eared 

 for ; and all progress finely so long as they have the 

 means of supplying themselves with a queen. In- 

 deed it ia next to impossible even for the experienced 

 apiarian to detect anything wrong from outside ap- 

 pearances ; and yet there is no queen to direct them 

 or instruct them in their duty ; every member of the 



