The Life of the Bee 



I 33] 



There is one simple experiment which 

 proves the readiness with which the bees 

 will recognise their queen, and the depth 

 of the attachment they bear her. Re- 

 move her from the hive, and there will 

 soon be manifest all the phenomena of 

 anguish and distress that I have described 

 in a preceding chapter. Replace her, a 

 few hours later, and all her daughters will 

 hasten towards her, offering honey. One 

 section will form a lane, for her to pass 

 through ; others, with head bent low and 

 abdomen high in the air, will describe 

 before her great semicircles throbbing with 

 sound ; hymning, doubtless, the chant of 

 welcome their rites dictate for moments 

 of supreme happiness or solemn respect. 



But let it not be imagined that a foreign 

 queen may with impunity be substituted 

 for the legitimate mother. The bees will 

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