52 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 
the disturbing of the colony by the Apiarist, for we have no- 
ticed that this disturbing hastens the maturity of the work- 
ers. The bridal-flight takes place about noon, at which 
time, the drones are flying most numerously. 
122. On leaving her hive, the queen flies with her head 
turned towards it, often entering and departing several 
times before she finally soars into the air. Such precautions 
on the part of a young queen are highly necessary, that she 
may not, on her return, lose her life, by attempting, through 
mistake, to enter a strange hive. Many queens are lost in 
this way. : 
123. As the mating of the queen and the drone takes 
place in the air, very few persons have witnessed it. The 
following narration will please our readers: 
“ A short time ago, during one of those pleasant days of May, I 
was roaming in the fields, not far from Courbevoie. Suddenly I 
heard a loud humming and the wind of a rapid flight brushed my 
cheek. Fearing the attack of a hornet, I made an instinctive mo- 
tion with my hand to drive it away. There were two insects, 
one of which pursued the other with eagerness, coming from high 
in the air. Frightened no doubt, by my movements, they arose 
again, flying vertically to a great height, still in pursuit of each 
other. I imagined that it was a battle, and desiring to know the 
result, I followed, at my best, their motions in the air, and got 
ready to lay hold of them, as soon as they would be within reach. 
“J did not wait long. The pursuing insect rose above the other, 
and suddenly fell on it. The shock was certainly violent, for both 
united, dropped with the swiftness of an arrow and passed by me, 
so near that I struck them down, with my handkerchief. I then 
discovered that this bitter battle was but a love-suit. The two 
insects, stunned and motionless, were coupled. ‘lhe copulation 
had taken place in the air, at the instant when I had seen one of 
them falling on the other, twenty or twenty-five feet above the 
ground. 
“Tt wag a queen-bee and a drone. Persuaded that I had killed 
them, I made no scruple of piercing them both with the same pin. 
But the pain recalled them to life again, and they promptly sepa- 
rated. This separation was violent, and resulted in the tearing 
off of the drone’s organ (188) which remained attached to the 
