NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONET-BBB. 31 



usually darker than that of the other bees. Her motions 

 are generally slow and matronly, although she can, when 

 she pleases, move with astonishing quickness.. No colony 

 can long exist without the presence of this all-important 

 insect ; but must as surely perish, as the body without the 

 spirit must hasten to inevitable decay. 



The queen is treated with the greatest respect and 

 aflfection by the bees. A circle of her loving offspring 

 constantly surrounds her,* testifying in various ways their 

 dutiful regard ; some gently embracing her with their 

 antennae, others offering her honey from time to time, and 

 all of them politely backing out of her way, to give her a 

 clear path when she moves over the combs. If she is 

 taken frpm. them, the whole colony is thrown into a state 

 of the most intense agitation, as soon as they ascertain 

 their loss ; all the labors of the hive are abandoned ; the 

 bees run wildly over the combs, and frequently rush from 

 the hive in anxious search for their beloved mother. If 

 they cannot find her, they return to their desolate home; 

 and by their sorrowful tones reveal their deep sense of so 

 deplorable a calamity. Their note at such times, more 

 especially when they first realize their loss, is of a pecu- 

 liarly mournful character ; it sounds somewhat like a 

 succession of wailings on the minor key, and can no more 

 be mistaken by an experienced bee-keeper, for tlieir 

 ordinary happy hum, than the piteous meanings of a sick 

 child -could be confounded by the anxious mother with 

 its joyous cro wings when overflowing with health and 

 happiness. 



I know that all this will appear to many much more 

 like romance than sober reality ; but, believing that it is a 

 crime for any observer wilfully to misstate or conceal 

 important truths, I have determined, in writing this book, 



* See the group of bees on the Title-Page. 



