THE ECONOMY OF THE HIVE 19 



piping noise which the young princesses are able 

 to make when they are ready to emerge, and sh e 

 displays a most unmistakable desire to rush to 

 the spot and slay her rival daughters. This she 

 is prevented from doing by a guard of workers, 

 who resolutely prevent her from approaching the 

 queen cells. Ultimately she becomes so enraged 

 that she leaves the hive, followed by the greater 

 number of the old bees, who have already provided 

 themselves with large stores of honey. The queen 

 has nothing whatever to do with the choice of 

 a new residence. This is sought for and decided 

 upon by scouts, who go abroad for the purpose. 

 Some say this is done after the swarm has left the 

 old hive, but my own belief is that everything is 

 cut and dried before the exodus takes place. 



Under the question of swarming many interest- 

 ing things may be discussed, but I will here 

 content myself with saying that the devotion 

 shown to the queen is really an instinct of self- 

 preservation. The bees know well that without 

 a queen their fate would be disastrous, and 

 consequently they keep close to her and protect 

 her carefully. But should she show signs of 

 being injured or fail to produce sufficient eggs, 

 they will without hesitation destroy her and 

 provide themselves with another. 



Perhaps, on the whole, the poetic Maeterlinck 

 describes the authority as well as can be done 

 under our present state of knowledge. He calls 



