32 NATURAL HISTORY OF THE HONEY BEE. 



often imposed upon, that they have lost all faith in the truth 

 of statements made by any one interested in a patent hive, 

 while others stigmatize all knowledge which does not square 

 with their own, as " book knowledge," entirely unworthy 

 the attention of practical men. 



If any such read this book, let me remind them again, 

 that all my assertions may be put to the lest. So long as 

 the interior of a hive, was to common observers, a profound 

 mystery, ignorant and designing men might assert what 

 they pleased, about what passed in its dark recesses ; but 

 now, when all'that takes place in it, can, in a few moments, 

 be exposed to the full light of day, and every one who keeps 

 bees, can see and examine for himself, the man who attempts 

 to palm upon the community, his own conceits for facts, will 

 speedily earn for himself, the character both of a fool and 

 an impostor. 



The Queen Bee, or as she may more prop- 

 erly be called the mother bee, is the common 

 mother of the whole colony. She reigns there- 

 fore, most unquestionably, by a divine right, as 

 every good mother is, or ought to be, a queen 

 in her own family. Her shape is widely dif- 

 ferent from that of the other bees. While she 

 is not near so bulky as a drone, her body is longer, and of a 

 more tapering, or sugar-loaf form than that of a worker, so 

 that she has somewhat of a wasp-like appearance. Her 

 wings are much shorter, in proportion, than those of the 

 drpne, or worker ; the under part of her body is of a golden 

 color, and the upper part 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- 



