The Swarm 
says Langstroth, one of the fathers of 
modern apiculture, “that had not bees suffi- 
cient to cover a comb of three inches square, 
and yet endeavoured to rear a queen. For 
two whole weeks did they cherish this hope ; 
finally, when their number was reduced by 
one half, their queen was born, but her 
wings were imperfect, and she was unable 
to fly. Impotent as she was, her bees did 
not treat her with the less respect. A week 
more, and there remained hardly a dozen 
bees; yet a few days and the queen had 
vanished, leaving a few wretched, inconsol- 
able insects upon the combs.” 
27 
There is another instance, and one that 
reveals most palpably the ultimate gesture 
of filial love and devotion. It arises from 
one of the extraordinary ordeals that our 
recent and tyrannical intervention inflicts on 
these hapless, unflinching heroines. I, in 
common with all amateur bee-keepers, have 
more than once had impregnated queens 
sent me from Italy; for the Italian species 
71 
