The Swarm 
harmlessly over the heavy cuirasses, if one 
of the queens appear anxious to make her 
escape, then, be she the legitimate sovereign 
or be she the stranger, she will at once be 
seized and lodged in the living prison until 
such time as she manifest once more the 
desire to attack her foe. It is right to add, 
however, that the numerous experiments 
that have been made on this subject have 
almost invariably resulted in the victory of 
the reigning queen, owing perhaps to the 
extra courage and ardour she derives from 
the knowledge that she is at home, with her 
subjects around her, or to the fact that the 
bees, however impartial while the fight is in 
progress, may possibly display some favour- 
itism in their manner of imprisoning the 
rivals; for their mother would seem scarcely 
to suffer from the confinement, whereas 
the stranger almost always emerges in 
an appreciably bruised and enfeebled con- 
dition. 
a0 
There is one simple experiment which 
proves the readiness with which the bees 
85 
