52 PHYSIOLOGY OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



the disturbing of the colony by the Apiarist, for we have no- 

 ticed that this disturbing hastens the maturity of the worl?- 

 ers. The bridal-flight takes place about noon, at which 

 time, the drones are flying most numerously. 



122. On leaving her hive, the queen flies with her head 

 turned towards it, often entering and departing several 

 times before she finally soars into the air. Such precautions 

 on the part of a young queen are highly necessary, that she 

 may not, on her return, lose her Ufe, by attempting, through 

 mistake, to enter a strange hive. Many queens are lost in 

 this way. 



123. As the mating of the queen and the drone takes 

 place in the air, very few persons have witnessed it. The 

 following narration will please our readers : 



" A short time ago, during one of those pleasant days of May, I 

 was roaming in the fields, not far from Courbevoie. Suddenly I 

 heard a loud humming and the wind of a rapid flight brushed my 

 cheek. Fearing the attack of a hornet, I made an instinctive mo- 

 tion with my hand to drive it away. There were two insects, 

 one of which pursued the other with eagerness, coming from high 

 in the air. Frightened no doubt, by my movements, they arose 

 again, flying vertically to a great height, still in pursuit of each 

 other. I imagined that it was a battle, and desiring to know the 

 result, I foUowed, at my best, their motions in the air, and got 

 ready to lay hold of them, as soon as they would be within reach. 



" I did not wait long. The pursuing insect rose above the other, 

 and suddenly fell on it. The shock was certainly violent, for both 

 united, dropped with the swiftness of an arrow and passed by me, 

 so near that I struck them down, with my handkerchief. I then 

 discovered that this bitter battle was but a love-suit. The two 

 insects, stunned and motionless, were coupled. 'I he copulation 

 had taken place in the air, at the instant when I had seen one of 

 them falling on the other, twenty or twenty-five feet above the 

 ground. 



" It was a queen-bee and a drone. Persuaded that I had killed 

 them, I made no scruple of piercing them both with the same pin. 

 But the pain recalled them to life again, and they promptly sepa- 

 rated. This separation was violent, and resulted in the tearing 

 off of the drone's organ (188) which remained attached to the 



