The Young Queens 
ent hives of an apiary as in the different 
human nations of a continent. But it is 
clear that the bees will act imprudently 
in giving their consent; for if the queen 
should die, or stray in the nuptial flight, 
it will be impossible to fill her place, 
the workers’ larve having passed the 
age when they are susceptible of royal 
transformation. Let us assume, how- 
ever, that the imprudence has been 
committed; and behold our first-born, 
therefore, unique sovereign, and recog- 
nised as such in the spirit of her people. 
But she is still a virgin. To become as 
was the mother before her, it is essential 
that she should meet the male within the 
first twenty days of her life. Should the 
event for some reason be delayed beyond 
this period, her virginity becomes irrevo- 
cable. And yet we have seen that she is 
not sterile, virgin though she be. There 
confronts us here the great mystery — or 
269 
