THE BRIDE-WIDOW 123 



her every act and impulse. It has already been 

 seen how she is led from ,cell to cell over the 

 combs ; how she is caused to lay, in earliest 

 spring, only a few eggs a day, while in the summer 

 she may produce several thousand ; and how her 

 output may be checked or augmented at any point 

 between. Now we are to realise how it is all 

 brought about ; or, at least, bring conjecture as 

 near to certainty as may be with so difficult a 

 theme. 



During the first two days of her life as a perfect 

 insect, we saw the young virgin queen mingling 

 with the throng in the hive almost unnoticed, and 

 left to seek her own food from the common store 

 like the rest. But now that her fecundation has 

 been achieved, she has a whole suite of chamber- 

 women, whose principal duty is to attend to her 

 nourishment. From their mouths they feed her, 

 giving her, in all probability, the same rich sub- 

 stahce that was administered to her when but a 

 larva in the cell. This bee-milk consists mainly 

 of honey and pollen pre-digested, but it has been 

 proved that its composition can be altered at will 

 by the ministering bees. Additions to it are made, 

 either separately, or combined in varying propor- 

 tions, from three or four distinct glands, each of 

 which exudes a liquid differing in nature from that 

 of the rest. The particular kind of nourishment 

 given to a queen who is to be urged on in the 

 work of egg-laying, has the effect of stimulating 



