86 CEREMONY OF LAYING THE EGGS. 



the excess of their chagrin and sorrow. If the queen for- 

 sake her dwelling, whether it be that it is not sufficiently 

 commodious for her, or that the combs have been spoiled, 

 or that it has been attacked by other insects, they still follow 

 her with an unshaken constancy and fidelity, and repair with 

 her to the spot, which she may have chosen for their future 

 domicile. 



Essentially necessary, however, as she is to the monarchy, 

 she is not burdened with the government, nor with the 

 police, nor the administration of the laws. Each bee per- 

 forms that part which the good of the community requires, 

 and it is never known to neglect its duty. The intimation 

 of any order is useless, or the prescription of any particular 

 kind of labour ; hence that regular distribution of employ- 

 ment—that individual display of talent— that vigilance and 

 foresight, which have been attributed to the bees by Huber 

 and other fabulists, may amuse the votaries of fiction and 

 romance, but, as being inconsistent with truth, ought to be 

 exploded from the natural history of the bee. 



According to Huber, the act of laying the eggs by the 

 queen, is a kind of state ceremony ; for he informs us that 

 when she proceeds to the discharge of that important part 

 of her duty, she is regularly attended by ten or twelve 

 working bees, as a kind of body-guard, some preceding her, 

 some following her, some respectfully offering her a little 

 honey to refresh her, others kindly licking her with their 

 proboscis, whilst others cleanse her majesty of all impurities, 

 which may have gathered about her royal person by the 

 frequent introduction of her body into the cells. Having 

 arrived at a particular cell, she thrusts her head into it, in 

 which attitude she remains for some moments, but for what 

 purpose, Huber professes his ignorance ; but no doubt 

 whatever exists, that it is to ascertain, if there be already an 

 egg in the cell. The guards then assist her in withdrawing 

 from the cell, by pulling her majesty by the hinder legs, 



