388 NOISES OF INSECTS. 
gives to it a different interpretation. He asserts, that 
the candidate for the new throne is then with earnest en- 
treaties, lamentations, and groans, supplicating the queen- 
mother of the hive to grant her permission to lead the in- 
tended colony ;—that this is continued, before she can ob- 
tain her consent, for two days; when the old queen re- 
lenting gives her fiat in a fuller and stronger tone. That 
should the former presume to imitate the tones of the 
sovereign, this being the signal of revolt, she would be 
executed on the spot, with all whom she had seduced 
from their loyalty?.—But it is time to leave fables: I 
shall therefore next relate to you what really takes place. 
You have heard how the bees detain their young queens 
till they are fit to lead a swarm.—I then mentioned the 
attitude and sound that strike the former motionless”. 
When she emits this authoritative sound, reclining her 
thorax against a comb, the queen stands with her wings 
crossed upon her back, which, without being uncrossed 
or further expanded, are kept in constant vibration. ‘The 
tone thus produced is a very distinct kind of clicking, 
composed of many notes in the same key, which follow 
each other rapidly. ‘This sound the queens emit before 
they are permitted to leave their cells; but it does not 
then seem to affect the bees. But when once they are 
liberated from confinement and assume the above attitude, 
its effects upon them are very remarkable. As soon as 
the sound was heard, Huber tells us, bees that had been 
employed in plucking, biting, and chasing a queen about, 
hung down their heads and remained altogether motion- 
® Reaum. v. 615. Butler’s Female Monarchy, c. v.§ 4. 
> See above, p. 149—. 
