THE QUEEN. 15 
The first fair day after the hiving of a 
second, or after swarm, if a close watch be 
' kept just before and during the flight of the 
drones—from 12 M. to 4 P. M—the young 
queen may be seen to issue from the hive, 
* and, taking wing, fly off into the air. This 
4.—Unfertile. 18 called her “ bridal trip,” and is sometimes 
repeated every day, and several times a day, for many 
days. When successful, she returns to remain perma- 
nently in the hive, fully competent to supply eggs for the 
whole colony ; and the bees, at once clustering about ~ 
her as they have never before done, show that they are 
conscious of the fact and recognize her sovereignty. The 
practised eye of the experienced apiarian 
« Qf will at once detect this change in the affec- 
4" tions of the bees, as well as a decided differ- 
ence in the form and size of the queen herself 
% the moment she touches the alighting-board. 
% Before her departure they paid but little at- 
MY tention to her, running over her as freely as 
5.—Fertile. over each other ; after her return they treat 
her with the utmost deference—never clamber over her, 
always clear the way as she approaches, and with their 
antenne wave a “God save the queen” as she passes ; 
her every wish is anticipated, and her pleasure served 
with alacrity. 
So, also, a day or two later, a young queen flies from 
the parent stock tor the same purpose ; and if, as is too 
often the case, these hives stand in close proximity to 
others similar in shape, size, and appearance, a mistake 
is sometimes made by the returning queen in seeking 
entrance at a neighboring hive containing a fertile 
queen. Instant death awaits her here, and the future 
ty 
