98 TREATISE ON THE 
never opposed by them, and might destroy 
all the embryo queens without any opposi- 
tion; and this in fact does sometimes take 
place, for the old queen destroys the whole 
of the royal brood. But itis otherwise in 
ordinary circumstances, and while she is 
left at perfect liberty to act as she pleases 
with regard to the unhatched queens, we are 
led to believe that she is induced to emigrate, 
not on account of the presence of her embryo 
rivals, but in obedience to the wise provision 
of nature for the increase of the species. 
Whatever may be the real cause, the pro- 
ceedings of the queen and the workers at the 
approach of summer evidently show that 
matters are ripening for some great internal 
movement. 
About the beginning or middle of May, 
the Bees, as if aware of the necessity, begin 
to form larger cells in which the queen imme- 
diately deposits the eggs of males, and con- 
tinues to do so for about thirty days; at the 
same time royal cells are formed, for there 
appears to be a secret relation between the 
