PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 375 
diately gives to her abdomen the curve necessary to enable it to reach the 
orifice of the cell, and to introduce it within it. The eggs are set in the 
angle of the pyramidal bottom of the cell, or in one of the hollows formed 
by the conflux of the sides of the rhombs, and being besmeared with a 
kind of gluten, stand upright. If, however, it be a female that lays only 
male eggs, they are deposited upon the lowest of the sides of the cell, as 
she is unable to reach the bottom. 
While our prolific lady is engaged in this employment, her court consists 
of from four to twelve attendants, which are disposed nearly in a circle, 
with their heads turned towards her. After laying from two to six eggs, 
she remains still, reposing for eight or nine minutes. During this interval 
the bees in her train redouble their attentions, licking her fondly with their 
tongues. Generally speaking, she lays only one egg in a cell; but when 
sheis pressed, and’there are not cells enough, from two to four have been 
foundinone. In this case, as if they were aware of the consequences, the 
rovident workers remove all but one. From an experiment of Huber’s, 
it appears that the instinct of the queen invariably directs her to deposit 
worker eggs in worker cells; for when he confined one, during her course 
of laying worker eggs, where she could only come at male cells, she refused 
to oviposit in them; and trying in vain to make her escape, they at length 
dropped from her; upon which the workers devoured them. Retarded 
queens, however, lose this instinct, and often, though they lay only male 
eggs, oviposit in worker cells, and even in royal ones. In this latter case 
the workers themselves act as if they suffered in their instinct from the 
imperfect state of their queen; for they feed these male larvae with royal 
jelly, and treat them as they would a real queen. Though male eggs 
deposited in worker cells produce small males, their education in a royal 
cell with “royal dainties” adds nothing to their ordinary dimensions.? 
The swarming of bees is a very curious and interesting subject, to 
which, since a female is the sine gud non on this occasion, I may very pro- 
perly call your attention here. You will recollect that I said something 
upon the principle of emigrations, when I was amusing you with the his~ 
tory of ants ; but the object with them seems to be merely a change of 
station for one more convenient or less exposed to injury, and not to 
diminish a superabundant population. Whereas in the societies of the 
hive-bee, the latter is the general cause of emigrations, which invariably 
take place every year, if their numbers require it; if not, when the male 
eggs are laid no royal cells are constructed, and no swarm is led forth. 
What might be the case with ants, were they confined to: hives, we 
cannot say. Formicaries in general are capable of indefinite enlarge- 
ment, therefore want of room does not cause emigration; — but 
bees being confined to a given space, which they possess not the means of 
enlarging, to avoid the ill effects resulting from being too much crowded, 
when their population exceeds a certain limit they must necessarily emi- 
grate. Sometimes — for instance, when wasps have got into a hive —the 
bees will leave it, in order to fly from an inconvenience or enemy which 
they cannot otherwise avoid ; but it does not very often happen that they 
wholly desert a hive. 
Apiarists tell us that, in this country, the best season for swarming is 
1 Bonnet, x, 258, 8vo. ed, 2 Huber, i, 122. 
BB4 
