INSECT ARCHITECTURE. 



which John Hunter conjectured to be the basis of 

 the nutriment of the young, was taken away. 



" Nothing remarkable occurred during the first and 

 second day : the bees brooded over the young, and 

 seemed to take an interest in them ; but at sun-set, 

 on the third, a loud noise was heard in the hive. 

 Impatient to discover the reason, we opened a shut- 

 ter, and saw all in confusion ; the brood was aban- 

 doned ; the workers ran in disorder over the combs ; 

 thousands rushed towards the lower part of the hive; 

 and those about the entrance gnawed at its grating. 

 Their design was not equivocal ; they wished to quit 

 their prison. Some imperious necessity evidently 

 obliged them to seek elsewhere what they could not 

 fimfin the hive ; and apprehensive that they might 

 perish if I restrained them longer from yielding to 

 their instinct, I set them at liberty. The whole 

 swarm escaped ; but the hour being unfavourable for 

 their collections, they flew around the hive, and did 

 not depart far from it. Increasing darkness and the 

 coolness of the air compelled them very soon to re- 

 turn. Probably these circumstances calmed their 

 agitation ; for we observed them peaceably remount- 

 ing their combs ; order seemed re-established, and 

 we took advantage of this moment to close the 

 hive. 



" Next day, the 19th of July, we saw the rudiments 

 of two royal cells, which the bees had formed on one 

 of the brood combs. This evening, at the same hour 

 as on the preceding, we again heard a loud buzzing 

 in the closed hive ; agitation and disorder rose to the 

 highest degree, and we were again obliged to let the 

 swarm escape. The bees did not remain long absent 

 from their habitation ; they quieted and returned as 

 before. We remarked on the 20th, that the royal 

 cells had not been continued, as would have been the 

 case in the ordinary state of things. A great tumult 



