OR, PLAIN 



fed ; these the workers attend to 

 with untiring assiduity : in six 

 days each maggot fills up its 

 cell ; it is then roofed in by the 

 workers, spins a silken cocoon, 

 and becomes a chrysalis : and on 

 the twenty-first day it comes 

 forth a perfect bee. The drones 

 emerge on the twenty-fifth day, 

 and the queens on the six- 

 teenth." 



" It has been already stated, that the queen, 

 for nearly a year, lays no eggs that are des- 

 tined to produce queens ; it therefore follows, 

 that if any evil befall her, the hive is left 

 without a queen : it sometimes happens that 

 she dies, or is taken away by the owner of the 

 hive, to observe the result. For twelve hours 

 little notice is taken of the loss ; it appears not 

 to be known, and the workers labour as usual : 

 after that period, a hubbub commences ; work 

 is abandoned ; the whole hive is in an uproar ; 

 every bee traverses the hive at random, and 

 with the most evident want of purpose. This 

 state of anarchy sometimes continues for two 

 days; then the bees gather in clusters of a 

 dozen or so, as though engaged in consultation, 

 the result of which seems to be a fixed resolu- 

 tion to supply the loss. A few of the workers 

 repair to the cells in which are deposited the 

 eggs of workers ; three of these cells are quickly 

 broken into one, the edges polished, and the 

 sides smoothed and rounded, a single egg being 

 allowed to remain at the bottom. When this 

 egg hatches, the maggot is fed with a peculiarly 

 nutritive food, called royal bee-bread, which is 

 never given to any maggots but such as are to 

 produce queens ; work is now resumed over the 

 whole hive, and goes on as briskly as before : 

 on the sixteenth day the egg produces a queen, 

 whose appearance is hailed with every demon- 

 stration of delight, and who at once assumes 

 sovereignty over the hive. When, under 

 ordinary circumstances, a young queen emerges 

 from the chrysalis, the old one frequently quits 

 the hive, heading the first swarm for the season, 

 and flying to some neighbouring resting-place, 

 is observed by the owner, captured, placed 

 under a new hive, and a new colony is imme- 

 diately commenced. Before a swarm leaves 

 the hive, sure indications are given of the 

 intended movement; the workers leave their 

 various occupations and collect in groups, 

 especially near the door of the hive, as though 

 in consultation on the important event about to 

 take place. 



" As the summer advances many queens are 

 hatched, but the workers do not allow them 

 instant liberty, as severe battles would take 

 place between them and the reigning queen, in 

 whicli one would be killed : the workers, there- 

 fore, make a small hole in the ceiling of the 

 royal cell, through which the captive queen 

 thrusts her tongue, and receives food from the 

 workers. In this state of confinement the 

 young queen utters a low querulous note, which 

 has been compared to singing. When the 



TEACHING. 283 



reigning, or a newly created queen, finds one of 

 these captives, she uses every effort to tear open 

 the cell and destroy her rival : to prevent this, 

 the workers often interpose, pulling her away 

 by the legs and wings ; to this she submits for 

 a short time, when, uttering a peculiar cry, 

 called her voice of sovereignty, she commands 

 instant attention and obedience, and is at once 

 freed from her assailants. The cocoons spun 

 by the maggots of the workers and drones com- 

 pletely envelope the chrysalis ; but that spun 

 by the maggot of the queen appears imperfect, 

 covering only the upper end of the chrysalis : it 

 has been supposed that they are thus designedly 

 exposed to the attacks of other queens, and 

 their destruction, before emerging, facilitated. 

 When the chrysalis of the queen is about to 

 change to a perfect insect, the bees make the 

 cover of the cell thinner by gnawing away part 

 of the wax ; and with so much nicety do they 

 perform this operation, that the cover at last 

 becomes pellucid, owing to its extreme thin- 

 ness. 



" The combs of a bee-hive comprise a con- 

 geries of hexagonal cells, built by the bees as a 

 receptacle for honey, and for the nurseries of 

 their young : each comb in a hive is composed 

 of two ranges of cells, backed against each 

 other : the base or partition between this 

 double row of cells is so disposed as to form a 

 pyramidal cavity at the bottom of each. There 

 is a continued series of these double combs in 

 every well-filled hive ; the spaces between them 

 being just sufficient to allow two bees, one on 

 the surface of each comb, to pass without 

 touching. Each cell is hexagonal, the six sides 

 being perfectly equal. This figure ensures the 

 greatest possible economy of material and space ; 

 the outer edges of the cells are slightly thickened, 

 in order to gain strength ; the same part is also 

 covered with a beautiful varnish, which is sup- 

 posed to give additional strength. The con- 

 struction of several combs is generally going on 

 at the same time : no sooner is the foundation 

 of one laid, with a few rows of cells attached to 

 it, than a second and a third are founded on 

 each side, parallel to the first, and so on till the 

 hive is filled, the combs which were commenced 

 first being always in the most advanced state, 

 and therefore the first completed. 



" The design of every comb is sketched out, 

 and the first rudiments laid by a single bee : 

 this foundress-bee forms a block out of a rough 

 mass of wax, drawn partly from its own re- 

 sources, but principally from those of other 

 bees, which furnish wax from small sacs, in 

 which it has been secreted, that are situated 

 between the segments of the body of the bee ; 

 taking out the plates of wax w r ith their hind 

 feet, and carrying it with their fore feet to their 

 mouths, where it is moistened, masticated, and 

 rendered soft and ductile. The foundress-bee 

 determines the relative position of the combs, 

 and their distance from each other, the founda- 

 tions which she markes serving as guides to the 

 ulterior labours of the wax- working bees, and 

 of those which build the cells, giving them the 

 advantage of the margins and angles already 

 formed. The mass of wax prepared by the 

 assistants is applied by the foundress-bee to the 

 roof or bottom of th,3 hive, and thus a slightly 

 double convex mass is formed : when of suffi- 

 cient size, a cell is sculptured on one side of it 

 by the bees, who relieve one another in the 



