18 
pliny's natural history. 
[Book XI, 
always a peculiar form of their own, and are double the size 
of any of the rest ; their wings are shorter than those of the 
others, their legs are straight, their walk more upright, and 
they have a white spot on the forehead, which bears some re- 
semblance to a diadem : they differ, too, very much from the 
rest of the community, in their bright and shining appearance. 
CHAP. 17. (17.) THE MODE OE GOVEEKMENT OE THE BEES. 
Let a man employ himself, forsooth, in the enquiry whether 
there has been only one Hercules, how many fathers Liber 
there have been, and all the other questions which are buried 
deep in the mould of antiquity! Here behold a tiny object, 
one to be met with at most of our country retreats, and num- 
bers of which are alwaj^s at hand, and yet, after all, it is not 
agreed among authors whether or not the king^^ is the only one 
among them that is provided with no sting, and is possessed 
of no other arms than those afforded him by his majestic office, 
or whether I^ature has granted him a sting, and has only denied 
him the power of making use of it ; it being a well-known 
fact, that the ruling bee never does use a sting. The obedi- 
ence which his subjects manifest in his presence is quite sur- 
prising. When he goes forth, the whole swarm attends him, 
throngs about him, surrounds him, protects him, and will not 
allow him to be seen. At other times, when the swarm is at 
work within, the king is seen to visit the works, and appears 
to be giving his encouragement, being himself the only one 
that is exempt from work : around him are certain other bees 
which act as body-guards and iictors, the careful guardians of 
his authority. The king never quits the hive except when the 
swarm is about to depart ; a thing which may be known a long 
time beforehand, as for some days a peculiar buzzing noise 
is to be heard within, which denotes that the bees are waiting 
for a favourable day, and making all due preparations for their 
departure. On such an occasion, if care is taken to deprive the 
king of one of his wings, the swarm will not fly aw^ay. When 
they are on the wing, every one is anxious to be near him, and 
takes a pleasure in being seen in the performance of its duty. 
When he is weary, they support him on their shoulders ; and 
58 The greater size of the abdomen makes the wings loQli shorter. 
The queen has a sting, Uke the working bees, but uses it less fre- 
quently. 
