Mr. Hunter's Observations on Bees. 165 
“ both eggs and maggots, so suspended that the bees could 
“ come round every part of the comb: in each box was shut 
“ up a handful of working bees. Knowing that when bees 
“ are forming a queen, they should be confined,* the boxes 
“ were kept shut for two days. When examined at the end 
“ of that period (six boxes only were opened), in all of them 
“ royal cells were begun, one, two, or three, in each; all of 
“ these containing a maggot four days old. In four days, the 
“ other six boxes were opened, and royal cells found in each, 
“ containing maggots five days old, surrounded by a large 
“ provision of jelly ; and one of these maggots, examined in 
“ the microscope, in every respect resembled a working bee. 
“ This experiment was repeated, and the maggots se- 
“ lected to be made queens were three days old ; and in 
“ seventeen days there were found in the twelve boxes fif- 
“ teen lively, handsome queens, -f These experiments were 
“ made in May, and the bees were allowed to work great 
“ part of the summer : the bees were examined one by one, 
“ but no drone could be discovered, and yet the queens were 
“ impregnated, and laid their eggs. X 
“ The above experiment was repeated with pieces of comb, 
* How he came to know this, I cannot conceive, for nothing a priori could give 
such information. 
t Now this account is not only improbable, but it does not tally with itself. 
First, it is not probable that a handful of bees should, or would, set about making 
two, three, or four queens, when we do not find that number in a large hive : and 
secondly, it seems inconsistent that only fifteen should be formed out of twelve parcels, 
when some of the former parcels had four young queens. 
X Here is a wonder of another kind : queens laying eggs, which (we must sup- 
pose Mr. Schirach meant we should believe) they hatched, without the influence 
of the male. 
