96 
ARTIFICIAL QUEENS. 
seems to express her rage and disappointment at 
being baffled by the watchful guardians of the un- 
hatched queen, from whom the hoarse sound comes. 
In the afternoon of the same day, the last mentioned 
female left her cell. Wo saw her come forth in 
majesty, finely and delicately formed, but smaller 
than the other. She immediately retired within a 
cluster of workers, and we lost sight of her. Next 
morning on opening the shutter of the hive, we per- 
ceived the younger queen rushing apparently in great 
terror across the surface of the comb, and hurrying 
round the edge of it to the other side ; and in the 
next moment, the other royal personage came in 
sight, hotly pursuing her rival. We now fully ex- 
pected to witness Huber’s combat of queens, and 
were about to wheel round the hive on its pivot, to 
contemplate the fray, when business called us away. 
In half an hour we returned, hoping we might be in 
time, but all was over ! the younger queen was lying 
upon the alighting-board on her back, in the pangs 
of death, newly dragged out by the bees, and doubt 
less the victim of her jealous senior. 
We observed two circumstances respecting these 
artificial queens, which may be noticed here, though 
rather, perhaps, out of place — one of them agreeing 
perfectly with the experience of Huber, while the 
other is at variance with it. While the surviving 
queen remained a virgin, not the slightest mark of 
attention or respect was shewn to her by the bees ; 
no one gave her food, she was obliged as often as 
she required it, to help herself, and in crossing 
