THE HONEY-BEE. 
193 
seldom the prosperity of the apiary is affected hy the 
death of a queen ; yet, supposing the duration of her 
life to extend to four years, — and we have no certainty 
of its being of longer continuance, — in every collection 
of four stock hives, there must be, on an average, one 
death each year. And yet how seldom are we aware 
of this event, or suffer any diminution of our stocks 
inconsequence! We can account for this only hy 
concluding that the death of the queen from age, 
takes place much less frequently in winter than in 
summer, at which season eggs may have been already 
laid in royal cells ; or, at all events, there being then 
common eggs and brood of all ages in the hive, the 
bees have it in their power to rear a successor from 
the larva of a worker. And the males being at the 
same time in great numbers, impregnation of the 
young queen soon takes place, eggs are laid forty-six 
hours afterwards, and the business of the community 
goes on without further interruption. 
Bees are confessedly a very irritable race, and in 
our frequent inspection of the hives at this season, as 
well as in our operations with them throughout the 
year, we are sometimes made to feel their fury, and 
to smart under the venom of their stings. Almost 
all bee-masters are of opinion that the anger of the 
bees is greatly excited and aggravated by the odour 
of their own poison.* Feburier thinks that this 
venom is more or less active according to the temper- 
* The venom of bees is extremely active ; Reaumur con- 
jectures that the weight of a grain would kill a pigeon in a few 
seconds. 
N 
