164 
ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 
bringing them back to the charge when they are disposed to 
recede from each other ; and when either of the queens shows a 
disposition to approach her antagonist, all the bees forming the 
cluster instantly give way to allow her full liberty of attack. 
The first use which the conquering queen makes of her victory 
is to secure herself against fresh dangers by destroying all her 
future rivals in the royal cells ; while the other bees, which are 
spectators of the carnage, share in the spoil, greedily devouring 
any food which may be found at the bottom of the cells, and 
even sucking the fluid from the abdomen of the pupae before 
they toss out the carcasses . 1 
Similarly, when a strange queen is put into a hive 
already provided with a queen — 
A circle of bees instinctively crowd around the invader, not, 
however, to attack her — for a worker never assaults a queen — 
but to respectfully prevent her escape, in order that a combat 
may take place between her and their reigning monarch. The 
lawful possessor then advances towards the part of the comb 
where the invader has established herself, the attendant workers 
clear a space for the encounter, and, without interfering, wait 
the result. A fearful encounter then ensues, in which one is 
stung to death, the survivor mounting the throne. Although 
the workers of a de facto monarch will not fight for her defence, 
yet, if they perceive a strange queen attempting to enter the 
hive, they will surround her, and hold her until she is starved 
to death ; but such is their respect for royalty that they never 
attemnt to sting her . 2 
JL O 
All these facts display a wonderful amount of ap- 
parently sagacious purpose on the part of the workers, 
although they may not seem to reflect much credit on the 
intelligence of the queens. But in this connection we 
must remember the observation of F. Huber, who saw 
two queens, which were the only ones left in the hive, 
engaged in mortal combat; and when an opportunity 
arose for each to sting the other simultaneously, they 
simultaneously released each other’s grasp, as if in horror 
of a situation that might have ended in leaving the hive 
queenless. This, then, is the calamity to avert which all 
1 Art. ‘Bees,’ Encycl. Brit. 
2 Dr. Kemp, Indications of Instinct, 
