150 
■tHE farmer’s MANCAt. 
by Apiarians. Mr. Huisb is decidedly of opinion, 
that the queen knows not coition, that she is a virgin 
mother, and that her eggs arc impregnated by the 
drones, after she has deposited them in the cells ; but 
a whole host of Apiarians are opposed to the senti- 
ment; yet all agree in this, that the act of coition has 
never been discovered. The queen is not only the 
mother and queen of the hive, but the soul of the 
hive. All is order whilst she lives, and all is confu- 
sion the moment she is dead ; hence the reason why 
she seldom if ever ventures abroad, and why the 
whole swarm so cheerfully and affectionately support 
and protect her in the hive. Thus nature provides 
for their peace and order, by giving the queen Bee 
short and feeble wings for flight, and short and feeble 
teeth for labour, fitted only for her own feeding, to- 
gether with a feeble sting, and a mild temper to 
shield her from exposure to violence and death. 
The! queen not only governs the swarm by their afl'ec- 
tions, but she leads them wherever she goes ; and is 
their rallying point, both in and out of the hive, 
whenever she ventures abroad. All this, together 
with every movement and operation of the Bee, is 
the result, not of their particular municipal Taws, but 
of that general law of instinct, derived li'om God 
their Creator, at their first formation. Much visiona- 
ry speculation has infested the- brains of Apiarians 
upon Ivhc fecundation of the queen Bee, but ail are 
agreed in this, that the cell in which the queen Bee 
i.s born, is perpendicular and circular, whereas all 
the others are hexagonal and horizontal ; and the 
queen molher knows what will be the offspring of the 
egg that she lays in the circular cells. The cell of 
the drone is different still, being neither circular, nor 
hexagonal, but irregular ; this has again led Apia- 
rians into much hypothetical disquisition, without de- 
monstration, Sfnd all fraught with more theory than 
profit. 
