RAISING QUEENS ARTIFICIALLY. 
11 
the comb, depositing eggs in the bottoms of the empty cells. 
The bees constantly back out- of her way as she moves along, 
and otter warm honey from their, probosces, of which she 
frequently partakes, There is a circle of bees always around 
her, with their heads toward her, each one in its turn ad- 
vances and touches her with its antense or horns; backing 
out of the circle it crosses horus with its nearest neighbor, 
and this last with its neighbor, and so on, keeping up a con- 
stant communication throughout the hive, showing that the 
queen is there all right. Should the queen be removed 
from the hive, the whole colony will soon become aware of 
the loss, and run confusedly through and on the outside of 
the hive, inquiring by this same crossing of horns for their 
absent queen, communicating the sad intelligence of the loss 
of their royal mother. Should she be returned to them, all 
would soon be quiet again ; but if not returned, they would, 
in a few hours, commence rearing themselves a new queen. 
A queen may be known by the length of her body, which 
is much greater in length than that of the worker. Her 
color is more of a yellowish cast. Unlike the worker, she 
has no baskets on her thighs, formed of curved hairs, for 
carrying bee-bread. Her sting is longer than the worker’s, 
yet she cannot be induced to use it on anything” except a 
rival queen ; but put two queens under a glass tumbler and 
a desperate battle may be witnessed. 
ITALIAN BEES. 
The United States Government being aware that all our 
valuable domestic animals, including horses, cattle, sheep, 
hogs, fowls, &c., were originally imported from other coun- 
tries, and that by repeated importations of the varieties of 
each, the value of our stock has been improved incalculably; 
and learning from Virgil, as well as others, both ancient 
and modern writers, that the Italian bees were not only 
more beautiful, but possessed many qualities much superior 
to the Common or German bees, they concluded that true 
economy demanded that they should import some of this 
variety; accordingly they did so at great expense, through 
the agency of the Patent Office Department. Such is their 
value that they are now being rapidly disseminated over 
every portion of our country, Tho abdomen of the bee is 
