MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 
4t 
of 12 short joints, and furnish them with the means of 
communicating their idear. She is armed with a large 
sting, differing from that of the workers by being curved. 
This she never uses except in conflict with a sister 
Queen. 
Her duty principally consists in laying the eggs ; and 
in her proceedings, she is attended by a guard of work- 
ers who pay her the greatest attention. Hence she is 
the Mother of the Hive, and it is one of the most cu- 
rious points in the history of this insect to notice the 
immense influence which this female has over a popu- 
lation of many thousands. Did not the accounts 
which have been given depend upon authors of the 
most indisputable veracity, it would be almost impos- 
sible to believe them. Ueaumur, by dividing a Hive, 
clearly proved the careful attention and devoted affec- 
tion with which she is regarded. He enclosed the two 
portions of the society in glass Hives, anil ascertained that 
that portion which contained the Queen and only a 
small portion of the workers, quickly reared two piec- 
es of comb. The other portion, by far the most nume- 
rous, did not construct a single cell; whence it is evi- 
dent that the instinctive proceedings of the workers 
depend upon the love of progeny; and what is more 
remarkable still, they labor and toil, not for their own 
offspring, for they are totally incapacitated for be- 
coming parents of the Hive. 
The Queen passes 3 days in the egg state, and re- 
mains 5 days in the larva slate. Their cells are now 
closed over by the workers, and they spend 24 hours 
in forming their cocoons. They remain nearly 3 days 
in their cocoons, and are then transformed to pup®, in 
which state they remain 4 or 5 days, She appears in 
the perfect state on the 16th day after the eggs are de- 
posited. 
It appears incredible to those who liavo had no ex- 
perience with Bees, that the larva intended for a work- 
er or neuter Bee, can, by being removed to a royal cell 
and fed on transparent food, be made a Queen — a 
perfect female — different in size, shape, and move- 
ments from the worker. She is quick on foot, and 
