LETTERS ON ENTOMOLOGY. Oy 
she appears in a kind of delirium, and without her 
usual instincts, yet the respect of her subjects is 
the same. If two mutilated queens meet, they 
show not the slightest symptom of resentment. 
These antennae appear to be extraordinary in* 
struments of perception. The poor drones have 
a short life and a tragical end, for the eggs that 
produce them are usually laid in April or May, 
and they are stung to death by the workers in 
July or August. However, as they are quite 
idle members of the community, and do nothing 
but eat, it would not be proper that they should 
live all the winter to consume the labours of the 
industrious. We must remark that in hives de- 
prived of their queen they are suffered to re- 
main alive. I must defer any further account 
till my next letter, when I shall tell you some- 
thing of the workers, those lively and interest- 
ing visitors, who disdaining all but the sweetest 
productions of nature, live in flowers and feed 
on nectar, and whose cheerful hum insensibly 
enlivens our summer walks. Adieu for the 
present. 
