of those of her rivals, and, as will be afterwards described, exerts herself with the most impetuous eagerness to destroy them. When two Queens happen to emerge from their cells at the same time, a pitched battle takes place, which ends in the death of one of the combatants. We have never witnessed this interesting exhibition of bee-warfare,—this duellum, as described by Huber, but we have no doubt of its being a fact, after the very unequivocal proofs we have witnessed of this mutual aversion, and particularly the instance to be afterwards stated.
Functions of the Worker-Bee—(See Pl. I. Fig. 3)—The workers, to the number of 10,000, 20,000, and even 30,000, constitute the great mass of the population, and on them devolve the whole labours of the establishment. Theirs is the office of searching for and collecting the precious fluid which not only furnishes their daily food, as well as that of their young, and the surplus of which is laid up for winter stores, but also the materials from which they rear their beautiful combs. In the little basket-shaped cavity in their hind-legs, they bring home the pollen or farinaceous dust of flowers, kneaded by the help of the morning dew into tiny balls, which form an important ingredient in the nourishment of the brood; and also the propolis or adhesive gum extracted from willows, &c. with which they attach their combs to the upper part and sides of the hive, and stop every crevice that might admit the winter's cold. Exploring a glass hive in a soft spring morning, and following with his eye a Bee loaded with
