A SWARM LEAVES THE BEE TREE
The old Bee tree was becoming very crowded and the Queen-Mother grewrestless. There were many things to make her so. In the tree werethousands of cells made ready for her eggs, and she had been busy fordays putting one in each. In the larger cells she laid eggs that wouldhatch out Drones, and in the smaller ones she laid Worker eggs. Shenever laid any Queen eggs. Perhaps she did not want any Queens among herchildren, for there can never be two Queens in one swarm, and when a newone is hatched, the Queen-Mother has to go away and find another home.That is a law among the Bees.
The Workers, however, knew that there must be young Queens growing upall the time. Supposing something should happen to the Queen-Mother,what would become of the swarm if there were nobody to lay eggs? Soafter she had laid several thousand Worker eggs, and it was time for theyoung ones to hatch, they decided to change some of the babies intoyoung Queens. And this was easy enough. When they were out for honey,they filled the pockets on their hind legs with pollen, the yellow dustthat is found in flowers. This was to be mixed with honey and water andmade into bread for the babies, who were now awake, and looked liketiny white worms in the bottom of their cells. Then they made some thatwas almost like sour jelly, and put it in a few of the Worker cells forthe tiny white worms, or Larvae, to eat. The Larvae that eat this jellygrow up to be Queens, and can lay eggs. Those that eat the common breadare either Drones or Workers, whichever their mother had planned them tobe.
After the Larvae were five or six days old, the Workers shut them up intheir cells and stopped feeding them. That was because the Larvae hadother things to do than eat. They had to spin their cocoons, and lie inthem until they were grown and ready to come out among the older Bees.When a Larva, or Bee baby, has finished its cocoon, and is lying inside,it is called a Pupa, and when a Pupa is full grown and has torn its wayout of the cocoon and wax, it is called a Drone, or a Worker, or aQueen.
Now the Queen-Mother was restless. She could hear the young Queenspiping in their cells, and she knew that they wanted to come out anddrive her away. She wanted to get to them and stop their piping, but theWorkers stood in her way and prevented her. They knew it would not bewell for the Queen-Mother to meet her royal children, and when thesechildren tried to come out the Workers covered the doors of their cellswith another layer of wax, leaving little holes where they could put outtheir tongues and be fed.
This made the Queen-Mother more restless than ever. "If I cannot do as Iwish to with my own children," she said, "I will leave the tree." Andshe began walking back and forth as fast as she could, and talked agreat deal, and acted almost wild with impatience. The Workers saw howshe felt, and part of them decided to go with her. When a Worker madeup her mind to go with the Queen-Mother, she showed it by also actingwild and walking back and forth, and talking a great deal, sometimesfluttering her wings very fast. Then she would go for honey, becausewhen Bees are about to swarm they fill their honey-pockets just as fullas they can. At times the Queen-Mother would be quiet, and you mightalmost think that she had given up going. Then suddenly she would growrestless again, and all the Workers who were going with her would act asshe did, and they would get so warm with excitement that the air in thetree became quite hot.
At last the Queen-Mother thought it time to start, and her followerscame around her in the tree, and were very still for a minute. Severalof the Workers had been flying in circles around the tree, and now theycame to the doorway and called. Then all came out, and hovered in theair a few minutes before stopping to rest on a bush near by. When theyrested, the first Bee held on to the bush, the next Bee held on to her,and that was the way they did until they were all clinging tightlytogether in a squirming, dark-brown mass.
Ah, then the Queen-Mother was happy! She felt that she was young again,and she thought, "How they love me, these dear Workers!" She stroked herbody with her legs to make herself as fine as possible, and she noticed,with pleasure, how slender she was growing. "I had thought I shouldnever fly again," she said, "yet this is delightful. I believe I will gooff by myself for a little while."
So she flew off by herself and was talking rather airily to a Butterflywhen two of the Workers came after her.
"You may return to the rest," she said in a queenly way, as she motionedto them with her feelers. "I will come by and by."
"No," said they, "you must come at once or we shall all go back to theBee tree. You must stay with us. You must do your part as it should bedone." And she had to go, for she knew in her heart that Queens have toobey the law as well as other people.
After she had hung with the Workers on the bush for some time, the oneswho had gone ahead to find a new home for the swarm came back and gavethe signal for the rest to follow. They went to an old log near theriver-bank, and here they began the real work. Crawling through anopening at one end, they found a roomy place within, and commenced toclean house at once.
"If there is anything I do like," said a Worker, as she dropped asplinter of rotten wood outside the door, "it is house-cleaning."
"So do I," said her sister. "But what a fuss the Drones always make whenwe try to do anything of the sort! A pretty-looking home we'd have ifthey took care of it!"
"I'm glad none of them came with us to this place," said the firstWorker. "I guess they knew they were not wanted."
"There, there!" said the Queen-Mother, coming up to where they were;"you must not talk in that way. It may be that you would rather dowithout Drones, and perhaps they would rather do without you; but I needyou both and I will not have any quarreling." When she said this shewalked away with her head in the air, and the Workers did not scold anymore. They knew that she was right, and, after all, she was their Queen,even if she did have to obey the laws.
Next they got varnish from the buds of poplar trees and varnished overall the cracks and little holes in the walls of their home, leaving openonly the place where they were to go in and out. They also covered withvarnish a few heavy fragments of wood that lay on the floor of theirhome, and when this task was done it was all in order and ready for thefurniture, that is, the comb.
You know how the comb looks, and you know how they get the wax fromwhich to make it, but unless you are acquainted with the Bees, and haveseen them at work, you have no idea what busy creatures they are. TheQueen-Mother, as soon as the cells were ready and she could begin layingeggs again, was as contented and happy as ever.
One day, when she was walking around a corner of the comb, she ranagainst a sad and discouraged-looking Worker. "Why, what is the matter?"said she, kindly. "Are you sick?"
"No," answered the Worker. "I'm not sick and I'm not tired, only I wantto get through."
"Through with what?" asked the Queen.
"With work! It is clean house, varnish the walls, make wax, build combs,get honey, make bread and jelly, and feed the babies. And when they getold enough they'll have to clean house, varnish the walls, make wax,build combs, get honey, make bread and jelly, and feed the babies. Iwant to know when it is going to stop, and Bees can spend their time inplay."
"Never," said the Queen-Mother; and she spoke very gently, for she sawthat the Worker was crazy. "It will never stop. If you had nothing to dobut play all your life you would soon want to die, and you ought to, forthere is no place in this world for idlers. You know that after a whilethe Drones die because they do nothing, and it is right they should."
"Don't you ever get tired of your eggs?" asked the Worker.
"No," answered the Queen-Mother, "I don't. You see, I have so much tothink about, and happy thoughts make tasks light. And then, you know, itis not always the same kind of egg, and that makes a pleasant change forme. I will give you a motto to remember: 'As long as a Bee is well, workis pleasant when done faithfully.'"
"Perhaps that is the matter with me," said the Worker, raising herdrooping head. "I have been careless lately when I thought nobody waslooking. I will try your way."
When she had gone, the Queen-Mother smiled to herself and said:
"Poorchild! When work is no longer a pleasure, life is indeed sad. But anyLarva should know better than to work carelessly when she is notwatched."