Page 126 - The Miracle of the Honeybee

124 THE MIRACLE OF THE HONEYBEE

If the old queen does not leave the hive before the new potential
queens emerge from their cells, this shows that she has grown old. The
new queen will then sting her to death.
Sometimes, however, the old queen does not abandon the hive, even
though she is not senile or feeble, but due to weather conditions. This
could be a very dangerous situation, because if the new queen emerges
while the old one is still in the hive, the two will fight and one must kill the
other.
In order to prevent such chaos, which would damage the hive’s equi-
librium, the bees resort to a most astonishing method. The potential
queens which have completed their development and bitten through their
cocoons are imprisoned with cell covers that are stronger than usual. The
bees do not forget to leave a small space open, however, through which

the workers will later feed them.
Yet the problem does not end here. The old queen moves through the
hive more actively than ever. If she detects the new queens, she will try to
destroy them. Yet this is not permitted. The workers gather over the new
queens’ cells and repel the old queen if she tries to harm them. 109
All the workers’ efforts are aimed at protecting the new queen, and
hence the colony itself. The new queens are protected by the precautions
thus taken, which allow for every possibility.
On occasion, a colony will need to release more than one swarm. In that
event, that is, if the new young queen is to leave the hive with an en-
tourage of workers for a second swarm, the workers immediately begin
raising another new queen. 110

BEES BEHAVE ACCORDING TO

GOD’S INSPIRATION

As we have seen so far, bees are some of the most astonishing creatures
in the animal kingdom. The honeycombs they build are architectural mar-
vels, which they produce with such patience with wax drops no larger