_Orchard, Iowa._
* * * * *
The amputation of _one_ of the antenna of a queen bee appears not to
affect her perceptibly, but cutting off both these organs produces a
very striking derangement of her proceedings. She seems in a species of
delirium, and deprived of all her instincts; everything is done at
random; yet the respect and homage of her workers, towards her, though
they are received by her with indifference, continue undiminished. If
another in the same condition be put in the hive, the bees do not appear
to discover the difference, and treat them both alike; but if a perfect
one be introduced, even though fertile, they seize her, and keep her in
confinement, and treat her very unhandsomely. “_One may conjecture from
this circumstance, that it is by those wonderful organs, the attennæ,
that the bees know their own queen._”
* * * * *
That which is profitable only to the speculating business, though it be
theoretically plausible, deserves not to be recommended or accepted, if
it be not calculated to produce beneficial results to the practical
bee-keeper.