NATURE’S QUEEN
THE QUEEN BEE, Jean Henri Fabre
WORD MEANING:
1. 1. Destined – to reach destination or goal
2. Spacious – having space
3. Fastened – tightened
4. Edge – corner
5. Combs – arranged cells
6. Accomplishes – completes
7. Larvae – small and
tender insects
8. Nourishment – Taking
care for growth and development
9. Abundance – available in
plenty
10. Excessively – having
extra
11. Endure – to tolerate,
bear with someone
12. Threaten – scaring or
scolding someone
13. Status –respect and
position in society
14. Hatched – producing
babies from eggs
15. Rustling – soft sound
made during movement
16. Battalion – force
17. Resort – make use of
18. Stamps – bringing under
feet
19. Pitilessly – with no
mercy
20. Blows – hits
21. Scene – visual
22. Civil war – a war within
a country
23. Buzzing – continuous low
noise
24. Hive – place where honey
bee stays
25. Abandons – leaves,
rejects
26. Rivals – opponents
27. Rushes – hurries up,
hastens
28. Mandibles – strong bones
29. Plunge – hit, use force
30. Perish – die, expire
31. Retire – leaving place
32. Succumb – surrender
33. Seizes – occupy
34. Stings – hitting with
sting
35. Accustomed – familiar,
got used to
36. Pretenders – acting like
37. Reigning – ruling
38. Tenderly – softly, gently
39. Humming – making very low
and continuous noise
40. Rearing – upbring of a child
41. Sacred – holy
A.3 WORK IN PAIR:
a. Describe the civil war in the beehive.
What is the masterstroke and who decided it?
As the new born young queens grew, they try to get out
of their royal cells at any cost and opposes the royal queen. Therefore, she
drags the young queens and tries to kill them. This leads to civil war in which
some lean to the old queen while others to the young ones.
Finally, the queen decides a masterstroke to abandon
the hive along with her faithful followers.
b. In your opinion, are bees extremely cruel
creatures? Answer with reference to the way in which the royal unity is
restored in the beehive.
I don’t think bees are cruel creatures. The queen is
jealous of another queen present in the hive. Working bees are strong minded
and protect young bees from the danger. They allow queens to fight in order to
find the most skillful to be their queen and thereafter proceeds to normal work
and order.
c. What does the instinct of the bees demand
them to do?
When the civil war breaks out in the hive, it becomes
necessary to end this war and to save the future. The bees seem to understand
this very well. Their instinct tells to them restore royal unity, royal dignity
and order after the war.
A.4 READ THE
STORY:
a. What is the role of drones in the hive?
Drones are all male bees in the hive. Their only job
is to mate with the queen to help her produce offspring.
b. Why do you think the queen mother attacks
the royal cells?
As the new born young queens grew, they try to get out
of their royal cells at all cost and opposes the royal queen. Therefore, she
attacks the royal cells and tries to kill them all.
Ex. A.6 (Page: 37)
b. Fill
in the blanks by adding suitable suffixes.
i. I
could see the beautiful (beauty) mountains at a distance.
ii. The
writer (write) is famous for his poems and short stories.
iii. Many
new construction (construct) projects are being carried out in the
pristine mountains.
iv. After
losing their habitats recently due to deforestation, many species of animals
and birds in the rainforest are facing a new hardship (hard).
v. The
use of reused (reuse) plastic will reduce the burden on the
environment.
vi. I
come to these mountains every year to enjoy the natural (nature)
beauty of this place.
vii. The
wild animals were forced to venture near human villages looking for nourishment (nourish).
viii. The reality (real) is that many large-scale human activities are
polluting and harming the environment we live in.
Ex. A.7 (Page: 38)
a.
The story The Queen Bee is
an extract from the book The Story-Book of Insects. (F)
b. The bees can differentiate between the
queen-eggs and the working-bee-eggs. (T)
c. The nurses and wax-bees protect the
newly hatched queens. (T)
d. The old queen steps aside to make space
for the new queens. (F)
e. The bees do not give upon their queen
easily after she perished. (T)
f. The bees mourn their queen for a week.
(F)
Ex. A.8 (Page: 38)
“Now, in the spring, when the
working-bees and drones are already hatched, a loud rustling is heard in the
royal cells. The young queens are trying to get out of their wax prisons. The
nurses and wax-bees stand guard in a dense battalion. They keep the young
queens in their cells by force. “It is not time for you to show yourselves”,
they seem to say, “there is danger!” And very respectfully they resort to force.
But the impatient young queens renew their rustling.
“The queen-mother has heard them. She
stamps with rage on the royal cells; she drags the pretenders from their cells
and pitilessly tears them to pieces. Several succumb under her blows; but the bees
surround her and little by little draw her away from the scene of violence. The
future is saved; there are still some queens left.
a.
The wax-bees prevent the young
queens from getting out of their cells because
iii.
there is danger to the lives of the young queens.
b. The queen-mother stamps on the royal
cells and attacks the pretenders because
i. they are a threat to her royal
status.
c. What does the battalion refer
to here?
iii.
an army of wax bees.
d. Select appropriate response suitable
for 1 and 2.
1. The young queens continue their
loud rustling.
2. The queen-mother attacks the
royal cells and several succumb to her blows.
ii.
1 is the cause and 2 is the effects.
Ex. A.9 Choose the correct options. (Page:
39)
a. What decides whether a bee will be a
working bee or a queen bee?
ii. the kind of good they are fed.
b. Which word from the passage means a
state of confusion in the hive?
ii. tumult
c. Why do the dueling queens not plunge
their poisonous sting into the other’s body?
iv.
A duel in which both perish is against their basic instinct.
d. Why does a queen bee abandon her hive?
ii. She is upset about the bees rearing a new queen.
A.10 ANSWER THE
FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:
a. Why is the chosen larva fed the
sugary pap?
Once the reigning queen perishes by accident or dies
of old age, they think about replacing the queen. A young larva is chosen from
the common cells and taken care of. It is supposed to be their future queen,
therefore, fed with sugary pap that makes queens.
b. What is the loud rustling sound that
is heard in the cells around spring time?
The loud rustling sound that is heard in the cells are
of the young bees and queens who are trying to get out of their wax cells.
c. Why does a civil war break out in the
hive and how does it end?
As the queen bees are hatched, they try to get out of
their wax cells. Queen mother pitilessly tears them to pieces. Hence, the civil
war breaks out in the hive. In the war, some bees lean to the old queen, others
to the young one. Therefore, mother queen abandons the hive with her followers
to find a new colony elsewhere and the civil war ends.
d. Why are the young dueling bees
prevented from getting away from other?
There cannot be two queens in a hive. So, a duel to
the death between two young queens decides which of them shall reign in the
hive. The more skillful, decided in a fight, is the right one to be their queen.
Hence, they can not escape from the fight until one dies.
A.11 Answer in
detail:
a. Describe the duel that takes place
between the young queens to decide who will reign.
Two young queens come out of their cells and join in the shock of a battle; seize the antenna of the other with thein mandibles and hold themselves head-to-head. In this position, each tries to plunge its poisoned sting into its rival’s body. The bees gathered around them prevent their getting away until one succumbed. The more skillful one jumps on its rival’s back, seizes it where the wing joins the body, and stings it in the side. The victim stretches its legs and dies. Finally, royal unity is restored.
b. How do we know that the working bees
take a long time to accept that a queen bee has perished?
We know the working bees take a long time to accept that a queen bee has perished by seeing the respectful treatment they give to the deceased bee. They brush her tenderly, offer her honey as if to revive her, turn her over, feel her lovingly and treat her with all the regard they gave her when alive. They mourn only after two to three days when they come to know she is dead.
c. Why is the civil war and the fight
among the young queen bees necessary? Do you think the bees could have resolved
the issue in some other way? Suggest some alternative ways.
Nature has its own mysterious way to preserve itself.
The fight among the young queen bees becomes necessary for their flourish. When
the civil war breaks out, it helps bees leave the hive and spread out
elsewhere.
I wish this process could be accomplished peacefully
and voluntarily that mother queen leaves the hive over to the young bees and a
farewell is given to her and her supporters.
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