84 THE STUDY OF ANIMAL LIFE CHAP. 



the home is centred in the cradle, for it is in a nest with 

 honey and pollen stored around the eggs that the hive 

 seems to have begun. The tropical species of Melipona 

 and Trigona form permanent colonies, but with imperfect 

 combs. They lead on to the hive-bees proper (Apis) in 

 which the comb is perfected. 



6. Ants. Even more suggestive of our own social 

 organisation is the Lilliputian world of the ants, who, like 

 microscopic men, build barns and lay up stores, divide 

 their labour and indulge in play, wage wars and make 

 slaves. Like the bee-hive, the ant-nest includes three 

 kinds of individuals a queen mother or more than one, 

 a number of short-lived males, and a crowd of workers. 

 The queen is again pre-eminently maternal, and, if we 

 can trust the enthusiastic observers, she is attended with 

 loyal devotion, not without some judicious control. 

 Farren White describes how the workers attend the 

 queen in her perambulations : " They formed round her 

 w r hen she rested ; some showed their regard for her by 

 gently walking over her, others by patiently watching 

 by her and cherishing her with their antenna", and in 

 every way endeavouring to testify to their affectionate 

 attachment and generous submission." Gould ventures 

 further, alleging that " in whatever apartment a queen 

 condescends to be present, she commands obedience and 

 respect, and a universal gladness spreads itself through 

 the whole cell, which is expressed by particular acts of 

 joy and exultation. They have a peculiar way of skip- 

 ping, leaping, and standing up on their hind legs, and 

 prancing with the others. These frolics they make use 

 of both to congratulate each other when they meet, and 

 to show their regard for the queen/' These are wonder- 

 ful lists of assumed emotions ! Should an indispensable 

 queen be desirous to quit the nest, the workers do not 

 hesitate, it is said, to keep her by force, and to tear off 

 her wings to secure her stay. It is certain at least that 

 as the queens settle down to the labour of maternity, 

 their wings arc lost perhaps in obedience to some 

 physiological necessity. From the much greater number 

 of the wingless workers, we arc apt to forget that the 



