INSTINCT 149 



males to carry on the species now milling about the nest. 

 Males are produced toward the end of the season. The fe- 

 males are fertilized, and then the winds of autumn at first 

 chill and then finally kill all the individuals in the nest except 

 the queens who are somehow, at least in some numbers, able 

 to resist the rigors of winter. Here we see foreshadowed the 

 characteristics of the hive-bees. The bumblebee worker is 

 not yet equipped with the structures and specific instincts 

 of the famous and highly talented hive bee, but there is a 

 beginning. The bumblebee works crudely in wax and in cell 

 construction; the honey storage is very limited; the whole 

 nest is clumsily maintained; no individual is very highly 

 specialized; but, nevertheless, this form represents a step 

 very similar to that which must have been taken long ago 

 in the evolution of the hive bee. We can be doubly sure of 

 this surmise since further gradations to the fullness of social 

 life are available for study from the living relics. 



We need not list in this survey each known gradation, 

 although nature has again been generous in leaving inter- 

 mediate stages through which our understanding of be- 

 havior may be increased. The hive bee is a marvelous insect, 

 and space allotted to recounting its accomplishments will be 

 well used, particularly since it is now established that hive 

 bees have a highly developed talent for the sign and even 

 the symbolism we call language, the trait that psychologists 

 say is necessary for true conceptual thought. 



The ant nest and the beehive are similar in many respects 

 —workers work for the community, the queen lays eggs, 

 males are sacrificed in the fall. In the beehive, however, only 

 one queen is tolerated. Also, among bees there is a unique 

 community temperature, maintained in spite of the fact that 

 the individual bee is cold-blooded. When the outside tem- 

 perature falls below about 55 degrees F., bees become very 

 restless; they take a meal of honey and then form an active 

 crawling mass of individuals, those on the outside and inside 

 constantly exchanging places. It is a remarkable device and 



