The Swarm 



harmonies to which our ears are not 

 attuned. We soon shall see with what 

 startling rapidity they are able to under- 

 stand each other, and adopt concerted 

 measures, when, for instance, the great 

 honey thief, the huge sphinx atropos, the 

 sinister butterfly that bears a death's head 

 on its back, penetrates into the hive, 

 humming its own strange note, which acts 

 as a kind of irresistible incantation; the 

 news spreads quickly from group to group, 

 and from the guards at the threshold to 

 the workers on the furthest combs, the 

 whole population quivers. 



[h] 



It was for a long time believed that 

 when these wise bees, generally so pru- 

 dent, so far-sighted and economical, aban- 

 doned the treasures of their kingdom and 

 flung themselves upon the uncertainties 

 of life, they were yielding to a kind of 

 55 



