The Life of the Bee 



One embrace suffices ; the rest all enacts 

 itself in the very flanks of the bride. 



She descends from the azure heights 

 and returns to the hive, trailing behind 

 her, like an oriflamme, the unfolded entrails 

 of her lover. Some writers pretend that 

 the bees manifest great joy at this return 

 so big with promise — Biichner, among 

 others, giving a detailed account of it. I 

 have many a time lain in wait for the 

 queen-bee's return, and I confess that I 

 have never noticed any unusual emotion 

 except in the case of a young queen who 

 had gone forth at the head of a swarm, 

 and represented the unique hope of a 

 newly founded and still empty city. In 

 that instance the workers were all wildly 

 excited, and rushed to meet her. But as 

 a rule they appear to forget her, even 

 though the future of their city will often be 

 no less imperilled. They act with con- 

 sistent prudence in all things, till the 

 31b 



