The Progress of the Race 



metempsychosis, and re-incarnate itself, 

 trembling with its last triumph, rendered 

 all-powerful now and nearly perfect, in 

 another group, the last but one of the 

 race, that which immediately precedes our 

 domestic bee wherein it attains its crown ; 

 the group of the Meliponitas, which 

 comprises the tropical Meliponae and 

 Trigonae. 



[io8] 



Here the organisation is as complete as 

 in our hives. There is an unique mother, 

 there are sterile workers and males. Cer- 

 tain details even seem better devised. The 

 males, for instance, are not wholly idle ; 

 they secrete wax. The entrance to the 

 hive is more carefully guarded ; it has a 

 door that can be closed when nights are 

 cold, and when these are warm a kind of 

 curtain will admit the air. 



But the republic is less strong, general 

 z6 401 



