The Life of the Bee 



forsake the plants in the woods, though 

 these be still in full blossom, and will con- 

 fine their visits to the flowers of cabbage 

 and colza alone. In this fashion they 

 regulate, day by day, their distribution 

 over the plants, so as to collect the great- 

 est value of saccharine liquid in the least 

 possible time. 



" It may fairly be claimed, therefore, for 

 the colony of bees that, in its harvesting 

 labours no less than in its internal economy, 

 it is able to establish a rational distribution 

 of the number of workers without ever 

 disturbing the principle of the division of 

 labour." 



[49] 

 But what have we to do, some will ask, 

 with the intelligence of the bees ? What 

 concern is it of ours whether this be a little 

 less or a little more? Why weigh, with 

 such infinite care, a minute fragment of 

 176 



