RECKLESSNESS OF BEES. 285 



marked them. They returned ; but I could not see 

 them in the same part of the hive. One, however, I 

 found not far off. 



At 9.30 brought out four bees, fed and marked them. 

 One returned to the same part of the hive. I lost sight 

 of the others. 



Since their extreme eagerness for honey may be 

 attributed rather to their anxiety for the commonweal 

 than to their desire for personal gratification, it cannot 

 fairly be imputed as greediness; still the following 

 scene, described by Dr. Langstroth, and one which 

 most of us have witnessed, is incompatible surely with 

 much intelligence. 'No one can understand the 

 extent of their infatuation until he has seen a con- 

 fectioner's shop assailed by myriads of hungry bees. 

 I have seen thousands strained out from the syrup 

 in which they had perished ; thousands more alighting 

 even upon the boiling sweets; the floor covered and 

 windows darkened with bees, some crawling, others 

 flying, and others still so completely besmeared as 

 to be able neither to crawl nor fly — not one in ten 

 able to carry home its ill-gotten spoils, and yet the air 

 filled with new hosts of thoughtless comers.' ^ 



If, however, bees are to be credited with any moral 

 feelings at all, I fear the experience of all bee-keepers 

 shows that they have no conscientious scruples about 

 robbing their weaker brethren. * If the bees of a strong 

 stock,' says Langstroth, ' once get a taste of forbidden 

 1 Hive- and Honey-Bee, Langstroth, p. 277. 



