358 INSECTS THAT LIVE 
guided by a blind instinct, assure them- 
selves of the existence of the succeed- 
ing generation, but they do not live suf- 
ficiently long to see the developement 
of their young; we cannot, therefore, 
refer their conduct to motives of affec- 
tion. 
Those insects which live in society 
are devoted to the care of their family ; 
there reigns between them an intimate 
bond of union, from which result rela- 
tions that cannot exist among the former. 
What an interesting scene is there not 
offered to us on viewing this hive of 
bees, that nest of humble-bees, those 
wasps, and, particularly, these ants. I 
see the humble-bee prepare a cell for its 
young, which it partly fills with the food 
necessary for their preservation, under a 
fear, perhaps, of not being able, alone, to 
satisfy their wants: if their provisions 
are exhausted, the mother nourishes 
them herself’; she visits the flowers, and 
then returns to her nest, bestowing upon 
the larva which are disclosed the most 
