The Life of the Bee 



first flight, scare away vagabonds, ma- 

 rauders and loiterers, expel all intruders, 

 attack redoubtable foes in a body, and, if 

 need be, barricade the entrance. 



Finally, it is the spirit of the hive that 

 fixes the hour of the great annual sacrifice 

 to the genius of the race : the hour, that 

 is, of the swarm ; when we find a whole 

 people, who have attained the topmost pin- 

 nacle of prosperity and power, suddenly 

 abandoning to the generation to come 

 their wealth and their palaces, their homes 

 and the fruits of their labour ; themselves 

 content to encounter the hardships and 

 perils of a new and distant country. This 

 act, be it conscious or not, undoubtedly 

 passes the limits of human morality. 

 Its result will sometimes be ruin, but 

 poverty always; and the thrice-happy 

 city is scattered abroad in obedience to 

 a law superior to its own happiness. 

 Where has this law been decreed, which, 



44 



