The Life of the Bee 



I have many times tried the experiment 

 of sprinkling a colouring matter over one 

 of these resigned Cinderellas, that are 

 moreover easily to be distinguished in the 

 midst of the rejoicing crowds by their 

 serious and somewhat ponderous gait, 

 it is rarely indeed that I have found 

 one of them in the delirious throng 

 of the swarm. 



And yet, the attraction must seem 

 irresistible. It is the ecstasy of the per- 

 haps unconscious sacrifice the god has 

 ordained ; it is the festival of honey, the 

 triumph of the race, the victory of the 

 future : the one day of joy, of forgetfulness 

 and folly ; the only Sunday known to 

 the bees. It would appear to be also the 

 solitary day upon which all eat their fill, 

 and revel, to heart's content, in the de- 

 lights of the treasure themselves have 



76 



