The Swarm 



on these hapless, unflinching heroines. I, 

 in common with all amateur bee-keepers, 

 have more than once had impregnated 

 queens sent me from Italy ; for the 

 Italian species is more prolific, stronger, 

 more active, and gentler than our own. It 

 is the custom to forward them in small, 

 perforated boxes. In these some food is 

 placed, and the queen enclosed, together 

 with a certain number of workers, selected 

 as far as possible from among the oldest 

 bees in the hive. (The age of the bee can 

 be readily told by its body, which gradu- 

 ally becomes more polished, thinner, and 

 almost bald ; and more particularly by 

 the wings, which hard work uses and 

 tears.) It is their mission to feed the 

 queen during the journey, to tend her and 

 guard her. I would frequently find, when 

 the box arrived, that nearly every one of 

 the workers was dead. On one occasion, 

 indeed, they had all perished of hunger ; 



87 



