The Life of the Bee 



relation in which this truth always must 

 stand to our being, and to universal law ; 

 and in that case it is not the truth, but 

 our intellect, that needs embellishment 

 and ennoblement. 



I will frankly confess, therefore, that 

 the marked bee often returns alone. 

 Shall we believe that in bees there exists 

 the same difference of character as in 

 men ; that of them too some are gossips, 

 and others prone to silence? A friend 

 who stood by and watched my experi- 

 ment, declared that it was evidently mere 

 selfishness or vanity that caused so many 

 of the bees to refrain from revealing the 

 source of their wealth, and from sharing 

 with others the glory of an achievement 

 that must seem miraculous to the hive. 

 These were sad vices indeed, which give 

 not forth the sweet odour, so fragrant 

 and loyal, that springs from the home of 

 the many thousand sisters. But, what- 



164 



