The Life of the Bee 



she will die without even once having 

 tasted a flower. Her existence will pass 

 in the shadow, in the midst of a restless 

 throng ; her sole occupation the indefat- 

 igable search for cradles that she must 

 fill. On the other hand she alone will 

 know the disquiet of love. Not even 

 twice, it may be, in her life shall she look 

 on the light — for the departure of the 

 swarm is by no means inevitable ; on one 

 occasion only, perhaps, will she make use 

 of her wings, but then it will be to fly to 

 her lover. It is strange to see so many 

 things — organs, ideas, desires, habits, an 

 entire destiny — depending, not on a 

 germ, which were the ordinary miracle of 

 the plant, the animal, and man, but on 

 a curious inert substance : a drop of 

 honey.-^ 



^ It is generally admitted to-day that workers and 

 queens, after the hatching of the egg, receive the same 

 nourishment, — a kind of milk, very rich in nitrogen, 



246 



