The Young Queens 



her to stray so far from the hive that the 

 as yet unfamiHar road of return shall grow 

 blurred and hesitating in every memory. 



[74] 



But so potent is the law of the future 

 that none of these uncertainties, these 

 perils of death, will cause a single bee 

 to waver. The enthusiasm displayed by 

 the second and third swarms is not less 

 than that of the first. No sooner has 

 the mother-city pronounced its decision 

 than a battalion of workers will flock 

 around each dangerous young queen, 

 eager to follow her fortunes, to accom- 

 pany her on the voyage where there is 

 so much to lose, and so little to gain 

 beyond the desire of a satisfied instinct. 

 Whence do they derive the energy we 

 ourselves never possess, whereby they 

 break with the past as though with an 

 enemy ? Who is it selects from the 



265 



