The Massacre of the Males 



superfluous wealth to distribute it among 

 those whom misfortune, unmerited always 

 in this laborious world, may have ren- 

 dered necessitous. He covers the dwell- 

 ings, half closes the doors, removes the 

 useless frames, and leaves the bees to 

 their long winter sleep. They gather 

 in the centre of the hive, contract them- 

 selves, and cling to the combs that con- 

 tain the faithful urns ; whence there shall 

 issue, during days of frost, the transmuted 

 substance of summer. The queen is in 

 the midst of them, surrounded by her 

 guard. The first row of the workers 

 attach themselves to the sealed cells ; a 

 second row cover the first, a third the 

 second, and so in succession to the last 

 row of all, which form the envelope. 

 When the bees of this envelope feel the 

 cold stealing over them, they re-enter 

 the mass, and others take their place. 

 The suspended cluster is like a sombre 



357 



