The Life of the Bee 



has not succeeded, among the Xylo- 

 copse, in passing beyond this first obscure 

 Hne of love. 



Among other Apiens, this groping idea 

 assumes other forms. The Chahcodomte 

 of the out-houses, which are building- 

 bees, the Dasypodae and Halicti, which 

 dig holes in the earth, unite in large 

 colonies to construct their nests. But it 

 is an illusory crowd composed of solitary 

 units, that possess no mutual understand- 

 ing, and do not act in common. Each 

 one is profoundly isolated in the midst 

 of the multitude, and builds a dwelling 

 for itself alone, heedless of its neighbour. 

 " They are," M. Perez remarks, " a mere 

 congregation of individuals, brought to- 

 gether by similar tastes and habits, but 

 observing scrupulously the maxim of each 

 one for itself; in fact, a mere mob of 

 workers, resembling the swarm of a hive 

 only as regards their number and zeal. 



396 



