The Life of the Bee 



this preliminary work be not executed 

 in common, by relays of females, reliev- 

 ing each other in turn." 



However this may be, the fraternal idea 

 has pierced the wall that divided two 

 worlds. It is no longer wild and unrec- 

 ognisable, wrested from instinct by cold 

 and hunger, or by the fear of death ; it is 

 prompted by active life. But it halts 

 once more ; and in this instance arrives 

 no further. No matter, it does not lose 

 courage ; it will seek other channels. It 

 enters the humble-bee, and, maturing 

 there, becomes embodied in a different 

 atmosphere, and works its first decisive 

 miracles. 



[ 107 ] 



The humble-bees, the great hairy, noisy 

 creatures that all of us know so well, so 

 harmless for all their apparent fierceness, 

 lead a solitary life at first. At the begin- 



398 



