HABITS AND INTELLIGENCE OF BEES 125 



as the British workman sometimes holds himself to 

 be, to toil from early morning to night, that the 

 fruit of so much labour may one day be thanklessly 

 appropriated for the benefit of a greedy master. If 

 they choose, they need trouble themselves little for 

 the future ; for, if they have finished an unsuccess- 

 ful season spent in rummaging the gardens of my 

 neighbours around Clapham Common, the sweet 

 stores of the nearest grocer are always liberally 

 drawn upon for their benefit. One small colony is 

 quite at home on a small stand in my room, having 

 access to the outside through a little tube passing 

 underneath my window-sill. The little creatures 

 are, however, quite as anxious to get into the room 

 as they are to go outside, for they probably think 

 from experience that the world would be on the 

 whole a very fine place to live in, if the good things 

 thereof were within such easy reach as they usually 

 find them when they are admitted from this side. 

 Let me draw up the slide a little. There they are ; 

 the little heads thrust expectantly forward, squeezing 

 each other in the endeavour to force a passage 

 underneath. One little amazon has pushed her way 

 through ; and, as I want to introduce her to you, 

 we will shut the door on the rest. 



She is too much preoccupied rushing about in 

 search of expected sweets to make her bow to the 

 British public at the present moment. Look at her 

 as she travels inquiringly round ; is she not a 

 well-bred, intelligent-looking little creature ? Any 

 one can judge for himself, without finding it necessary 

 to take a slice of her little brain to look at through 

 a microscope. Intelligent in every motion, clean 

 cut, compact in form, with no gaudy patches of 



