ijas -been- before related, concerning those of the cater- 

 pillars. 



15. The sight of a bee-hive is certainly one of the 

 finest that can offer itself to our eyes : there appears in 

 it an astonishing air of grandeur. One can never be 

 weary of contemplating these work-shops, where thou- 

 sands of labourers are constantly employed in different 

 works. We. are struck in a particular manner with the 

 geometrical exactness of their works ; as we likewise are 

 at the sight of their magazines, which are replenished 

 with every thing necessary for the support of the society 

 during the rigorous season. We likewise-stop with plea- 

 sure to behold the young ones in their cradles, and to 

 obsejrye the tender care of their nursing mothers to-- 

 wan re them. 



But what chiefly attracts the attention is the queen : 

 the slowness, I had almost said gravity, of her inarch, 

 her stature, which is a more advantageous one than thai 

 ef the- other bees, and, above all, Hie various homage- 

 paid her by the rest. We can scarcely believe what our 

 eves are witnesses of, in the regard and assiduities of 

 the neuters for this Moved queen. But- our amazement 

 is greatU heightened when we see these laborious, ac- 

 tive insects, entirely, cease from their labour, and suffer 

 themselves to perish, as. soon as they are deprived of 

 their sovereign. 



By what secret engagement,, by what law superior to 

 that whereby each individual provides for its own pre- 

 servation, <ire the bees attached to their qneen in such 

 a degree, as absolutely to neglect the care of their owu 

 lives, whan they happen to be separated from her] 

 This law seems to be nothing more than the grand 

 principle of the preservation of the species : the neuters 

 do not- engender, but they, know that the queen enjoys- 

 that faculty ;. they construct those cells, whose propor- 

 tions we so much admire,, for the reception of the egg$ 

 she. is ready to lay. Nature has instructed them a& 



