COMMON WASPS 



tions. In the Wasps' nest, as everywhere, there are 

 weaklings who are cut down before their time. 



I see these puny sufferers refuse their food and slowly 

 pine away. The nurses perceive it even more clearly. 

 They .bend their heads over the invalid, sound it with 

 their antennae, and pronounce it incurable. Then the 

 creature at the point of death is torn ruthlessly from its 

 cell and dragged outside the nest. In the brutal com- 

 monwealth of the Wasps the invalid is merely a piece 

 of rubbish, to be got rid of as soon as possible for fear of 

 contagion. Nor indeed is this the worst. As winter 

 draws near the Wasps foresee their fate. They know 

 their end is at hand. 



The first cold nights of November bring a change in 

 the nest. The building proceeds with diminished en- 

 thusiasm ; the visits to the pool of honey are less constant. 

 Household duties are relaxed. Grubs gaping with 

 hunger receive tardy relief, or are even neglected. Pro- 

 found uneasiness seizes upon the nurses. Their former 

 devotion is succeeded by indifference, which soon turns 

 to dislike. What is the good of continuing attentions 

 which soon will be impossible? A time of famine is 

 coming; the nurselings in any case must die a tragic 

 death. So the tender nurses become savage execu- 

 tioners. 



"Let us leave no orphans," they say to themselves; 



[153] 



