346 THE INSECT WORLD. 



It is principally during stormy days, when the heat and the elec- 

 tricity in the air are favourable to the secretion of pollen in plants, 

 that the bees go into the fields to make their harvest. They heap 

 up provisions in the hive against the cold season, not forgetting, 

 however, to watch over the eggs, their future hope, "spem gentis," 

 as Virgil calls them. 



These peaceful occupations are sometimes interrupted by the 

 dire necessities of war. It happens that the bees of an im- 

 poverished hive, impelled by hunger, that bad counsellor, make 

 up their mind to attack and to pillage the treasures of a neigh- 

 bouring hive which is abundantly stocked with provisions. A 

 savage fight then takes place between the two battalions. Each 

 one precipitates itself with fury upon its adversary. Two bees 

 press against and bite each other till one is overcome. The 

 victor springs upon the back of the vanquished, squeezes it 

 round the neck with its mandibles, and pierces it between the 

 rings of its abdomen with its sting. The victorious bee places 

 itself by the side of its fallen enemy, and resting on four of its legs, 

 rubs its two hind ones together proudly, as a sign of supreme 

 triumph. Heaumur relates a strange fact which he says he often 

 observed, and which proves that the insects we are treating of 

 do not fight to satisfy a sanguinary and savage instinct, but 

 (which is less reprehensible) to satisfy their hunger. Bees attacked 

 by a superior force are in no danger of losing their lives if their 

 enemies can induce them to give up their throats that expression 

 conveys the idea. Supposing three or four are furiously attacking 

 one bee : they are pulling it by its legs and biting it on its thorax. 

 The unfortunate object of this attack has then nothing better to 

 do, to escape alive from such a perilous situation, than to stretch 

 out its trunk laden with sweet-scented honey. The plunderers 

 will come one after the other and drink the honey ; then, cloyed, 

 satisfied, having nothing more to demand, they go their way, leav- 

 ing the bee to return to his dwelling-place. 



There are also strange fights regular duels between the bees 

 of the same hive. Yery hot weather has the eifect of irritating 

 them, and making them boil over with rage. They are then 

 dangerous to men, whom they attack boldly. But more often it is 

 amongst themselves that they quarrel. One often sees two bees 



