A SHEAF OF NATURE NOTES 



planations we apply in our dealings with one 

 another. He talks of the power of the bees to give 

 "expression to their thoughts and feelings"; of 

 their "vocabulary," phonetic and tactile; he says 

 that the "extraordinary also has a name and place 

 in their language"; that they are able to "commun- 

 icate to each other news of an event occurring out- 

 side the hive"; all of which renders his Spirit of 

 the Hive superfluous. He quotes from a French 

 apiarist who says that the explorer of the dawn, — 

 the early bee, — like the early bird that catches the 

 worm, returns to the hive with the news that "the 

 lime-trees are blooming to-day on the banks of the 

 canal"; "the grass by the roadside is gay with white 

 clover"; "the sage and the lotus are about to open"; 

 "the mignonette and the lilies are overflowing with 

 pollen." Whereupon the bees must organize quick- 

 ly and arrange to divide the work. They probably 

 call a council of the wise ones and after due dis- 

 cussion and formalities proceed to send out their 

 working expeditions. "Five thousand of the stur- 

 diest will sally forth to the lime-trees, while three 

 thousand juniors go and refresh the white clover." 

 "They make daily calculations as to the means o{ 

 obtaining the greatest possible wealth of sac- 

 charine liquid." 



When Maeterlinck speaks of "the hidden genius 

 of the hive issuing its commands," or recognizes 

 the existence among the bees of spiritual communi- 



159 



