THE NESTS OF ANTS 297 



precautions adopted by bee-keepers for retaining 

 sufficient heat. All other communities of bees and 

 wasps are in temperate climates destroyed each winter 

 and built up anew each spring and summer. Of our 

 native insects only the ant is able to survive the 

 winter, both as an isolated queen and as a colony 

 of queens and workers. This power of survival is 

 rendered possible by the longevity of the workers, 

 which, in some cases, extends for five years ; but it 

 is determined far more by the precautions taken by 

 ants to evade the deadly influences of autumn and 

 winter. They retire to the deepest layers of their 

 nest, sometimes to a depth of nine feet, and so escape 

 the effect of frost. Ultimately, however, the persist- 

 ence of the colony can only be explained by attributing 

 to ants a power of resistance to adverse circumstances 

 which other insects, with few exceptions, do not 

 possess. However that toughness may be explained, 

 its influence on the dominance of ant-life has pro- 

 bably been decisive, for the resurrection and resump- 

 tion of work by the old colonies, supplemented by the 

 growth of new ones from the isolated autumnal queens, 

 enables the work of the previous year to be continued 

 and extended. The longevity of workers gives them an 

 opportunity of improving by practice those instinc- 

 tive traits which they first exhibit when young ; 

 and since the workers for good or ill control the growth 

 of the colony, most of its distinctive features must be 

 attributed to them. 



Amongst the various offices they perform the 



