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 of 

 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 



