The Life of the Bee 



course to the precise spot that it filled 

 the previous year; and only after some 

 hesitation and groping will they discover 

 the door which stands not now where it 

 once had stood. It is as though space 

 had preciously preserved, the whole 

 winter through, the indelible track of 

 their flight: as though the print of their 

 tiny, laborious footsteps, still lay graven 

 in the sky. 



If the hive be displaced, therefore, 

 many bees will lose their way ; except 

 in the case of their having been carried 

 far from their former home, and finding 

 the country completely transformed that 

 they had grown to know perfectly within 

 a radius of two or three miles ; for 

 then, if care be taken to warn them, 

 by means of a little gangway connecting 

 with the alighting-board, at the entrance 

 to the hive, that some change has 

 occurred, they will at once proceed to 



