The Life of the Bee 



to the mother-hive. The queens will 

 meet on the comb ; the workers will 

 gather around and watch their combat; 

 and, when the stronger has overcome 

 the weaker they will then, in their ardour 

 for work and hatred of disorder, expel 

 the corpses, close the door on the vio- 

 lence of the future, forget the past, return 

 to their cells, and resume their peaceful 

 path to the flowers that await them. 



[76] 



We will now, in order to simplify 

 matters, return to the queen whom the 

 bees have permitted to slaughter her 

 sisters, and resume the account of her 

 adventures. As I have already stated, 

 this massacre will be often prevented, and 

 often sanctioned, at times even when the 

 bees apparently do not intend to issue a 

 second swarm ; for we notice the same 

 diversity of political spirit in the differ- 

 268 



