INSECT LIFE 201 



never take the quilt off those glistening combs with- 

 out a slight feeling of awe : it is as if one were 

 opening the door of a chamber of mystery, stepping 

 across the threshold into a place unknown, darkly 

 wonderful. But the mysteries of the bee do not 

 blind us to the plain fact that her intelligence runs 

 in grooves; is of a strictly limited character. By 

 the side of the overcrowded hive, out of which the 

 old queen emerges, with her great following, is often 

 an empty hive, admirably suited to the new monarchy 

 or republic, for, despite tradition, it more nearly 

 resembles the latter. Often, before the swarm comes 

 forth, this vacant hive has been critically examined 

 by many bees, apparently explorers. Yet how seldom 

 is it chosen and occupied without the guidance of 

 the bee-master ! Instead of going into this hive, 

 ranged and ready for them, the swarm will gather 

 in a cluster on a tree or bush, finally to settle, if 

 they are not taken charge of, in the roof of a house 

 or the hollow of a tree. But only introduce them 

 to the beehive which, in vain, their explorers have 

 examined, and which they themselves have passed a 

 hundred times a day, and they will joyously run up 

 the alighting board, jostle in at the entrance, and 

 take possession of the very spot that they need for 

 founding their State in. 



If their intelligence has anything like affinity with 

 human reasoning power, surely the swarm, on emerging 

 with their queen, would go straight into that empty 



