The Life of the Bee 



different their murmur at each of these 

 special events, that the experienced apia- 

 rist can without difficulty tell what is 

 troubling the crowd that moves dis- 

 tractedly to and fro in the shadow. 



If you desire a more definite proof, you 

 have but to watch a bee that shall just 

 have discovered a few drops of honey on 

 your window-sill or the corner of your 

 table. She will immediately gorge herself 

 with it ; and so eagerly, that you will 

 have time, without fear of disturbing her, 

 to mark her tiny belt with a touch of paint. 

 But this gluttony of hers is all on the 

 surface ; the honey will not pass into the 

 stomach proper, into what we might call 

 her personal stomach, but remains in the 

 sac, the first stomach, that of the com- 

 munity, if one may so express it. This 

 reservoir full, the bee will depart, but not 

 with the free and thoughtless motion of the 

 fly or butterfly; she, on the contrary, will 

 " 161 



