The Halicti : the Portress 



July, when the animation of the colony is at 

 Its height, two sets of Halicti are easily dis- 

 tinguishable: the young mothers and the old. 

 The former, much more numerous, brisk of 

 movement and smartly arrayed, come and go 

 unceasingly from the burrows to the fields and 

 from the fields to the burrows. The latter, 

 faded and dispirited, wander idly from hole 

 to hole. They look as though they had lost 

 their way and were incapable of finding their 

 homes. Who are these vagabonds? I see 

 in them afflicted ones bereft of a family 

 through the act of the odious Gnat. Many 

 burrows have been altogether exterminated. 

 At the awakening of summer, the mother 

 found herself alone. She left her empty 

 house and went off in search of a dwelling 

 where there were cradles to defend, a guard 

 to mount. But those fortunate nests already 

 have their overseer, the foundress, who, jeal- 

 ous of her rights, gives her unemployed neigh- 

 bour a cold reception. One sentry is enough; 

 two would merely block the narrow guard- 

 room. 



I am privileged at times to witness a fight 

 between two grandmothers. When the 

 tramp in quest of employment appears outside 



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