BEE CHARACTER. 



263 



Of Bees, under different aspects, there is yet an infinity to 

 be told. We may look again into the hive, but those who 

 wish to dive deeply into the ways and wonders, the pro- 

 ceedings and policies of its busy inmates, must consult the 

 works of Bee historians. Delightful pages some of them 

 have written, reading much like human history, only more 

 agreeably, because undefiled by moral blots. They tell us, 

 it is true, that Bees go to war like human communities ; 

 that strong Bees rob the weak, like human villains; that 

 angry Bees fight single combats, like human duellists; that 

 Bees, well-fed and vigorous, will kill the old and helpless 

 of their labourers. These are points of character, rough 

 and sharp enough it must be owned ; but they need not 

 prick us in the reading, when we remember that Bees are 

 but the passive elements of an unerring instinct. 



