The Swarm Spirit 



that makes them all precisely alike in their ac- 

 tions. The same swarm instinct appears often 

 in the birds, but less strongly, because they are 

 more highly developed creatures, with more need 

 and therefore more capacity for individual in- 

 centive. 



This illustration of the hive is offered so con- 

 fidently and accepted so readily, as if it were an 

 axiom of natural history, that one hesitates to dis- 

 turb the ancient idol in its wonted seat. Yet one 

 might argue that any living impulse, whether in 

 bees or birds, must proceed from a living source, 

 and, if that be granted, speculate on the absorbing 

 business of a nature or a heaven that should be 

 perpetually interfering in behalf of every earthly 

 flock or swarm or herd by sending the appropriate 

 impulse at precisely the right moment. And when 

 our speculation is at an end, I submit the fact that, 

 when I have broken open a honey-tree in the woods, 

 one bee falls upon the sweets to gorge himself 

 withal, while another from the same swarm falls 

 angrily upon me and dies fighting; which seems to 

 upset the collective-impulse idol completely. 



I must confess here that I know very little about 

 bees. They are still a mystery to me, and I would 

 rather keep silence about them until I find one bee 

 that I fancy I understand, or one man who offers 

 something better than a very hazy or mystical 



