CHAPTER XVII 

 ROYALTY. 



WE have already seen that the Termites shun the light 

 of day, and must, therefore, be reckoned among 

 the decided " darkies." This is also shown to some 

 extent in their State polity, which, as already said, other- 

 wise much resembles the Ant Republic, but which approaches 

 the monarchical idea by possessing a standing army and 

 having generally only one queen. By this possession of a 

 standing army the Termites' State is rendered more monar- 

 chical than the famous Bee polity, so often regarded as 

 the prototype of a monarchy, or of the rule of an individual ; 

 the latter indeed, as a rule at least, has only one queen, 

 but instead of a standing army, it carries out to the fullest 

 extent the purely republican or democratic principle of 

 universal national arm-bearing, in a fashion that leaves far 

 behind it all human arrangements. But not in this alone, 

 but in all its affairs, the bee State must be characterised 

 as a monarchy with very democratic institutions. It may, 

 indeed, be called a communistic or social- democratical 

 monarchy such as Napoleon III. for a time, while coquet- 

 ting with the working-classes, appears to have had the notion 

 of introducing in France. It may also be called an elective 

 monarchy, for no direct hereditary line is followed, but the 

 queen is in each case chosen by the workers, and selected 

 or rejected as they please. The queen in return, relies 

 wholly upon the workers, or the neuter working bees, of 

 which there are from ten to sixty thousand in a hive, 

 and which, by the possession of their terrible poisoned 

 sting, unite in their own persons the positions of workers 

 and soldiers ; the privileged condition of the non-working, 

 pleasure-loving males, or drones, is only suffered by the 

 workers, as we shall presently see, just so far and for so long 

 as their services are thought necessary. 



On the other hand the monarchical principle is very 



