ANTS INTELLIGENT CREATURES 27 

 Yet, the general belief is that they do so. Ants 

 are said to be extremely intelligent creatures, 

 the proof of which is, they say, that the ant's 

 proceedings are directed by distingmshable 

 officers,* and so on. 



But surely this is looking at the matter 

 strictly from a human point of view. However, 

 it may be said of the ant, that had the crea- 

 ture the merest glimmering of intelligence, it 

 would not strive for an hour to drag a burden 

 over the top of an obstacle when by diverging 

 for an inch or two to one side it could pass 

 without hindrance. The subconscious mind, 

 in this case, rules that a stick must be grasped 

 and borne in a certain direction, but it does 

 not allow for incidental obstructions. Thus 

 the insect is constantly baulked and thrown 

 out of its course, but never at a loss for direc- 

 tion. In this respect bees have the advantage, 

 for there is little or nothing to obstruct flight, 

 therefore they are seen to fly in a straight or 

 bee-line. Social and soUtary bees and wasps, 

 who, like all insects, have no range of vision, 

 fly unerringly to their cells ; the entrance to 

 one of these — a tiny hole — ^is often completely 

 concealed by herbage. The explanation is 

 that the bee, the nest, the surroundings, all 



* Dimorphism of insects, a side issue, will be touched on later 

 under hive-bees. 



