The Life of the Bee 



have seen a colony," says Langstroth, one 

 of the fathers of modern apiculture, " that 

 had not bees sufficient to cover a comb of 

 three inches square, and yet endeavoured 

 to rear a queen. For two whole weeks 

 did they cherish this hope ; finally, when 

 their number was reduced by one-half, their 

 queen was born, but her wings were imper- 

 fect, and she was unable to fly. Impotent 

 as she was, her bees did not treat her with 

 the less respect. A week more, and there 

 remained hardly a dozen bees ; yet a few 

 days, and the queen had vanished, leaving 

 a few wretched, inconsolable insects upon 

 the combs." 



There is another instance, and one that 

 reveals most palpably the ultimate gesture 

 of filial love and devotion. It arises from 

 one of the extraordinary ordeals that our 

 recent and tyrannical intervention inflicts 

 86 



