THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE HIVE 69 
be counted on to exercise in certain well-defined 
and limited ways. But as an intelligent, origin- 
ating force she counts for nothing. The mind in 
the hive is the collective mind of the whole colony, 
apart from the queen and drones—an hereditary, 
communal intellect evolved through the ages, 
the sum and total of all bee experience since the 
world of bees began. 
If, however, modern science compels us to 
divest the mother-bee of all her regal state and 
quality, and thus destroy one of the prettiest delu- 
sions of ancient times, it is only to take up a story 
of real life more alluring and romantic still. In 
the light of new understanding the old facts take 
on a mystery and excite a wonderment greater 
than ever before. If we found the life of the 
hive an enthralling study when we supposed it to 
originate from one winged atom endowed with 
acute and commanding abilities, how much more 
fascinating must it prove when we come to see 
that all this complex system of government is 
instituted and kept together by the harmonious 
working of tens of thousands of reasoning beings ? 
Reasoning—it is a big word, a double-edged 
thing that requires careful handling. We have 
been so long accustomed to use it only in regard 
to our own magnificent mental processes that it 
savours almost of the ridiculous to bring it to bear 
upon such a tiny et-cetera in the brute creation as 
the honey-bee. And yet, the deeper we go in the 
