THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE HIVE 83 
ceeded in distinguishing himself from the apes. 
In the honey-bee of to-day, and her life in the 
modern hive, we get a sort of quintessence of the 
ages ; a creature developed in mind and body by 
her unique conditions, these conditions again 
imposing upon her unique systems of life. Like 
Ruskin’s Venetian, she must live nobly or perish. 
Much more is required of her than the réle of 
domestic and political economist. To make 
the modern beehive a possibility there must be 
architects, mathematicians, and chemists within its 
walls. Sanitary science must have its skilled ex- 
ponents, or the hive would change into a death- 
trap within a few hours. There must be land- 
surveyors ready to explore the country, just before 
the issue of the swarms, to determine for them 
their new location. There must be overseers, 
gang-forewomen, everywhere to superintend every 
work in progress throughout the hive. Above 
all, there must be a supreme central power, a far- 
seeing intelligence, to divine the imminent com- 
mon need, and to set the forces of the State to 
work, in right time and order, to provide for it. 
If all these cannot be proved to exist in a hive of 
bees to-day, at least the necessity for them is 
undeniable; and as undeniable, the achieved 
results. 
