THE PERFECT SOCIALISM 61 



The queen bee could never accomplish, such feats in 

 egg-laying if she were not cared for with great solicitude 

 by the workers. Her powers of motherhood are devel- 

 oped at the expense of the rest of her physique. Her 

 stomach is not fitted for the process of digestion; she 

 is always fed upon digested food, and thus her energies 

 are conserved for her great task. 



Often in the summer or fall swarms of winged ants 

 may be encountered by the unhappy traveller, who has 

 much to do to keep them out of his eyes and mouth. 

 These winged forms are the king and queen ants taking 

 their marriage flight. As soon as this wedding tour is 

 over they drop to the ground ; the kings die soon, the 

 queens tear off their wings in a great hurry, and, like 

 the queen bee, go to work at once. The first eggs the 

 queen ant lays she takes care of herself, housing and 

 feeding the young in a true, motherly way. The first 

 brood is composed of workers, and after their maturity 

 they take care of the nest and the young, and the 

 energies of the queen are reserved for the production 

 of eggs. In one particular is the queen ant more 

 amiable than the queen bee : she suffers no throes of 

 jealousy and dwells in peace with other queens in the 

 nest. The worker ants evidently regulate the size of 

 the royal family. 



The kings and queens of the termites take flight at 



