THE SWARM 



it permit or forbid the first-born of the 

 virgin princesses to slay in their cradles 

 her younger sisters, who are singing the 

 song of the queens. At other times, when 

 the season wanes, and flowery hours grow 

 shorter, it will command the workers 

 themselves to slaughter the whole imperial 

 brood, that the era of revolutions may 

 close, and work become the sole object of 

 all. The " spirit of the hive " is prudent 

 and thrifty, but by no means parsimonious. 

 And thus, av;are, it would seem, that 

 nature's laws are somewhat wild and ex- 

 travagant in all that pertains to love, it tol- 

 erates, during summer days of abundance, 

 the embarrassing presence in the hive of 

 three or four hundred males, from whose 

 ranks the queen about to be bom shall 

 [6] 



