THE SWARM 



too highly charged with water; the archi- 

 tects, masons, wax-workers, and sculptors 

 who form the chain and construct the 

 combs ; the foragers who sally fonh to the 

 flowers in search of the nectar that turns 

 into honey, of the pollen that feeds the 

 n\-mphs and the lar\'s, the propolis that 

 welds and strengthens the buildings of the 

 city, or the water and salt required bj/ the 

 youth of the nation. Its orders have gone 

 to the chemists who ensure the preser\-a- 

 tion of the honey by letting a drop of 

 formic acid fall in from the end of their 

 sting: to the capsule-makers who seal 

 down the cells when the treasure is ripe, 

 to the sweepers who maintain public places 

 and streets most irreproachably clean, to 

 the bearers whose duty it is to remove the 

 [S] 



