THE S W A R .M 

 ciiies bv strat.ig-em. or force her way 

 inio others too we.ik for self-defence. 

 Nor is it e.isy to restore to the piths of 

 duty a hive that has become thus 

 depraved. 



All things g'o to prove that it is not 

 the queen, but the spirit of the hi\-e, that 

 decides on the swarm. With this queen 

 of ours it happens as with many a chief 

 amonir men, who though he appear to 

 give orders, is himself obliged to obey 

 commands far more mysterious, far more 

 inexplicable, than those he issues to his 

 subordinates. The hour once iTxed, the 

 spirit will probabl}- let it be known at 

 break of dawn, or the pre\'ious night, if 

 indeed not two nights before ; for scarcely 



L 19] 



