THE SWARM 



in nature, is still in itself wholly abnor- 

 mal. 1 refer to the manner in which the 

 bees will dispose of a mouse or a slug 

 that may happen to have found its way 

 into the hive. The intruder killed, they 

 have to deal Vv'ith the body, which will 

 ver}' soon poison their dv;elling. If it be 

 impossible for them to expel! or dis- 

 member it, they v;ill proceed methodically 

 and hermetically to enclose it in a verit- 

 able sepulchre of propolis and wa.x, Vv'hich 

 v;ill tower fantastically above the ordinan.- 

 monuments of the city. In one of my 

 hives last year I discovered three such 

 tombs side b}' side, erected \nth part}'- 

 walls, like the cells of the comb, so that 

 no wax should be wasted. These tombs 

 the prudent grave-diggers had raised over 



