ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE HIVE 15 



of honey, into which they eagerly dip in order to possess within 

 themselves the wherewithal to start a new city, immediately 

 and no matter where, should the ancient one be destroyed or 

 they be compelled to forsake it. 



7 



The first impression of the novice before whom an obser- 

 vation-hive * is opened will be one of some disappointment. 

 He had been told that this little glass case contained an un- 

 paralleled activity, an infinite number of wise laws, and a 

 startling amalgam of mystery, experience, genius, calculation, 

 science, of various industries, of certitude and prescience, of 

 intelligent habits and curious feelings and virtues. All that 

 he sees is a confused mass of little reddish groups, somewhat 

 resembling roasted coffee-berries or bunches of raisins piled 

 against the glass. They look, more dead than alive ; their 

 movements are slow, incoherent, and incomprehensible. Can 

 these be the wonderful drops of light he had seen but a moment 

 ago, unceasingly flashing and sparkling, as they darted among 

 the pearls and the gold of a thousand wide-open calyces ? 



They appear to be shivering in the darkness, to be numbed, 

 suffocated, so closely are they huddled together ; one might 

 fancy they were ailing captives, or queens dethroned, who have 

 had their one moment of glory in the midst of their radiant 



1 By observation-hive is meant a hive of glass, furnished with black curtains 

 or shutters. The best kind have only one comb, thus permitting both faces to be 

 studied. These hives can be placed in a drawing-room, library, &c., without 

 inconvenience or danger. The bees that inhabit the one I have in my study in 

 Paris are able, even in the stony desert of that great city, to find the wherewithal 

 to nourish themselves and to prosper. 



