48 THE LIFE OF THE BEE 



was alive, unharmed, and full of vigour ; and the last of 

 her companions had probably passed away in the act of 

 presenting the last drop of honey she held in her sac to 

 the queen, who was symbol of a life more precious, more 

 vast, than her own. 



28 



This unwavering affection having come under the notice 

 of man, he was able to turn to his own advantage the qualities 

 to which it gives rise, or that it perhaps contains : the 

 admirable political sense, the passion for work, the per- 

 severance, magnanimity, and devotion to the future. It 

 has allowed him, in the course of the last few years, to a 

 certain extent to domesticate these intractable insects, though 

 without their knowledge ; for they yield to no foreign 

 strength, and in their unconscious servitude even obey only the 

 laws of their own adoption. Man may believe, if he choose, 

 that possessing the queen, he holds in his hand the destiny 

 and soul of the hive. In accordance with the manner in 

 which he deals with her — as it were, plays with her — he 

 can increase and hasten the swarm, or restrict and retard 

 it ; he can unite or divide colonies, and direct the emigra- 

 tion of kingdoms. And yet it is none the less true that 

 the queen is essentially merely a sort of living symbol, 

 standing, as all symbols must, for a vaster although less per- 

 ceptible principle ; and this principle the apiarist will do 

 well to take into account, if he would not expose himself 

 to more than one unexpected reverse. For the bees are 

 by no means deluded. The presence of the queen does 



