CHAPTER XIX 
THE MIND IN THE HIVE 
GTUDENTS of the ways of the honey-bee find 
many things to marvel at, but little to excite their 
wonder more than the unique system of ventilation 
established in the hive. 
Under natural conditions it is a moot point 
whether bees concern themselves at all with the ven- 
_ tilation of their nests. Wild bees usually fix upon 
a site for their dwelling where there is ample space 
for all possible developments; and the ventilation of 
the home—as with most human tenements—is left 
pretty much to chance causes. At least, in the course 
of many years’ observation, the writer has never seen 
the fanners at work in the entrance of a natural bee- 
settlement. 
Probably this remarkable fanning system 
originated in a new want felt by the bees, when, in 
remote ages, their domestication began, and they 
found themselves cooped up in impervious hives 
which, in their very earliest form, were possibly 
roughly-plaited baskets, daubed over with clay, or 
earthen pots baked dry in the sun. This form, 
originally adopted by the bee-keeper as a protection 
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