The Life of the Bee 
the combs; the foragers who sally forth to 
the flowers in search of the nectar that turns 
into honey, of the pollen that feeds the 
nymphs and the larve, the propolis that 
welds and strengthens the buildings of the 
city, or the water and salt required by the 
youth of the nation. Its orders have gone 
to the chemists, who ensure the preservation 
of the honey by letting a drop of formic 
acid fall in from the end of their sting; to 
the capsule-makers, who seal down the cells 
when the treasure is ripe; to the sweepers, 
who maintain public places and streets most 
irreproachably clean; to the bearers, whose 
duty it is to remove the corpses; and to the 
amazons of the guard who keep watch on 
the threshold by day and by night, question 
comers and goers, recognise the novices who 
return from their very first flight, scare away 
vagabonds, marauders, and loiterers, expel all 
intruders, attack redoubtable foes in a body, 
and, if need be, barricade the entrance. 
Finally, it is the spirit of the hive that 
fixes the hour of the great annual sacrifice 
to the genius of the race: the hour, that 
is, of the swarm, when we find a whole 
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