The Life of the Bee 
to this day under conditions so unfavourable 
to its development. It should be men- 
tioned, however, that, apart from this char- 
acteristic devotion to their wearisome toil, 
they appear inoffensive and docile, and 
satisfied with the leavings of those who 
evidently are the guardians, if not the 
saviours, of the race.” 
18 
Is it not strange that the hive, which we 
vaguely survey from the height of another 
world, should provide our first questioning 
glance with so sure and profound a reply? 
Must we not admire the manner in which 
the thought or the god that the bees obey 
is at once revealed by their edifices, wrought 
with such striking conviction, by their cus- 
toms and laws, their political and economical 
organisation, their virtues, and even their 
cruelties? Nor is this god, though it be 
perhaps the only one to which man has as 
yet never offered serious worship, by any 
means the least reasonable or the least 
legitimate that we can conceive. The god 
54 
