The Swarm 
the foragers go forth, in long black files, to 
return, in less than three minutes sometimes, 
laden with nectar and pollen; streets are 
swept, parasites and marauders killed or ex- 
pelled, and the hive soon resounds with the 
gentle, monotonous cadence of the strange 
hymn of rejoicing, which is, it would seem, 
the hymn of the royal presence. 
26 
There are numberless instances of the 
absolute attachment and devotion that the 
workers display towards their queen. Should 
disaster befall the little republic; should 
the hive or the comb collapse; should man 
prove ignorant or brutal; should they 
suffer from famine, from cold or disease, 
and perish by thousands, it will still be 
almost invariably found that the queen will 
‘be safe and alive beneath the corpses of her 
faithful daughters. For they will protect 
her and help her to escape; their bodies will 
provide both rampart and shelter; for her 
will be the last drop of honey, the whole- 
somest food. And be the disaster never so 
69 
