The Foundation of the City 
understanding of the bees is not confined 
to their habitual labours; the extraordinary 
also has a name and place in their language, 
as is proved by the manner in which news 
good or bad, normal or supernatural, will 
at once spread in the hive—the loss or 
return of the mother, for instance, the 
entrance of an enemy, the intrusion of a 
strange queen, the approach of a band of 
marauders, the discovery of treasure, &c. 
And so characteristic is their attitude, so 
essentially different their murmur at each 
of these special events, that the experienced 
apiarist can without difficulty tell what is 
troubling the crowd that moves distractedly 
to and fro in the shadow. 
If you desire a more definite proof, you 
have but to watch a bee that shall just have 
discovered a few drops of honey on your 
window-sill or the corner of your table. She 
will immediately gorge herself with it, and 
so eagerly that you will have time, without 
fear of disturbing her, to mark her tiny belt 
with a touch of paint. But this gluttony of 
hers is all on the surface. The honey will 
not pass into the stomach proper, into what 
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