The Life of the Bee 
princess of every covering. If her rival 
should be already recognisable, the queen 
will turn so that her sting may enter the 
capsule, and will frantically stab it with her 
venomous weapon until the victim perish. 
She then becomes calmer, appeased by the 
death that puts a term to the hatred of 
every creature; she withdraws her sting, 
hurries to the adjoining cell, attacks it 
and opens it, passing it by should she 
find in it only an imperfect larva or 
nymph; nor does she pause till, at last, 
exhausted and breathless, her claws and 
teeth glide harmless over the waxen walls. 
The bees that surround her have calmly 
watched her fury, have stood by inactive, 
moving only to leave her path clear; but 
no sooner has a cell been pierced, and laid 
waste, than they eagerly flock to it, drag 
out the corpse of the ravished nymph or the 
still living larva, and thrust it forth from 
the hive ; thereupon gorging themselves with 
the precious royal jelly that adheres to the 
sides of the cell. And finally, when the 
queen has become too weak to persist in her 
passion, they will themselves complete the 
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