The Young Queens 
quest of her lover, they often will abandon 
the labours they have begun, will forsake 
the home of a day that already is dear 
to them, and accompany her in a body, 
dreading to let her pass out of their sight; 
eager, as they form closely around her, and 
shelter her beneath their myriad devoted 
wings, to lose themselves with her should 
love cause her to stray so far from the hive 
that the as yet unfamiliar road of return 
shall grow blurred and hesitating in every 
memory. 
76 
But so potent is the law of the future 
that none of these uncertainties, these perils 
of death, will cause a single bee to waver. 
The enthusiasm displayed by the second 
and third swarms is not less than that of 
the first. No sooner has the mother-city 
pronounced its decision than a battalion of 
workers will flock around each dangerous 
young queen, eager to follow her fortunes, 
to accompany her on the voyage where there 
is so much to lose and so little to gain, 
beyond the desire of a satisfied instinct. 
215 
