The Progress of the Race 
However this may be, the fraternal idea 
has pierced the wall that divided two worlds. 
It is no longer wild and unrecognisable, 
wrested from instinct by cold and hunger, 
or by the fear of death; it is prompted by 
active life. But it halts once more, and in 
this instance arrives no further. No matter, 
it does not lose courage; it will seek other 
channels. It enters the humble-bee, and, 
maturing there, becomes embodied in a 
different atmosphere, and works its first 
decisive miracles. 
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The humble-bees, the great hairy, noisy 
creatures that all of us know so well, so 
harmless for all their apparent fierceness, 
lead a solitary life at first. At the begin- 
ning of March the impregnated female who 
has survived the winter starts to construct 
her nest, either underground or in a bush, 
according to the species to which she be- 
longs. She is alone in the world, in the 
midst of awakening spring. She chooses a 
spot, clears it, digs it, and carpets it. Then 
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