The Swarm 
the architects, masons, wax-workers, and 
sculptors who form the chain and con- 
struct the combs; the foragers who sally 
forth to the flowers in search of the nectar 
that turns into honey, of the pollen that 
feeds the nymphs and the larve, the pro- 
polis that welds and strengthens the build- 
ings of the city, or the water and salt 
required by the youth of the nation. Its 
orders have gone to the chemists who en- 
sure the preservation of the honey by 
letting a drop of formic acid fall in from 
the end of their sting; to the capsule- 
makers who seal down the cells when the 
treasure is ripe, to the sweepers who 
maintain public places and streets most 
irreproachably clean, to the bearers whose 
duty it is to remove the corpses; and 
to the amazons of the guard who keep 
watch on the threshold by night and by 
day, question comers and goers, recognise 
the novices who return from their very 
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