The Life of the Bee 
first flight, scare away vagabonds, ma- 
rauders and loiterers, expel all intruders, 
attack redoubtable foes in a body, and, if 
need be, barricade the entrance. 
Finally, it is the spirit of the hive that 
fixes the hour of the great annual sacrifice 
to the genius of the race: the hour, that 
is, of the swarm ; when we find a whole 
people, who have attained the topmost pin- 
nacle of prosperity and power, suddenly 
abandoning to the generation to come 
their wealth and their palaces, their homes 
and the fruits of their labour ; themselves 
content to encounter the hardships and 
perils of a new and distant country. This 
act, be it conscious or not, undoubtedly 
passes the limits of human morality. 
Its result will sometimes be ruin, but 
poverty always; and the thrice-happy 
city is scattered abroad in obedience to 
a law superior to its own happiness. 
Where has this law been decreed, which, 
44 
