The Swarm 
to and fro in loud lamentation. Seize 
her, imprison her, take her away from 
the hive at a time when the bees shall 
have no hope of filling her place, owing, 
it may be, to her having left no pre- 
destined descendants, or to there being 
no larve less than three days old (for a 
special nourishment is capable of trans- 
forming these into royal nymphs, such 
being the grand democratic principle of. 
the hive, and a counterpoise to the preroga. 
tives of maternal predestination), and then, 
her loss once known, after two or three 
hours, perhaps, for the city is vast, work 
will cease in almost every direction. The 
young will no longer be cared for; part 
of the inhabitants will wander in every 
direction, seeking their mother, in quest 
of whom others will sally forth from the 
hive; the workers engaged in construct- 
ing the comb will fall asunder and scatter, 
the foragers no longer will visit the 
6 81 
