The Swarm 
pathetic welcome. They will flock eagerly 
round her; excited groups will climb over 
each other in their anxiety to draw near; 
as she passes among them they will caress 
her with the long antennz that contain so 
many organs as yet unexplained ; they will 
present her with honey, and escort her 
tumultuously back to the royal chamber. 
And order at once is restored, work re- 
sumed, from the central comb of the 
brood-cells to the furthest annex where 
the surplus honey is stored; the foragers 
go forth, in long black files, to return, in 
less than three minutes sometimes, laden 
with nectar and pollen; streets are swept, 
parasites and marauders killed or expelled ; 
and the hive soon resounds with the gentle, 
monotonous cadence of the strange hymn 
of rejoicing, which is, it would seem, the 
hymn of the royal presence. 
83 
