The Life of the Bee 
[ 26 ] 
There are numberless instances of the 
absolute attachment and devotion that 
the workers display towards their queen. 
Should disaster befall the little republic; 
should the hive or the comb’ collapse, 
should man prove ignorant, or brutal ; 
should they suffer from famine, from cold 
or disease, and perish by thousands, it 
will still be almost invariably found that 
the queen will be safe and alive, beneath 
the corpses of her faithful daughters. For 
they will protect her, help her to escape; 
their bodies will provide both rampart and 
shelter; for her will be the last drop of 
honey, the wholesomest food. And be 
the disaster never so great, the city of 
virgins will not lose heart so long as the 
queen be alive. Break their comb twenty 
times in succession, take twenty times 
from them their young and their food, 
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