The Swarm 
on these hapless, unflinching heroines. I, 
in common with all amateur bee-keepers, 
have more than once had impregnated 
queens sent me from Italy; for the 
Italian species is more prolific, stronger, 
more active, and gentler than our own. It 
is the custom to forward them in small, 
perforated boxes. In these some food is 
placed, and the queen enclosed, together 
with a certain number of workers, selected 
as far as possible from among the oldest 
bees in the hive. (The age of the bee can 
be readily told by its body, which gradu- 
ally becomes more polished, thinner, and 
almost bald; and more particularly by 
the wings, which hard work uses and 
tears.) It is their mission to feed the 
queen during the journey, to tend her and 
guard her. I would frequently find, when 
the box arrived, that nearly every one of 
the workers was dead. On one occasion, 
indeed, they had all perished of hunger; 
87 
