The Swarm 
in their unconscious servitude obey only 
the laws of their own adoption. Man 
may believe, if he choose, that, possessing 
the queen, he holds in his hand the 
destiny and soul of the hive. In accord- 
ance with the manner in which he deals 
with her —as it were, plays with her— 
he can increase and hasten the swarm or 
restrict and retard it; he can unite or 
divide colonies, and direct the emigration 
of kingdoms. And yet it is none the less 
true that the queen is essentially merely a 
sort of living symbol, standing, as all 
symbols must, for a vaster although less 
perceptible principle; and this principle 
the apiarist will do well to take into 
account, if he would not expose himself to 
more than one unexpected reverse. For 
the bees are by no means deluded. The 
presence of the queen does not blind them 
to the existence of their veritable sovereign, 
immaterial and everlasting, which is no 
89 
