The Life of the Bee 
certain, where the essence of every flower 
reminiscent of sunshine had enabled them 
to smile at the menace of winter. There, 
asleep in the depths of their cradles, they 
have left thousands and thousands of 
daughters, whom they never again will 
see. They have abandoned, not only the 
enormous treasure of pollen and propolis 
they had gathered together, but also more 
than 120 pounds of honey; a quantity 
representing more than twelve times the 
entire weight of the population, and close 
on 600,000 times that of the individual 
bee. To man this would mean 42,000 
tons of provisions, a vast fleet of mighty 
ships laden with nourishment more pre- 
cious than any known to us; for to the 
bee honey is a kind of liquid life, a species 
of chyle that is at once assimilated, with 
almost no waste whatever. 
Here, in the new abode, there is noth- 
ing ; not a drop of honey, not a morsel of 
¥22 
