The Foundation of the City 
the friendly opening that restores their 
liberty to them. 
The same naturalist cites yet another 
proof of the bees’ lack of intelligence, and 
discovers it in the following quotation 
from the great American apiarist, the 
venerable and paternal Langstroth : — 
“As the fly was not intended to ban- 
quet on blossoms, but on substances in 
which it might easily be drowned, it 
cautiously alights on the edge of any 
vessel containing liquid food, and warily 
helps itself; while the poor bee, plunging 
in headlong, speedily perishes. The sad 
fate of their unfortunate companions does 
not in the least deter others who approach 
the tempting lure from madly alighting 
on the bodies of the dying and the dead, 
to share the same miserable end. No one 
can understand the extent of their infatua- 
tion until he has seen a confectioner’s 
shop assailed by myriads of hungry bees. 
147 
