The Life of the Bee 
relation in which this truth always must 
stand to our being, and to universal law; 
and in that case it is not the truth, but 
our intellect, that needs embellishment 
and ennoblement. 5 
I will frankly confess, therefore, that 
the marked bee often returns alone. 
Shall we believe that in bees there exists 
the same difference of character as in 
men; that of them too some are gossips, 
and others prone to silence? A friend 
who stood by and watched my experi- 
ment, declared that it was evidently mere 
selfishness or vanity that caused so many 
of the bees to refrain from revealing the 
source of their wealth, and from sharing 
with others the glory of an achievement 
that must seem miraculous to the hive. 
These were sad vices indeed, which give 
not forth the sweet odour, so fragrant 
and loyal, that springs from the home of 
the many thousand sisters. But, what- 
164 
