The Life of the Bee 
she will die without even once having 
tasted a flower. Her existence will pass 
in the shadow, in the midst of a restless 
throng ; her sole occupation the indefat- 
igable search for cradles that she must 
fill, On the other hand she alone will 
know the disquiet of love. Not even 
twice, it may be, in her life shall she look 
on the light — for the departure of the 
swarm is by no means inevitable; on one 
occasion only, perhaps, will she make use 
of her wings, but then it will be to fly to 
her lover. It is strange to see so many 
things — organs, ideas, desires, habits, an 
entire destiny — depending, not on a 
germ, which were the ordinary miracle of 
the plant, the animal, and man, but on 
a curious inert substance: a drop of 
honey.” 
1 It is generally admitted to-day that workers and 
queens, after the hatching of the egg, receive the same 
nourishment, —-a kind of milk, very rich in nitrogen, 
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