The Young Queens 
her to stray so far from the hive that the 
as yet unfamiliar road of return shall grow 
blurred and hesitating in every memory. 
[74] 
But so potent is the law of the future 
that none of these uncertainties, these 
perils of death, will cause a single bee 
to waver. ‘The enthusiasm displayed by 
the second and third swarms is not less 
than that of the first. No sooner has 
the mother-city pronounced its decision 
than a battalion of workers will flock 
around each dangerous young queen, 
eager to follow her fortunes, to accom- 
pany her on the voyage where there is 
so much to lose, and so little to gain 
beyond the desire of a satisfied instinct. 
Whence do they derive the energy we 
ourselves never possess, whereby they 
break with the past as though with an 
enemy? Who is it selects from the 
265 
