The Life of the Bee 
One embrace suffices; the rest all enacts 
itself in the very flanks of the bride. 
She descends from the azure heights 
and returns to the hive, trailing behind 
her, like an oriflamme, the unfolded entrails 
of her lover. Some writers pretend that 
the bees manifest great joy at this return 
so big with promise — Buchner, among 
others, giving a detailed account of it. I 
have many a time lain in wait for the 
queen-bee’s return, and I confess that I 
have never noticed any unusual emotion 
except in the case of a young queen who 
had gone forth at the head of a swarm, 
and represented. the unique hope of a 
newly founded and still empty city. In 
that instance the workers were all wildly 
excited, and rushed to meet her. But as 
a rule they appear to forget her, even 
though the future of their city will often be 
no less imperilled. They act with con- 
sistent prudence in all things, till the 
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