The Life of the Bee 
has not succeeded, among the Xyle- 
cop, in passing beyond this first obscure 
line of love. 
Among other Apiens, this groping idea 
assumes other forms. The Chalicodome 
of the out-houses, which are building- 
bees, the Dasypode and Halicti, which 
dig holes in the earth, unite in large 
colonies to construct their nests. But it 
is an illusory crowd composed of solitary 
units, that possess no mutual understand- 
ing, and do not act in common. Each 
one is profoundly isolated in the midst 
of the multitude, and builds a dwelling 
for itself alone, heedless of its neighbour. 
“They are,” M. Perez remarks, “a mere 
congregation of individuals, brought to- 
gether by similar tastes and habits, but 
observing scrupulously the maxim of each 
one for itself; in fact, a mere mob of 
workers, resembling the swarm of a hive 
only as regards their number and zeal. 
396 
