POLICE BEES. 
85 
to the bees, but refused admission to their foes. 
These fortifications were massy, and their sub- 
stance firm and compact, being composed of pro- 
polis and wax.” 
One of the most thorough students of bee-life 
says that he has detected a system of police 
among the bees ; certain individuals being evi- 
dently stationed as guards and watchers, who 
walk their regular “ beats,” and attend faithfully 
to all the duties of their office. They are con- 
tinually upon the look-out for intruders, enemies, 
and thieves, and when they discover any such 
prowling about their premises, they give the 
alarm to the inmates of the hive. A thief bee 
can be told the moment it is seen. It creeps 
about, or rather skulks* around, in the most sus- 
picious manner, evidently bent upon some mis- 
chief, and is carefully watched by the police bees 
as they guard the walls of the hive. 
After considering the curious facts we have 
related, who will hesitate to say, — 
“ All things that are, though they have several ways, 
Yet in their being join with one advice 
To honor God; and so I give thee praise. 
