MISS FORMICA’S DAY 
47 
bee hold forth on her own usefulness. 
The ant, with a reproving look at 
Miss Yespa, continued her story: 
“Well, the next thing that I did 
was to help my fellow-workers in 
the digging of a long tunnel which is 
to lead to a new nest we are about 
to make. I should be at that busi¬ 
ness this very minute, instead of 
wasting my time here, for to-morrow 
I shall be busy looking after the 
queens, or females. Our nest is so 
full of them that we expect them 
to come out at any time, and when 
they do come out we watch them 
very closely, to see that they do not 
wander off and start new nests.” 
“But how can you workers do 
anything with the queens, when they 
