LETTERS ON ENTOMOLOGY. 123 
LETTER XII. 
I shall next, my dear friend, call your at- 
tention to a race which offers a striking example 
of perseverance and industry, and which even 
more than those which live in great societies 
show us what those qualities can effect. They 
do not, as we all too often do, shrink from dif- 
ficulties and supinely content themselves with 
doing only what is easy, but unassisted, for the 
most part, they perform their task, and in ge- 
neral it is an arduous one. 
The bee species is not confined to those 
which make honey and wax; there are many 
other kinds, which not being useful to man, are 
scarcely known, though very common. 
The hive we may compare to a large and 
populous city; the wasp's nest, or vespiary, to 
a country town ; and the humble bee's nest to a 
village. Those who live alone may be compared 
to savages, who depend not on the assistance of 
others. 
The wasps, which are universally disliked as 
g2 
