
346 THE INSECT WORLD. 
It is principally during stormy days, when the heat a” the elec-" 
tricity in the air are favourable to the secretion of po!!.n in plants, 
that the bees go into the fields to make their harvest. They heap 
up provisions in the hive against the cold season, not forgetting, 
however, to watch over the eggs, their future hope, “‘spem gentis,” 
as Virgil calls them. 
These peaceful occupations are sometimes interrupted by the 
dire necessities of war. It happens that the bees of an im- 
poverished hive, impelled by hunger, that bad counsellor, make 
up their mind to attack and to pillage the treasures of a neigh- 
bouring hive which is abundantly stocked with provisions. A 
savage fight then takes place between the two battalions. Hach 
one precipitates itself with fury upon its adversary. ‘Two bees 
press against and bite each other till one is overcome. The 
victor springs upon the back of the vanquished, squeezes it 
round the neck with its mandibles, and pierces it between the 
rings of its abdomen with its sting. The victorious bee places 
itself by the side of its fallen enemy, and resting on four of its legs, 
rubs its two hind ones together proudly, as a sign of supreme 
triumph. Réaumur relates a strange fact which he says he often 
observed, and which proves that the insects we are treating of 
do not fight to satisfy a sanguinary and savage instinct, but 
(which is less reprehensible) to satisfy their hunger. Bees attacked 
by a superior force are in no danger of losing their lives if their 
enemies can induce them to give up their throats—that expression 
conveys the idea. Supposing three or four are furiously attacking 
one bee: they are pulling it by its legs and biting it on its thorax. 
The unfortunate object of this attack has then nothing better to 
do, to escape alive from such a perilous situation, than to stretch 
out its trunk laden with sweet-scented honey. The plunderers 
will come one after the other and drink the honey ; then, cloyed, 
satisfied, having nothing more to demand, they go their way, leav- 
ing the bee to return to his dwelling-place. 
There are also strange fights—regular duels—between the bees 
of the same hive. Very hot weather has the effect of irritating 
them, and making them boil over with rage. They are then 
dangerous to men, whom they attack boldly. But more often it is 
amongst themselves that they quarrel. One often sees two bees 


