BEES IN THE HIVE. 195 
Though the gates are so narrow that two inhabitants 
can only just pass each other on their way through 
them, yet thousands go in and out every hour of the 
day ; some bringing in materials to build new houses, 
others food and provisions to store up for the winter ; 
and while all appears confusion and disorder among 
this rapidly moving throng, yet in reality each has her 
own work to do, and perfect order reigns over the 
whole. 
Even if you did not already know from the title oi 
the lecture what city this is that I am describing, you 
would no doubt guess that it is a beehive. For where 
in the whole world, except indeed upon an anthill, can 
we find so busy, so industrious, or so orderly a com- 
munity as among the bees ? More than a hundred 
years ago, a blind naturalist, Francois Huber, set 
himself to study the habits of these wonderful insects, 
and with the help of his wife and an intelligent man- 
servant managed to learn most of their secrets. Before 
his time all naturalists had failed in watching bees, 
because if they put them in hives with glass windows, 
the bees, not liking the light, closed up the windows 
with cement before they began to work. But Huber 
invented a hive which he could open and close at will, 
putting a glass hive inside it, and by this means he 
was able to surprise the bees at their work Thanks 
to his studies, and to those of other naturalists who 
have followed in his steps, we now know almost as 
much about the home of bees as we do about our own ; 
and if we follow out to-day the building of a bee-city 
and the life of its inhabitants, I think you will acknow- 
ledge that they are a wonderful community, and that 
O 2 
