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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Life of the Bee + +Author: Maurice Maeterlinck + +Release Date: October, 2003 [EBook #4511] +Last Updated: February 6, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF THE BEE *** + + + + +Produced by Steve Solomon and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE LIFE OF THE BEE + </h1> + <h2> + By Maurice Maeterlinck + </h2> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated By Alfred Sutro + </h3> + <h4> + NEW YORK + </h4> + <h3> + 1914 + </h3> + <h4> + <i>Published May, 1901</i> + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0004"> I — ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE HIVE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0005"> II — THE SWARM </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0006"> III — THE FOUNDATION OF THE CITY </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0007"> IV — THE LIFE OF THE BEE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0008"> V — THE YOUNG QUEENS </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0009"> VI — THE NUPTIAL FLIGHT </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0010"> VII — THE MASSACRE OF THE MALES </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_4_0011"> VIII — THE PROGRESS OF THE RACE </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_APPE"> APPENDIX </a> + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0004" id="link2H_4_0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + I — ON THE THRESHOLD OF THE HIVE + </h2> + <h3> + {1} + </h3> + <p> + IT is not my intention to write a treatise on apiculture, or on practical + bee-keeping. Excellent works of the kind abound in all civilised + countries, and it were useless to attempt another. France has those of + Dadant, Georges de Layens and Bonnier, Bertrand, Hamet, Weber, Clement, + the Abbe Collin, etc. English-speaking countries have Langstroth, Bevan, + Cook, Cheshire, Cowan, Root, etc. Germany has Dzierzon, Van Berlespoch, + Pollmann, Vogel, and many others. + </p> + <p> + Nor is this book to be a scientific monograph on Apis Mellifica, + Ligustica, Fasciata, Dorsata, etc., or a collection of new observations + and studies. I shall say scarcely anything that those will not know who + are somewhat familiar with bees. The notes and experiments I have made + during my twenty years of beekeeping I shall reserve for a more technical + work; for their interest is necessarily of a special and limited nature, + and I am anxious not to over-burden this essay. I wish to speak of the + bees very simply, as one speaks of a subject one knows and loves to those + who know it not. I do not intend to adorn the truth, or merit the just + reproach Reaumur addressed to his predecessors in the study of our + honey-flies, whom he accused of substituting for the marvellous reality + marvels that were imaginary and merely plausible. The fact that the hive + contains so much that is wonderful does not warrant our seeking to add to + its wonders. Besides, I myself have now for a long time ceased to look for + anything more beautiful in this world, or more interesting, than the + truth; or at least than the effort one is able to make towards the truth. + I shall state nothing, therefore, that I have not verified myself, or that + is not so fully accepted in the text-books as to render further + verification superfluous. My facts shall be as accurate as though they + appeared in a practical manual or scientific monograph, but I shall relate + them in a somewhat livelier fashion than such works would allow, shall + group them more harmoniously together, and blend them with freer and more + mature reflections. The reader of this book will not learn therefrom how + to manage a hive; but he will know more or less all that can with any + certainty be known of the curious, profound, and intimate side of its + inhabitants. Nor will this be at the cost of what still remains to be + learned. I shall pass over in silence the hoary traditions that, in the + country and many a book, still constitute the legend of the hive. Whenever + there be doubt, disagreement, hypothesis, when I arrive at the unknown, I + shall declare it loyally; you will find that we often shall halt before + the unknown. Beyond the appreciable facts of their life we know but little + of the bees. And the closer our acquaintance becomes, the nearer is our + ignorance brought to us of the depths of their real existence; but such + ignorance is better than the other kind, which is unconscious, and + satisfied. + </p> + <p> + Does an analogous work on the bee exist? I believe I have read almost all + that has been written on bees; but of kindred matter I know only + Michelet's chapter at the end of his book "The Insect," and Ludwig + Buchner's essay in his "Mind in Animals." Michelet merely hovers on the + fringe of his subject; Buchner's treatise is comprehensive enough, but + contains so many hazardous statements, so much long-discarded gossip and + hearsay, that I suspect him of never having left his library, never having + set forth himself to question his heroines, or opened one of the many + hundreds of rustling, wing-lit hives which we must profane before our + instinct can be attuned to their secret, before we can perceive the spirit + and atmosphere, perfume and mystery, of these virgin daughters of toil. + The book smells not of the bee, or its honey; and has the defects of many + a learned work, whose conclusions often are preconceived, and whose + scientific attainment is composed of a vast array of doubtful anecdotes + collected on every side. But in this essay of mine we rarely shall meet + each other; for our starting-point, our aim, and our point of view are all + very different. + </p> + <p> + {2} + </p> + <p> + The bibliography of the bee (we will begin with the books so as to get rid + of them as soon as we can and go to the source of the books) is very + extensive. From the beginning this strange little creature, that lived in + a society under complicated laws and executed prodigious labours in the + darkness, attracted the notice of men. Aristotle, Cato, Varro, Pliny, + Columella, Palladius all studied the bees; to say nothing of Aristomachus, + who, according to Cicero, watched them for fifty-eight years, and of + Phyliscus, whose writings are lost. But these dealt rather with the legend + of the bee; and all that we can gather therefrom—which indeed is + exceedingly little—we may find condensed in the fourth book of + Virgil's Georgics. + </p> + <p> + The real history of the bee begins in the seventeenth century, with the + discoveries of the great Dutch savant Swammerdam. It is well, however, to + add this detail, but little known: before Swammerdam a Flemish naturalist + named Clutius had arrived at certain important truths, such as the sole + maternity of the queen and her possession of the attributes of both sexes, + but he had left these unproved. Swammerdam founded the true methods of + scientific investigation; he invented the microscope, contrived injections + to ward off decay, was the first to dissect the bees, and by the discovery + of the ovaries and the oviduct definitely fixed the sex of the queen, + hitherto looked upon as a king, and threw the whole political scheme of + the hive into most unexpected light by basing it upon maternity. Finally + he produced woodcuts and engravings so perfect that to this day they serve + to illustrate many books on apiculture. He lived in the turbulent, + restless Amsterdam of those days, regretting "Het Zoete Buiten Leve "—The + Sweet Life of the Country—and died, worn-out with work, at the age + of forty-three. He wrote in a pious, formal style, with beautiful, simple + outbursts of a faith that, fearful of falling away, ascribed all things to + the glory of the Creator; and embodied his observations and studies in his + great work "Bybel der Natuure," which the doctor Boerhave, a century + later, caused to be translated from the Dutch into Latin under the title + of "Biblia Naturae." (Leyden, 1737.) + </p> + <p> + Then came Reaumur, who, pursuing similar methods, made a vast number of + curious experiments and researches in his gardens at Charenton, and + devoted to the bees an entire volume of his "Notes to Serve for a History + of Insects." One may read it with profit to-day, and without fatigue. It + is clear, direct, and sincere, and possessed of a certain hard, arid charm + of its own. He sought especially the destruction of ancient errors; he + himself was responsible for several new ones; he partially understood the + formation of swarms and the political establishment of queens; in a word, + he discovered many difficult truths, and paved the way for the discovery + of more. He fully appreciated the marvellous architecture of the hive; and + what he said on the subject has never been better said. It is to him, too, + that we owe the idea of the glass hives, which, having since been + perfected, enable us to follow the entire private life of these fierce + insects, whose work, begun in the dazzling sunshine, receives its crown in + the darkness. To be comprehensive, one should mention also the somewhat + subsequent works and investigations of Charles Bonnet and Schirach (who + solved the enigma of the royal egg); but I will keep to the broad lines, + and pass at once to Francois Huber, the master and classic of contemporary + apiarian science. + </p> + <p> + Huber was born in Geneva in 1750, and fell blind in his earliest youth. + The experiments of Reaumur interested him; he sought to verify them, and + soon becoming passionately absorbed in these researches, eventually, with + the assistance of an intelligent and faithful servant, Francois Burnens, + devoted his entire life to the study of the bee. In the annals of human + suffering and human triumph there is nothing more touching, no lesson more + admirable, than the story of this patient collaboration, wherein the one + who saw only with immaterial light guided with his spirit the eyes and + hands of the other who had the real earthly vision; where he who, as we + are assured, had never with his own eyes beheld a comb of honey, was yet + able, notwithstanding the veil on his dead eyes that rendered double the + veil in which nature enwraps all things, to penetrate the profound secrets + of the genius that had made this invisible comb; as though to teach us + that no condition in life can warrant our abandoning our desire and search + for the truth. I will not enumerate all that apiarian science owes to + Huber; to state what it does not owe were the briefer task. His "New + Observations on Bees," of which the first volume was written in 1789, in + the form of letters to Charles Bonnet, the second not appearing till + twenty years later, have remained the unfailing, abundant treasure into + which every subsequent writer has dipped. And though a few mistakes may be + found therein, a few incomplete truths; though since his time considerable + additions have been made to the micrography and practical culture of bees, + the handling of queens, etc., there is not a single one of his principal + statements that has been disproved, or discovered in error; and in our + actual experience they stand untouched, and indeed at its very foundation. + </p> + <p> + {3} + </p> + <p> + Some years of silence followed these revelations; but soon a German + clergyman, Dzierzon, discovered parthenogenesis, <i>i. e.</i> the virginal + parturition of queens, and contrived the first hive with movable combs, + thereby enabling the bee-keeper henceforth to take his share of the + harvest of honey, without being forced to destroy his best colonies and in + one instant annihilate the work of an entire year. This hive, still very + imperfect, received masterly improvement at the hands of Langstroth, who + invented the movable frame properly so called, which has been adopted in + America with extraordinary success. Root, Quinby, Dadant, Cheshire, De + Layens, Cowan, Heddon, Howard, etc., added still further and precious + improvement. Then it occurred to Mehring that if bees were supplied with + combs that had an artificial waxen foundation, they would be spared the + labour of fashioning the wax and constructing the cells, which costs them + much honey and the best part of their time; he found that the bees + accepted these combs most readily, and adapted them to their requirements. + </p> + <p> + Major de Hruschka invented the Honey-Extractor, which enables the honey to + be withdrawn by centrifugal force without breaking the combs, etc. And + thus, in a few years, the methods of apiculture underwent a radical + change. The capacity and fruitfulness of the hives were trebled. Great and + productive apiaries arose on every side. An end was put to the useless + destruction of the most industrious cities, and to the odious selection of + the least fit which was its result. Man truly became the master of the + bees, although furtively, and without their knowledge; directing all + things without giving an order, receiving obedience but not recognition. + For the destiny once imposed by the seasons he has substituted his will. + He repairs the injustice of the year, unites hostile republics, and + equalises wealth. He restricts or augments the births, regulates the + fecundity of the queen, dethrones her and instals another in her place, + after dexterously obtaining the reluctant consent of a people who would be + maddened at the mere suspicion of an inconceivable intervention. When he + thinks fit, he will peacefully violate the secret of the sacred chambers, + and the elaborate, tortuous policy of the palace. He will five or six + times in succession deprive the bees of the fruit of their labour, without + harming them, without their becoming discouraged or even impoverished. He + proportions the store-houses and granaries of their dwellings to the + harvest of flowers that the spring is spreading over the dip of the hills. + He compels them to reduce the extravagant number of lovers who await the + birth of the royal princesses. In a word he does with them what he will, + he obtains what he will, provided always that what he seeks be in + accordance with their laws and their virtues; for beyond all the desires + of this strange god who has taken possession of them, who is too vast to + be seen and too alien to be understood, their eyes see further than the + eyes of the god himself; and their one thought is the accomplishment, with + untiring sacrifice, of the mysterious duty of their race. + </p> + <p> + {4} + </p> + <p> + Let us now, having learned from books all that they had to teach us of a + very ancient history, leave the science others have acquired and look at + the bees with our own eyes. An hour spent in the midst of the apiary will + be less instructive, perhaps; but the things we shall see will be + infinitely more stimulating and more actual. + </p> + <p> + I have not yet forgotten the first apiary I saw, where I learned to love + the bees. It was many years ago, in a large village of Dutch Flanders, the + sweet and pleasant country whose love for brilliant colour rivals that of + Zealand even, the concave mirror of Holland; a country that gladly spreads + out before us, as so many pretty, thoughtful toys, her illuminated gables, + and waggons, and towers; her cupboards and clocks that gleam at the end of + the passage; her little trees marshalled in line along quays and + canal-banks, waiting, one almost might think, for some quiet, beneficent + ceremony; her boats and her barges with sculptured poops, her flower-like + doors and windows, immaculate dams, and elaborate, many-coloured + drawbridges; and her little varnished houses, bright as new pottery, from + which bell-shaped dames come forth, all a-glitter with silver and gold, to + milk the cows in the white-hedged fields, or spread the linen on flowery + lawns, cut into patterns of oval and lozenge, and most astoundingly green. + </p> + <p> + To this spot, where life would seem more restricted than elsewhere—if + it be possible for life indeed to become restricted—a sort of aged + philosopher had retired; an old man somewhat akin to Virgil's— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Man equal to kings, and approaching the gods;" +</pre> + <p> + whereto Lafontaine might have added,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "And, like the gods, content and at rest." +</pre> + <p> + Here had he built his refuge, being a little weary; not disgusted, for the + large aversions are unknown to the sage; but a little weary of + interrogating men, whose answers to the only interesting questions one can + put concerning nature and her veritable laws are far less simple than + those that are given by animals and plants. His happiness, like the + Scythian philosopher's, lay all in the beauties of his garden; and + best-loved and visited most often, was the apiary, composed of twelve + domes of straw, some of which he had painted a bright pink, and some a + clear yellow, but most of all a tender blue; having noticed, long before + Sir John Lubbock's demonstrations, the bees' fondness for this colour. + </p> + <p> + These hives stood against the wall of the house, in the angle formed by + one of those pleasant and graceful Dutch kitchens whose earthenware + dresser, all bright with copper and tin, reflected itself through the open + door on to the peaceful canal. And the water, burdened with these familiar + images beneath its curtain of poplars, led one's eyes to a calm horizon of + mills and of meadows. + </p> + <p> + Here, as in all places, the hives lent a new meaning to the flowers and + the silence, the balm of the air and the rays of the sun. One seemed to + have drawn very near to the festival spirit of nature. One was content to + rest at this radiant crossroad, where the aerial ways converge and divide + that the busy and tuneful bearers of all country perfumes unceasingly + travel from dawn unto dusk. One heard the musical voice of the garden, + whose loveliest hours revealed their rejoicing soul and sang of their + gladness. One came hither, to the school of the bees, to be taught the + preoccupations of all-powerful nature, the harmonious concord of the three + kingdoms, the indefatigable organisation of life, and the lesson of ardent + and disinterested work; and another lesson too, with a moral as good, that + the heroic workers taught there, and emphasised, as it were, with the + fiery darts of their myriad wings, was to appreciate the somewhat vague + savour of leisure, to enjoy the almost unspeakable delights of those + immaculate days that revolved on themselves in the fields of space, + forming merely a transparent globe, as void of memory as the happiness + without alloy. + </p> + <p> + {5} + </p> + <p> + In order to follow, as simply as possible, the life of the bees through + the year, we will take a hive that awakes in the spring and duly starts on + its labours; and then we shall meet, in their natural order, all the great + episodes, viz.: the formation and departure of the swarm, the foundation + of the new city, the birth, combat and nuptial flight of the young queens, + the massacre of the males, and finally, the return of the sleep of winter. + With each of these episodes there will go the necessary explanations as to + the laws, habits, peculiarities and events that produce and accompany it; + so that, when arrived at the end of the bee's short year, which extends + only from April to the last days of September, we shall have gazed upon + all the mysteries of the palace of honey. Before we open it, therefore, + and throw a general glance around, we only need say that the hive is + composed of a queen, the mother of all her people; of thousands of workers + or neuters who are incomplete and sterile females; and lastly of some + hundreds of males, from whom one shall be chosen as the sole and + unfortunate consort of the queen that the workers will elect in the + future, after the more or less voluntary departure of the reigning mother. + </p> + <p> + {6} + </p> + <p> + The first time that we open a hive there comes over us an emotion akin to + that we might feel at profaning some unknown object, charged perhaps with + dreadful surprise, as a tomb. A legend of menace and peril still clings to + the bees. There is the distressful recollection of her sting, which + produces a pain so characteristic that one knows not wherewith to compare + it; a kind of destroying dryness, a flame of the desert rushing over the + wounded limb, as though these daughters of the sun had distilled a + dazzling poison from their father's angry rays, in order more effectively + to defend the treasure they gather from his beneficent hours. + </p> + <p> + It is true that were some one who neither knows nor respects the customs + and character of the bee suddenly to fling open the hive, it would turn at + once into a burning bush of heroism and anger; but the slight amount of + skill needed to handle it with impunity can be most readily acquired. Let + but a little smoke be deftly applied, much coolness and gentleness be + shown, and our well-armed workers will suffer themselves to be despoiled + without dreaming of drawing their sting. It is not the fact, as some have + maintained, that the bees recognise their master; nor have they any fear + of man; but at the smell of the smoke, at the large slow gestures that + traverse their dwellings without threatening them, they imagine that this + is not the attack of an enemy against whom defence is possible, but that + it is a force or a natural catastrophe whereto they do well to submit. + </p> + <p> + Instead of vainly struggling, therefore, they do what they can to + safeguard the future; and, obeying a foresight that for once is in error, + they fly to their reserves of honey, into which they eagerly dip in order + to possess within themselves the wherewithal to start a new city, + immediately and no matter where, should the ancient one be destroyed or + they be compelled to forsake it. + </p> + <p> + {7} + </p> + <p> + The first impression of the novice before whom an observation-hive* is + opened will be one of some disappointment. He had been told that this + little glass case contained an unparalleled activity, an infinite number + of wise laws, and a startling amalgam of mystery, experience, genius, + calculation, science, of various industries, of certitude and prescience, + of intelligent habits and curious feelings and virtues. All that he sees + is a confused mass of little reddish groups, somewhat resembling roasted + coffee-berries, or bunches of raisins piled against the glass. They look + more dead than alive; their movements are slow, incoherent, and + incomprehensible. Can these be the wonderful drops of light he had seen + but a moment ago, unceasingly flashing and sparkling, as they darted among + the pearls and the gold of a thousand wide-open calyces? + </p> + <p> + By observation-hive is meant a hive of glass, furnished with black + curtains or shutters. The best kind have only one comb, thus permitting + both faces to be studied. These hives can be placed in a drawing-room, + library, etc., without inconvenience or danger. The bees that inhabit the + one I have in my study in Paris are able even in the stony desert of that + great city, to find the wherewithal to nourish themselves and to prosper. + </p> + <p> + They appear to be shivering in the darkness, to be numbed, suffocated, so + closely are they huddled together; one might fancy they were ailing + captives, or queens dethroned, who have had their one moment of glory in + the midst of their radiant garden, and are now compelled to return to the + shameful squalor of their poor overcrowded home. + </p> + <p> + It is with them as with all that is deeply real; they must be studied, and + one must learn how to study them. The inhabitant of another planet who + should see men and women coming and going almost imperceptibly through our + streets, crowding at certain times around certain buildings, or waiting + for one knows not what, without apparent movement, in the depths of their + dwellings, might conclude therefrom that they, too, were miserable and + inert. It takes time to distinguish the manifold activity contained in + this inertia. + </p> + <p> + And indeed every one of the little almost motionless groups in the hive is + incessantly working, each at a different trade. Repose is unknown to any; + and such, for instance, as seem the most torpid, as they hang in dead + clusters against the glass, are intrusted with the most mysterious and + fatiguing task of all: it is they who secrete and form the wax. But the + details of this universal activity will be given in their place. For the + moment we need only call attention to the essential trait in the nature of + the bee which accounts for the extraordinary agglomeration of the various + workers. The bee is above all, and even to a greater extent than the ant, + a creature of the crowd. She can live only in the midst of a multitude. + When she leaves the hive, which is so densely packed that she has to force + her way with blows of her head through the living walls that enclose her, + she departs from her proper element. She will dive for an instant into + flower-filled space, as the swimmer will dive into the sea that is filled + with pearls, but under pain of death it behoves her at regular intervals + to return and breathe the crowd as the swimmer must return and breathe the + air. Isolate her, and however abundant the food or favourable the + temperature, she will expire in a few days not of hunger or cold, but of + loneliness. From the crowd, from the city, she derives an invisible + aliment that is as necessary to her as honey. This craving will help to + explain the spirit of the laws of the hive. For in them the individual is + nothing, her existence conditional only, and herself, for one indifferent + moment, a winged organ of the race. Her whole life is an entire sacrifice + to the manifold, everlasting being whereof she forms part. It is strange + to note that it was not always so. We find even to-day, among the + melliferous hymenoptera, all the stages of progressive civilisation of our + own domestic bee. At the bottom of the scale we find her working alone, in + wretchedness, often not seeing her offspring (the Prosopis, the Colletes, + etc.); sometimes living in the midst of the limited family that she + produces annually (as in the case of the humble-bee). Then she forms + temporary associations (the Panurgi, the Dasypodoe, the Hacliti, etc.) and + at last we arrive, through successive stages, at the almost perfect but + pitiless society of our hives, where the individual is entirely merged in + the republic, and the republic in its turn invariably sacrificed to the + abstract and immortal city of the future. + </p> + <p> + {8} + </p> + <p> + Let us not too hastily deduce from these facts conclusions that apply to + man. He possesses the power of withstanding certain of nature's laws; and + to know whether such resistance be right or wrong is the gravest and + obscurest point in his morality. But it is deeply interesting to discover + what the will of nature may be in a different world; and this will is + revealed with extraordinary clearness in the evolution of the hymenoptera, + which, of all the inhabitants of this globe, possess the highest degree of + intellect after that of man. The aim of nature is manifestly the + improvement of the race; but no less manifest is her inability, or + refusal, to obtain such improvement except at the cost of the liberty, the + rights, and the happiness of the individual. In proportion as a society + organises itself, and rises in the scale, so does a shrinkage enter the + private life of each one of its members. Where there is progress, it is + the result only of a more and more complete sacrifice of the individual to + the general interest. Each one is compelled, first of all, to renounce his + vices, which are acts of independence. For instance, at the last stage but + one of apiarian civilisation, we find the humble-bees, which are like our + cannibals. The adult workers are incessantly hovering around the eggs, + which they seek to devour, and the mother has to display the utmost + stubbornness in their defence. Then having freed himself from his most + dangerous vices, each individual has to acquire a certain number of more + and more painful virtues. Among the humble-bees, for instance, the workers + do not dream of renouncing love, whereas our domestic bee lives in a state + of perpetual chastity. And indeed we soon shall show how much more she has + to abandon, in exchange for the comfort and security of the hive, for its + architectural, economic, and political perfection; and we shall return to + the evolution of the hymenoptera in the chapter devoted to the progress of + the species. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0005" id="link2H_4_0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + II — THE SWARM + </h2> + <h3> + {9} + </h3> + <p> + WE will now, so as to draw more closely to nature, consider the different + episodes of the swarm as they come to pass in an ordinary hive, which is + ten or twenty times more populous than an observation one, and leaves the + bees entirely free and untrammelled. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, they have shaken off the torpor of winter. The queen started + laying again in the very first days of February, and the workers have + flocked to the willows and nut-trees, gorse and violets, anemones and + lungworts. Then spring invades the earth, and cellar and stream with honey + and pollen, while each day beholds the birth of thousands of bees. The + overgrown males now all sally forth from their cells, and disport + themselves on the combs; and so crowded does the too prosperous city + become that hundreds of belated workers, coming back from the flowers + towards evening, will vainly seek shelter within, and will be forced to + spend the night on the threshold, where they will be decimated by the + cold. Restlessness seizes the people, and the old queen begins to stir. + She feels that a new destiny is being prepared. She has religiously + fulfilled her duty as a good creatress; and from this duty done there + result only tribulation and sorrow. An invincible power menaces her + tranquillity; she will soon be forced to quit this city of hers, where she + has reigned. But this city is her work, it is she, herself. She is not its + queen in the sense in which men use the word. She issues no orders; she + obeys, as meekly as the humblest of her subjects, the masked power, + sovereignly wise, that for the present, and till we attempt to locate it, + we will term the "spirit of the hive." But she is the unique organ of + love; she is the mother of the city. She founded it amid uncertainty and + poverty. She has peopled it with her own substance; and all who move + within its walls—workers, males, larvae, nymphs, and the young + princesses whose approaching birth will hasten her own departure, one of + them being already designed as her successor by the "spirit of the hive"—all + these have issued from her flanks. + </p> + <p> + {10} + </p> + <p> + What is this "spirit of the hive"—where does it reside? It is not + like the special instinct that teaches the bird to construct its well + planned nest, and then seek other skies when the day for migration + returns. Nor is it a kind of mechanical habit of the race, or blind + craving for life, that will fling the bees upon any wild hazard the moment + an unforeseen event shall derange the accustomed order of phenomena. On + the contrary, be the event never so masterful, the "spirit of the hive" + still will follow it, step by step, like an alert and quickwitted slave, + who is able to derive advantage even from his master's most dangerous + orders. + </p> + <p> + It disposes pitilessly of the wealth and the happiness, the liberty and + life, of all this winged people; and yet with discretion, as though + governed itself by some great duty. It regulates day by day the number of + births, and contrives that these shall strictly accord with the number of + flowers that brighten the country-side. It decrees the queen's deposition + or warns her that she must depart; it compels her to bring her own rivals + into the world, and rears them royally, protecting them from their + mother's political hatred. So, too, in accordance with the generosity of + the flowers, the age of the spring, and the probable dangers of the + nuptial flight, will it permit or forbid the first-born of the virgin + princesses to slay in their cradles her younger sisters, who are singing + the song of the queens. At other times, when the season wanes, and flowery + hours grow shorter, it will command the workers themselves to slaughter + the whole imperial brood, that the era of revolutions may close, and work + become the sole object of all. The "spirit of the hive" is prudent and + thrifty, but by no means parsimonious. And thus, aware, it would seem, + that nature's laws are somewhat wild and extravagant in all that pertains + to love, it tolerates, during summer days of abundance, the embarrassing + presence in the hive of three or four hundred males, from whose ranks the + queen about to be born shall select her lover; three or four hundred + foolish, clumsy, useless, noisy creatures, who are pretentious, + gluttonous, dirty, coarse, totally and scandalously idle, insatiable, and + enormous. + </p> + <p> + But after the queen's impregnation, when flowers begin to close sooner, + and open later, the spirit one morning will coldly decree the simultaneous + and general massacre of every male. It regulates the workers' labours, + with due regard to their age; it allots their task to the nurses who tend + the nymphs and the larvae, the ladies of honour who wait on the queen and + never allow her out of their sight; the house-bees who air, refresh, or + heat the hive by fanning their wings, and hasten the evaporation of the + honey that may be too highly charged with water; the architects, masons, + wax-workers, and sculptors who form the chain and construct the combs; the + foragers who sally forth to the flowers in search of the nectar that turns + into honey, of the pollen that feeds the nymphs and the larvae, the + propolis that welds and strengthens the buildings of the city, or the + water and salt required by the youth of the nation. Its orders have gone + to the chemists who ensure the preservation of the honey by letting a drop + of formic acid fall in from the end of their sting; to the capsule-makers + who seal down the cells when the treasure is ripe, to the sweepers who + maintain public places and streets most irreproachably clean, to the + bearers whose duty it is to remove the corpses; and to the amazons of the + guard who keep watch on the threshold by night and by day, question comers + and goers, recognise the novices who return from their very first flight, + scare away vagabonds, marauders and loiterers, expel all intruders, attack + redoubtable foes in a body, and, if need be, barricade the entrance. + </p> + <p> + Finally, it is the spirit of the hive that fixes the hour of the great + annual sacrifice to the genius of the race: the hour, that is, of the + swarm; when we find a whole people, who have attained the topmost pinnacle + of prosperity and power, suddenly abandoning to the generation to come + their wealth and their palaces, their homes and the fruits of their + labour; themselves content to encounter the hardships and perils of a new + and distant country. This act, be it conscious or not, undoubtedly passes + the limits of human morality. Its result will sometimes be ruin, but + poverty always; and the thrice-happy city is scattered abroad in obedience + to a law superior to its own happiness. Where has this law been decreed, + which, as we soon shall find, is by no means as blind and inevitable as + one might believe? Where, in what assembly, what council, what + intellectual and moral sphere, does this spirit reside to whom all must + submit, itself being vassal to an heroic duty, to an intelligence whose + eyes are persistently fixed on the future? + </p> + <p> + It comes to pass with the bees as with most of the things in this world; + we remark some few of their habits; we say they do this, they work in such + and such fashion, their queens are born thus, their workers are virgin, + they swarm at a certain time. And then we imagine we know them, and ask + nothing more. We watch them hasten from flower to flower, we see the + constant agitation within the hive; their life seems very simple to us, + and bounded, like every life, by the instinctive cares of reproduction and + nourishment. But let the eye draw near, and endeavour to see; and at once + the least phenomenon of all becomes overpoweringly complex; we are + confronted by the enigma of intellect, of destiny, will, aim, means, + causes; the incomprehensible organisation of the most insignificant act of + life. + </p> + <p> + {11} + </p> + <p> + Our hive, then, is preparing to swarm; making ready for the great + immolation to the exacting gods of the race. In obedience to the order of + the spirit—an order that to us may well seem incomprehensible, for + it is entirely opposed to all our own instincts and feelings—60,000 + or 70,000 bees out of the 80,000 or 90,000 that form the whole population, + will abandon the maternal city at the prescribed hour. They will not leave + at a moment of despair; or desert, with sudden and wild resolve, a home + laid waste by famine, disease, or war. No, the exile has long been + planned, and the favourable hour patiently awaited. Were the hive poor, + had it suffered from pillage or storm, had misfortune befallen the royal + family, the bees would not forsake it. They leave it only when it has + attained the apogee of its prosperity; at a time when, after the arduous + labours of the spring, the immense palace of wax has its 120,000 + well-arranged cells overflowing with new honey, and with the many-coloured + flour, known as "bees' bread," on which nymphs and larvae are fed. + </p> + <p> + Never is the hive more beautiful than on the eve of its heroic + renouncement, in its unrivalled hour of fullest abundance and joy; serene + for all its apparent excitement and feverishness. + </p> + <p> + Let us endeavour to picture it to ourselves, not as it appears to the + bees,—for we cannot tell in what magical, formidable fashion things + may be reflected in the 6,000 or 7,000 facets of their lateral eyes and + the triple cyclopean eye on their brow,—but as it would seem to us, + were we of their stature. From the height of a dome more colossal than + that of St. Peter's at Rome waxen walls descend to the ground, balanced in + the void and the darkness; gigantic and manifold, vertical and parallel + geometric constructions, to which, for relative precision, audacity, and + vastness, no human structure is comparable. Each of these walls, whose + substance still is immaculate and fragrant, of virginal, silvery + freshness, contains thousands of cells, that are stored with provisions + sufficient to feed the whole people for several weeks. Here, lodged in + transparent cells, are the pollens, love-ferment of every flower of + spring, making brilliant splashes of red and yellow, of black and mauve. + Close by, in twenty thousand reservoirs, sealed with a seal that shall + only be broken on days of supreme distress, the honey of April is stored, + most limpid and perfumed of all, wrapped round with long and magnificent + embroidery of gold, whose borders hang stiff and rigid. Still lower the + honey of May matures, in great open vats, by whose side watchful cohorts + maintain an incessant current of air. In the centre, and far from the + light whose diamond rays steal in through the only opening, in the warmest + part of the hive, there stands the abode of the future; here does it + sleep, and wake. For this is the royal domain of the brood-cells, set + apart for the queen and her acolytes; about 10,000 cells wherein the eggs + repose, 15,000 or 16,000 chambers tenanted by larvae, 40,000 dwellings + inhabited by white nymphs to whom thousands of nurses minister.* And + finally, in the holy of holies of these partss are the three, four, six, + or twelve sealed palaces, vast in size compared with the others, where the + adolescent princesses lie who await their hour, wrapped in a kind of + shroud, all of them motionless and pale, and fed in the darkness. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *The figures given here are scrupulously exact. They are + those of a well-filled hive in full prosperity. +</pre> + <p> + On the day, then, that the Spirit of the Hive has ordained, a certain part + of the population will go forth, selected in accordance with sure and + immovable laws, and make way for hopes that as yet are formless. In the + sleeping city there remain the males, from whose ranks the royal lover + shall come, the very young bees that tend the brood-cells, and some + thousands of workers who continue to forage abroad, to guard the + accumulated treasure, and preserve the moral traditions of the hive. For + each hive has its own code of morals. There are some that are very + virtuous and some that are very perverse; and a careless bee-keeper will + often corrupt his people, destroy their respect for the property of + others, incite them to pillage, and induce in them habits of conquest and + idleness which will render them sources of danger to all the little + republics around. These things result from the bee's discovery that work + among distant flowers, whereof many hundreds must be visited to form one + drop of honey, is not the only or promptest method of acquiring wealth, + but that it is easier to enter ill-guarded cities by stratagem, or force + her way into others too weak for self-defence. Nor is it easy to restore + to the paths of duty a hive that has become thus depraved. + </p> + <p> + {13} + </p> + <p> + All things go to prove that it is not the queen, but the spirit of the + hive, that decides on the swarm. With this queen of ours it happens as + with many a chief among men, who though he appear to give orders, is + himself obliged to obey commands far more mysterious, far more + inexplicable, than those he issues to his subordinates. The hour once + fixed, the spirit will probably let it be known at break of dawn, or the + previous night, if indeed not two nights before; for scarcely has the sun + drunk in the first drops of dew when a most unaccustomed stir, whose + meaning the bee-keeper rarely will fail to grasp, is to be noticed within + and around the buzzing city. At times one would almost appear to detect a + sign of dispute, hesitation, recoil. It will happen even that for day + after day a strange emotion, apparently without cause, will appear and + vanish in this transparent, golden throng. Has a cloud that we cannot see + crept across the sky that the bees are watching; or is their intellect + battling with a new regret? Does a winged council debate the necessity of + the departure? Of this we know nothing; as we know nothing of the manner + in which the spirit conveys its resolution to the crowd. Certain as it may + seem that the bees communicate with each other, we know not whether this + be done in human fashion. It is possible even that their own refrain may + be inaudible to them: the murmur that comes to us heavily laden with + perfume of honey, the ecstatic whisper of fairest summer days that the + bee-keeper loves so well, the festival song of labour that rises and falls + around the hive in the crystal of the hour, and might almost be the chant + of the eager flowers, hymn of their gladness and echo of their soft + fragrance, the voice of the white carnations, the marjoram, and the thyme. + They have, however, a whole gamut of sounds that we can distinguish, + ranging from profound delight to menace, distress, and anger; they have + the ode of the queen, the song of abundance, the psalms of grief, and, + lastly, the long and mysterious war-cries the adolescent princesses send + forth during the combats and massacres that precede the nuptial flight. + May this be a fortuitous music that fails to attain their inward silence? + In any event they seem not the least disturbed at the noises we make near + the hive; but they regard these perhaps as not of their world, and + possessed of no interest for them. It is possible that we on our side hear + only a fractional part of the sounds that the bees produce, and that they + have many harmonies to which our ears are not attuned. We soon shall see + with what startling rapidity they are able to understand each other, and + adopt concerted measures, when, for instance, the great honey thief, the + huge sphinx atropos, the sinister butterfly that bears a death's head on + its back, penetrates into the hive, humming its own strange note, which + acts as a kind of irresistible incantation; the news spreads quickly from + group to group, and from the guards at the threshold to the workers on the + furthest combs, the whole population quivers. + </p> + <p> + {14} + </p> + <p> + It was for a long time believed that when these wise bees, generally so + prudent, so far-sighted and economical, abandoned the treasures of their + kingdom and flung themselves upon the uncertainties of life, they were + yielding to a kind of irresistible folly, a mechanical impulse, a law of + the species, a decree of nature, or to the force that for all creatures + lies hidden in the revolution of time. It is our habit, in the case of the + bees no less than our own, to regard as fatality all that we do not as yet + understand. But now that the hive has surrendered two or three of its + material secrets, we have discovered that this exodus is neither + instinctive nor inevitable. It is not a blind emigration, but apparently + the well-considered sacrifice of the present generation in favour of the + generation to come. The bee-keeper has only to destroy in their cells the + young queens that still are inert, and, at the same time, if nymphs and + larvae abound, to enlarge the store-houses and dormitories of the nation, + for this unprofitable tumult instantaneously to subside, for work to be at + once resumed, and the flowers revisited; while the old queen, who now is + essential again, with no successor to hope for, or perhaps to fear, will + renounce for this year her desire for the light of the sun. Reassured as + to the future of the activity that will soon spring into life, she will + tranquilly resume her maternal labours, which consist in the laying of two + or three thousand eggs a day, as she passes, in a methodical spiral, from + cell to cell, omitting none, and never pausing to rest. + </p> + <p> + Where is the fatality here, save in the love of the race of to-day for the + race of to-morrow? This fatality exists in the human species also, but its + extent and power seem infinitely less. Among men it never gives rise to + sacrifices as great, as unanimous, or as complete. What far-seeing + fatality, taking the place of this one, do we ourselves obey? We know not; + as we know not the being who watches us as we watch the bees. + </p> + <p> + But the hive that we have selected is disturbed in its history by no + interference of man; and as the beautiful day advances with radiant and + tranquil steps beneath the trees, its ardour, still bathed in dew, makes + the appointed hour seem laggard. Over the whole surface of the golden + corridors that divide the parallel walls the workers are busily making + preparation for the journey. And each one will first of all burden herself + with provision of honey sufficient for five or six days. From this honey + that they bear within them they will distil, by a chemical process still + unexplained, the wax required for the immediate construction of buildings. + They will provide themselves also with a certain amount of propolis, a + kind of resin with which they will seal all the crevices in the new + dwelling, strengthen weak places, varnish the walls, and exclude the + light; for the bees love to work in almost total obscurity, guiding + themselves with their many-faceted eyes, or with their antennae perhaps, + the seat, it would seem, of an unknown sense that fathoms and measures the + darkness. + </p> + <p> + {16} + </p> + <p> + They are not without prescience, therefore, of what is to befall them on + this the most dangerous day of all their existence. Absorbed by the cares, + the prodigious perils of this mighty adventure, they will have no time now + to visit the gardens and meadows; and to-morrow, and after tomorrow, it + may happen that rain may fall, or there may be wind; that their wings may + be frozen or the flowers refuse to open. Famine and death would await them + were it not for this foresight of theirs. None would come to their help, + nor would they seek help of any. For one city knows not the other, and + assistance never is given. And even though the bee-keeper deposit the + hive, in which he has gathered the old queen and her attendant cluster of + bees, by the side of the abode they have but this moment quitted, they + would seem, be the disaster never so great that shall now have befallen + them, to have wholly forgotten the peace and the happy activity that once + they had known there, the abundant wealth and the safety that had then + been their portion; and all, one by one, and down to the last of them, + will perish of hunger and cold around their unfortunate queen rather than + return to the home of their birth, whose sweet odour of plenty, the + fragrance, indeed, of their own past assiduous labour, reaches them even + in their distress. + </p> + <p> + {17} + </p> + <p> + That is a thing, some will say, that men would not do,—a proof that + the bee, notwithstanding the marvels of its organisation, still is lacking + in intellect and veritable consciousness. Is this so certain? Other + beings, surely, may possess an intellect that differs from ours, and + produces different results, without therefore being inferior. And besides, + are we, even in this little human parish of ours, such infallible judges + of matters that pertain to the spirit? Can we so readily divine the + thoughts that may govern the two or three people we may chance to see + moving and talking behind a closed window, when their words do not reach + us? Or let us suppose that an inhabitant of Venus or Mars were to + contemplate us from the height of a mountain, and watch the little black + specks that we form in space, as we come and go in the streets and squares + of our towns. Would the mere sight of our movements, our buildings, + machines, and canals, convey to him any precise idea of our morality, + intellect, our manner of thinking, and loving, and hoping,—in a + word, of our real and intimate self? All he could do, like ourselves when + we gaze at the hive, would be to take note of some facts that seem very + surprising; and from these facts to deduce conclusions probably no less + erroneous, no less uncertain, than those that we choose to form concerning + the bee. + </p> + <p> + This much at least is certain; our "little black specks" would not reveal + the vast moral direction, the wonderful unity, that are so apparent in the + hive. "Whither do they tend, and what is it they do?" he would ask, after + years and centuries of patient watching. "What is the aim of their life, + or its pivot? Do they obey some God? I can see nothing that governs their + actions. The little things that one day they appear to collect and build + up, the next they destroy and scatter. They come and they go, they meet + and disperse, but one knows not what it is they seek. In numberless cases + the spectacle they present is altogether inexplicable. There are some, for + instance, who, as it were, seem scarcely to stir from their place. They + are to be distinguished by their glossier coat, and often too by their + more considerable bulk. They occupy buildings ten or twenty times larger + than ordinary dwellings, and richer, and more ingeniously fashioned. Every + day they spend many hours at their meals, which sometimes indeed are + prolonged far into the night. They appear to be held in extraordinary + honour by those who approach them; men come from the neighbouring houses, + bringing provisions, and even from the depths of the country, laden with + presents. One can only assume that these persons must be indispensable to + the race, to which they render essential service, although our means of + investigation have not yet enabled us to discover what the precise nature + of this service may be. There are others, again, who are incessantly + engaged in the most wearisome labour, whether it be in great sheds full of + wheels that forever turn round and round, or close by the shipping, or in + obscure hovels, or on small plots of earth that from sunrise to sunset + they are constantly delving and digging. We are led to believe that this + labour must be an offence, and punishable. For the persons guilty of it + are housed in filthy, ruinous, squalid cabins. They are clothed in some + colourless hide. So great does their ardour appear for this noxious, or at + any rate useless activity, that they scarcely allow themselves time to eat + or to sleep. In numbers they are to the others as a thousand to one. It is + remarkable that the species should have been able to survive to this day + under conditions so unfavourable to its development. It should be + mentioned, however, that apart from this characteristic devotion to their + wearisome toil, they appear inoffensive and docile; and satisfied with the + leavings of those who evidently are the guardians, if not the saviours, of + the race." + </p> + <p> + {18} + </p> + <p> + Is it not strange that the hive, which we vaguely survey from the height + of another world, should provide our first questioning glance with so sure + and profound a reply? Must we not admire the manner in which the thought + or the god that the bees obey is at once revealed by their edifices, + wrought with such striking conviction, by their customs and laws, their + political and economical organisation, their virtues, and even their + cruelties? Nor is this god, though it be perhaps the only one to which man + has as yet never offered serious worship, by any means the least + reasonable or the least legitimate that we can conceive. The god of the + bees is the future. When we, in our study of human history, endeavour to + gauge the moral force or greatness of a people or race, we have but one + standard of measurement—the dignity and permanence of their ideal, + and the abnegation wherewith they pursue it. Have we often encountered an + ideal more conformable to the desires of the universe, more widely + manifest, more disinterested or sublime; have we often discovered an + abnegation more complete and heroic? + </p> + <p> + {19} + </p> + <p> + Strange little republic, that, for all its logic and gravity, its matured + conviction and prudence, still falls victim to so vast and precarious a + dream! Who shall tell us, O little people that are so profoundly in + earnest, that have fed on the warmth and the light and on nature's purest, + the soul of the flowers, wherein matter for once seems to smile, and put + forth it? most wistful effort towards beauty and happiness,—who + shall tell us what problems you have resolved, but we not yet, what + certitudes you have acquired that we still have to conquer? And if you + have truly resolved these problems, and acquired these certitudes, by the + aid of some blind and primitive impulse and not through the intellect, + then to what enigma, more insoluble still, are you not urging us on? + Little city abounding in faith and mystery and hope, why do your myriad + virgins consent to a task that no human slave has ever accepted? Another + spring might be theirs, another summer, were they only a little less + wasteful of strength, a little less self-forgetful in their ardour for + toil; but at the magnificent moment when the flowers all cry to them, they + seem to be stricken with the fatal ecstasy of work; and in less than five + weeks they almost all perish, their wings broken, their bodies shrivelled + and covered with wounds. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "Tantus amor florum, et generandi gloria mellis!" +</pre> + <p> + cries Virgil in the fourth book of the Georgics, wherein he devotes + himself to the bees, and hands down to us the charming errors of the + ancients, who looked on nature with eyes still dazzled by the presence of + imaginary gods. + </p> + <p> + {20} + </p> + <p> + Why do they thus renounce sleep, the delights of honey and love, and the + exquisite leisure enjoyed, for instance, by their winged brother, the + butterfly? Why will they not live as he lives? It is not hunger that urges + them on. Two or three flowers suffice for their nourishment, and in one + hour they will visit two or three hundred, to collect a treasure whose + sweetness they never will taste. Why all this toil and distress, and + whence comes this mighty assurance? Is it so certain, then, that the new + generation whereunto you offer your lives will merit the sacrifice; will + be more beautiful, happier, will do something you have not done? Your aim + is clear to us, clearer far than our own; you desire to live, as long as + the world itself, in those that come after; but what can the aim be of + this great aim; what the mission of this existence eternally renewed? + </p> + <p> + And yet may it not be that these questions are idle, and we who are + putting them to you mere childish dreamers, hedged round with error and + doubt? And, indeed, had successive evolutions installed you all-powerful + and supremely happy; had you gained the last heights, whence at length you + ruled over nature's laws; nay, were you immortal goddesses, we still + should be asking you what your desires might be, your ideas of progress; + still wondering where you imagined that at last you would rest and declare + your wishes fulfilled. We are so made that nothing contents us; that we + can regard no single thing as having its aim self-contained, as simply + existing, with no thought beyond existence. Has there been, to this day, + one god out of all the multitude man has conceived, from the vulgarest to + the most thoughtful, of whom it has not been required that he shall be + active and stirring, that he shall create countless beings and things, and + have myriad aims outside himself? And will the time ever come when we + shall be resigned for a few hours tranquilly to represent in this world an + interesting form of material activity; and then, our few hours over, to + assume, without surprise and without regret, that other form which is the + unconscious, the unknown, the slumbering, and the eternal? + </p> + <p> + {21} + </p> + <p> + But we are forgetting the hive wherein the swarming bees have begun to + lose patience, the hive whose black and vibrating waves are bubbling and + overflowing, like a brazen cup beneath an ardent sun. It is noon; and the + heat so great that the assembled trees would seem almost to hold back + their leaves, as a man holds his breath before something very tender but + very grave. The bees give their honey and sweet-smelling wax to the man + who attends them; but more precious gift still is their summoning him to + the gladness of June, to the joy of the beautiful months; for events in + which bees take part happen only when skies are pure, at the winsome hours + of the year when flowers keep holiday. They are the soul of the summer, + the clock whose dial records the moments of plenty; they are the untiring + wing on which delicate perfumes float; the guide of the quivering + light-ray, the song of the slumberous, languid air; and their flight is + the token, the sure and melodious note, of all the myriad fragile joys + that are born in the heat and dwell in the sunshine. They teach us to tune + our ear to the softest, most intimate whisper of these good, natural + hours. To him who has known them and loved them, a summer where there are + no bees becomes as sad and as empty as one without flowers or birds. + </p> + <p> + {22} + </p> + <p> + The man who never before has beheld the swarm of a populous hive must + regard this riotous, bewildering spectacle with some apprehension and + diffidence. He will be almost afraid to draw near; he will wonder can + these be the earnest, the peace-loving, hard-working bees whose movements + he has hitherto followed? It was but a few moments before he had seen them + troop in from all parts of the country, as pre-occupied, seemingly, as + little housewives might be, with no thoughts beyond household cares. He + had watched them stream into the hive, imperceptibly almost, out of + breath, eager, exhausted, full of discreet agitation; and had seen the + young amazons stationed at the gate salute them, as they passed by, with + the slightest wave of antennae. And then, the inner court reached, they + had hurriedly given their harvest of honey to the adolescent portresses + always stationed within, exchanging with these at most the three or four + probably indispensable words; or perhaps they would hasten themselves to + the vast magazines that encircle the brood-cells, and deposit the two + heavy baskets of pollen that depend from their thighs, thereupon at once + going forth once more, without giving a thought to what might be passing + in the royal palace, the work-rooms, or the dormitory where the nymphs lie + asleep; without for one instant joining in the babel of the public place + in front of the gate, where it is the wont of the cleaners, at time of + great heat, to congregate and to gossip. + </p> + <p> + {23} + </p> + <p> + To-day this is all changed. A certain number of workers, it is true, will + peacefully go to the fields, as though nothing were happening; will come + back, clean the hive, attend to the brood-cells, and hold altogether aloof + from the general ecstasy. These are the ones that will not accompany the + queen; they will remain to guard the old home, feed the nine or ten + thousand eggs, the eighteen thousand larvae, the thirty-six thousand + nymphs and seven or eight royal princesses, that to-day shall all be + abandoned. Why they have been singled out for this austere duty, by what + law, or by whom, it is not in our power to divine. To this mission of + theirs they remain inflexibly, tranquilly faithful; and though I have many + times tried the experiment of sprinkling a colouring matter over one of + these resigned Cinderellas, that are moreover easily to be distinguished + in the midst of the rejoicing crowds by their serious and somewhat + ponderous gait, it is rarely indeed that I have found one of them in the + delirious throng of the swarm. + </p> + <p> + And yet, the attraction must seem irresistible. It is the ecstasy of the + perhaps unconscious sacrifice the god has ordained; it is the festival of + honey, the triumph of the race, the victory of the future: the one day of + joy, of forgetfulness and folly; the only Sunday known to the bees. It + would appear to be also the solitary day upon which all eat their fill, + and revel, to heart's content, in the delights of the treasure themselves + have amassed. It is as though they were prisoners to whom freedom at last + had been given, who had suddenly been led to a land of refreshment and + plenty. They exult, they cannot contain the joy that is in them. They come + and go aimlessly,—they whose every movement has always its precise + and useful purpose—they depart and return, sally forth once again to + see if the queen be ready, to excite their sisters, to beguile the tedium + of waiting. They fly much higher than is their wont, and the leaves of the + mighty trees round about all quiver responsive. They have left trouble + behind, and care. They no longer are meddling and fierce, aggressive, + suspicious, untamable, angry. Man—the unknown master whose sway they + never acknowledge, who can subdue them only by conforming to their every + law, to their habits of labour, and following step by step the path that + is traced in their life by an intellect nothing can thwart or turn from + its purpose, by a spirit whose aim is always the good of the morrow—on + this day man can approach them, can divide the glittering curtain they + form as they fly round and round in songful circles; he can take them up + in his hand, and gather them as he would a bunch of grapes; for to-day, in + their gladness, possessing nothing, but full of faith in the future, they + will submit to everything and injure no one, provided only they be not + separated from the queen who bears that future within her. + </p> + <p> + {25} + </p> + <p> + But the veritable signal has not yet been given. In the hive there is + indescribable confusion; and a disorder whose meaning escapes us. At + ordinary times each bee, once returned to her home, would appear to forget + her possession of wings; and will pursue her active labours, making + scarcely a movement, on that particular spot in the hive that her special + duties assign. But to-day they all seem bewitched; they fly in dense + circles round and round the polished walls like a living jelly stirred by + an invisible hand. The temperature within rises rapidly,—to such a + degree, at times, that the wax of the buildings will soften, and twist out + of shape. The queen, who ordinarily never will stir from the centre of the + comb, now rushes wildly, in breathless excitement, over the surface of the + vehement crowd that turn and turn on themselves. Is she hastening their + departure, or trying to delay it? Does she command, or haply implore? Does + this prodigious emotion issue from her, or is she its victim? Such + knowledge as we possess of the general psychology of the bee warrants the + belief that the swarming always takes place against the old sovereign's + will. For indeed the ascetic workers, her daughters, regard the queen + above all as the organ of love, indispensable, certainly, and sacred, but + in herself somewhat unconscious, and often of feeble mind. They treat her + like a mother in her dotage. Their respect for her, their tenderness, is + heroic and boundless. The purest honey, specially distilled and almost + entirely assimilable, is reserved for her use alone. She has an escort + that watches over her by day and by night, that facilitates her maternal + duties and gets ready the cells wherein the eggs shall be laid; she has + loving attendants who pet and caress her, feed her and clean her, and even + absorb her excrement. Should the least accident befall her the news will + spread quickly from group to group, and the whole population will rush to + and fro in loud lamentation. Seize her, imprison her, take her away from + the hive at a time when the bees shall have no hope of filling her place, + owing, it may be, to her having left no predestined descendants, or to + there being no larvae less than three days old (for a special nourishment + is capable of transforming these into royal nymphs, such being the grand + democratic principle of the hive, and a counterpoise to the prerogatives + of maternal predestination), and then, her loss once known, after two or + three hours, perhaps, for the city is vast; work will cease in almost + every direction. The young will no longer be cared for; part of the + inhabitants will wander in every direction, seeking their mother, in quest + of whom others will sally forth from the hive; the workers engaged in + constructing the comb will fall asunder and scatter, the foragers no + longer will visit the flowers, the guard at the entrance will abandon + their post; and foreign marauders, all the parasites of honey, forever on + the watch for opportunities of plunder, will freely enter and leave + without any one giving a thought to the defence of the treasure that has + been so laboriously gathered. And poverty, little by little, will steal + into the city; the population will dwindle; and the wretched inhabitants + soon will perish of distress and despair, though every flower of summer + burst into bloom before them. + </p> + <p> + But let the queen be restored before her loss has become an accomplished, + irremediable fact, before the bees have grown too profoundly demoralised,—for + in this they resemble men: a prolonged regret, or misfortune, will impair + their intellect and degrade their character,—let her be restored but + a few hours later, and they will receive her with extraordinary, pathetic + welcome. They will flock eagerly round her; excited groups will climb over + each other in their anxiety to draw near; as she passes among them they + will caress her with the long antennae that contain so many organs as yet + unexplained; they will present her with honey, and escort her tumultuously + back to the royal chamber. And order at once is restored, work resumed, + from the central comb of the brood-cells to the furthest annex where the + surplus honey is stored; the foragers go forth, in long black files, to + return, in less than three minutes sometimes, laden with nectar and + pollen; streets are swept, parasites and marauders killed or expelled; and + the hive soon resounds with the gentle, monotonous cadence of the strange + hymn of rejoicing, which is, it would seem, the hymn of the royal + presence. + </p> + <p> + {26} + </p> + <p> + There are numberless instances of the absolute attachment and devotion + that the workers display towards their queen. Should disaster befall the + little republic; should the hive or the comb collapse, should man prove + ignorant, or brutal; should they suffer from famine, from cold or disease, + and perish by thousands, it will still be almost invariably found that the + queen will be safe and alive, beneath the corpses of her faithful + daughters. For they will protect her, help her to escape; their bodies + will provide both rampart and shelter; for her will be the last drop of + honey, the wholesomest food. And be the disaster never so great, the city + of virgins will not lose heart so long as the queen be alive. Break their + comb twenty times in succession, take twenty times from them their young + and their food, you still shall never succeed in making them doubt of the + future; and though they be starving, and their number so small that it + scarcely suffices to shield their mother from the enemy's gaze, they will + set about to reorganize the laws of the colony, and to provide for what is + most pressing; they will distribute the work in accordance with the new + necessities of this disastrous moment, and thereupon will immediately + re-assume their labours with an ardour, a patience, a tenacity and + intelligence not often to be found existing to such a degree in nature, + true though it be that most of its creatures display more confidence and + courage than man. + </p> + <p> + But the presence of the queen is not even essential for their + discouragement to vanish and their love to endure. It is enough that she + should have left, at the moment of her death or departure, the very + slenderest hope of descendants. "We have seen a colony," says Langstroth, + one of the fathers of modern apiculture, "that had not bees sufficient to + cover a comb of three inches square, and yet endeavoured to rear a queen. + For two whole weeks did they cherish this hope; finally, when their number + was reduced by one-half, their queen was born, but her wings were + imperfect, and she was unable to fly. Impotent as she was, her bees did + not treat her with the less respect. A week more, and there remained + hardly a dozen bees; yet a few days, and the queen had vanished, leaving a + few wretched, inconsolable insects upon the combs." + </p> + <p> + There is another instance, and one that reveals most palpably the ultimate + gesture of filial love and devotion. It arises from one of the + extraordinary ordeals that our recent and tyrannical intervention inflicts + on these hapless, unflinching heroines. I, in common with all amateur + bee-keepers, have more than once had impregnated queens sent me from + Italy; for the Italian species is more prolific, stronger, more active, + and gentler than our own. It is the custom to forward them in small, + perforated boxes. In these some food is placed, and the queen enclosed, + together with a certain number of workers, selected as far as possible + from among the oldest bees in the hive. (The age of the bee can be readily + told by its body, which gradually becomes more polished, thinner, and + almost bald; and more particularly by the wings, which hard work uses and + tears.) It is their mission to feed the queen during the journey, to tend + her and guard her. I would frequently find, when the box arrived, that + nearly every one of the workers was dead. On one occasion, indeed, they + had all perished of hunger; but in this instance as in all others the + queen was alive, unharmed, and full of vigour; and the last of her + companions had probably passed away in the act of presenting the last drop + of honey she held in her sac to the queen, who was symbol of a life more + precious, more vast than her own. + </p> + <p> + {28} + </p> + <p> + This unwavering affection having come under the notice of man, he was able + to turn to his own advantage the qualities to which it gives rise, or that + it perhaps contains: the admirable political sense, the passion for work, + the perseverance, magnanimity, and devotion to the future. It has allowed + him, in the course of the last few years, to a certain extent to + domesticate these intractable insects, though without their knowledge; for + they yield to no foreign strength, and in their unconscious servitude obey + only the laws of their own adoption. Man may believe, if he choose, that, + possessing the queen, he holds in his hand the destiny and soul of the + hive. In accordance with the manner in which he deals with her—as it + were, plays with her—he can increase and hasten the swarm or + restrict and retard it; he can unite or divide colonies, and direct the + emigration of kingdoms. And yet it is none the less true that the queen is + essentially merely a sort of living symbol, standing, as all symbols must, + for a vaster although less perceptible principle; and this principle the + apiarist will do well to take into account, if he would not expose himself + to more than one unexpected reverse. For the bees are by no means deluded. + The presence of the queen does not blind them to the existence of their + veritable sovereign, immaterial and everlasting, which is no other than + their fixed idea. Why inquire as to whether this idea be conscious or not? + Such speculation can have value only if our anxiety be to determine + whether we should more rightly admire the bees that have the idea, or + nature that has planted it in them. Wherever it lodge, in the vast + unknowable body or in the tiny ones that we see, it merits our deepest + attention; nor may it be out of place here to observe that it is the habit + we have of subordinating our wonder to accidents of origin or place, that + so often causes us to lose the chance of deep admiration; which of all + things in the world is the most helpful to us. + </p> + <p> + {29} + </p> + <p> + These conjectures may perhaps be regarded as exceedingly venturesome, and + possibly also as unduly human. It may be urged that the bees, in all + probability, have no idea of the kind; that their care for the future, + love of the race, and many other feelings we choose to ascribe to them, + are truly no more than forms assumed by the necessities of life, the fear + of suffering or death, and the attraction of pleasure. Let it be so; look + on it all as a figure of speech; it is a matter to which I attach no + importance. The one thing certain here, as it is the one thing certain in + all other cases, is that, under special circumstances, the bees will treat + their queen in a special manner. The rest is all mystery, around which we + only can weave more or less ingenious and pleasant conjecture. And yet, + were we speaking of man in the manner wherein it were wise perhaps to + speak of the bee, is there very much more we could say? He too yields only + to necessity, the attraction of pleasure, and the fear of suffering; and + what we call our intellect has the same origin and mission as what in + animals we choose to term instinct. We do certain things, whose results we + conceive to be known to us; other things happen, and we flatter ourselves + that we are better equipped than animals can be to divine their cause; + but, apart from the fact that this supposition rests on no very solid + foundation, events of this nature are rare and infinitesimal, compared + with the vast mass of others that elude comprehension; and all, the + pettiest and the most sublime, the best known and the most inexplicable, + the nearest and the most distant, come to pass in a night so profound that + our blindness may well be almost as great as that we suppose in the bee. + </p> + <p> + {30} + </p> + <p> + "All must agree," remarks Buffon, who has a somewhat amusing prejudice + against the bee,—"all must agree that these flies, individually + considered, possess far less genius than the dog, the monkey, or the + majority of animals; that they display far less docility, attachment, or + sentiment; that they have, in a word, less qualities that relate to our + own; and from that we may conclude that their apparent intelligence + derives only from their assembled multitude; nor does this union even + argue intelligence, for it is governed by no moral considerations, it + being without their consent that they find themselves gathered together. + This society, therefore, is no more than a physical assemblage ordained by + nature, and independent either of knowledge, or reason, or aim. The + mother-bee produces ten thousand individuals at a time, and in the same + place; these ten thousand individuals, were they a thousand times stupider + than I suppose them to be, would be compelled, for the mere purpose of + existence, to contrive some form of arrangement; and, assuming that they + had begun by injuring each other, they would, as each one possesses the + same strength as its fellow, soon have ended by doing each other the least + possible harm, or, in other words, by rendering assistance. They have the + appearance of understanding each other, and of working for a common aim; + and the observer, therefore, is apt to endow them with reasons and + intellect that they truly are far from possessing. He will pretend to + account for each action, show a reason behind every movement; and from + thence the gradation is easy to proclaiming them marvels, or monsters, of + innumerable ideas. Whereas the truth is that these ten thousand + individuals, that have been produced simultaneously, that have lived + together, and undergone metamorphosis at more or less the same time, + cannot fail all to do the same thing, and are compelled, however slight + the sentiment within them, to adopt common habits, to live in accord and + union, to busy themselves with their dwelling, to return to it after their + journeys, etc., etc. And on this foundation arise the architecture, the + geometry, the order, the foresight, love of country,—in a word, the + republic; all springing, as we have seen, from the admiration of the + observer." There we have our bees explained in a very different fashion. + And if it seem more natural at first, is it not for the very simple reason + that it really explains almost nothing? I will not allude to the material + errors this chapter contains; I will only ask whether the mere fact of the + bees accepting a common existence, while doing each other the least + possible harm, does not in itself argue a certain intelligence. And does + not this intelligence appear the more remarkable to us as we more closely + examine the fashion in which these "ten thousand individuals" avoid + hurting each other, and end by giving assistance? And further, is this not + the history of ourselves; and does not all that the angry old naturalist + says apply equally to every one of our human societies? And yet once + again: if the bee is indeed to be credited with none of the feelings or + ideas that we have ascribed to it, shall we not very willingly shift the + ground of our wonder? If we must not admire the bee, we will then admire + nature; the moment must always come when admiration can be no longer + denied us, nor shall there be loss to us through our having retreated, or + waited. + </p> + <p> + However these things may be, and without abandoning this conjecture of + ours, that at least has the advantage of connecting in our mind certain + actions that have evident connection in fact, it is certain that the bees + have far less adoration for the queen herself than for the infinite future + of the race that she represents. They are not sentimental; and should one + of their number return from work so severely wounded as to be held + incapable of further service, they will ruthlessly expel her from the + hive. And yet it cannot be said that they are altogether incapable of a + kind of personal attachment towards their mother. They will recognise her + from among all. Even when she is old, crippled, and wretched, the + sentinels at the door will never allow another queen to enter the hive, + though she be young and fruitful. It is true that this is one of the + fundamental principles of their polity, and never relaxed except at times + of abundant honey, in favour of some foreign worker who shall be well + laden with food. + </p> + <p> + When the queen has become completely sterile, the bees will rear a certain + number of royal princesses to fill her place. But what becomes of the old + sovereign? As to this we have no precise knowledge; but it has happened, + at times, that apiarists have found a magnificent queen, in the flower of + her age, on the central comb of the hive; and in some obscure corner, + right at the back, the gaunt, decrepit "old mistress," as they call her in + Normandy. In such cases it would seem that the bees have to exercise the + greatest care to protect her from the hatred of the vigorous rival who + longs for her death; for queen hates queen so fiercely that two who might + happen to be under the same roof would immediately fly at each other. It + would be pleasant to believe that the bees are thus providing their + ancient sovereign with a humble shelter in a remote corner of the city, + where she may end her days in peace. Here again we touch one of the + thousand enigmas of the waxen city; and it is once more proved to us that + the habits and the policy of the bees are by no means narrow, or rigidly + predetermined; and that their actions have motives far more complex than + we are inclined to suppose. + </p> + <p> + {32} + </p> + <p> + But we are constantly tampering with what they must regard as immovable + laws of nature; constantly placing the bees in a position that may be + compared to that in which we should ourselves be placed were the laws of + space and gravity, of light and heat, to be suddenly suppressed around us. + What are the bees to do when we, by force or by fraud, introduce a second + queen into the city? It is probable that, in a state of nature, thanks to + the sentinels at the gate, such an event has never occurred since they + first came into the world. But this prodigious conjuncture does not + scatter their wits; they still contrive to reconcile the two principles + that they appear to regard in the light of divine commands. The first is + that of unique maternity, never infringed except in the case of sterility + in the reigning queen, and even then only very exceptionally; the second + is more curious still, and, although never transgressed, susceptible of + what may almost be termed a Judaic evasion. It is the law that invests the + person of a queen, whoever she be, with a sort of inviolability. It would + be a simple matter for the bees to pierce the intruder with their myriad + envenomed stings; she would die on the spot, and they would merely have to + remove the corpse from the hive. But though this sting is always held + ready to strike, though they make constant use of it in their fights among + themselves,<i> they will never draw it against a queen;</i> nor will a + queen ever draw hers on a man, an animal, or an ordinary bee. She will + never unsheath her royal weapon—curved, in scimeter fashion, instead + of being straight, like that of the ordinary bee—save only in the + case of her doing battle with an equal: in other words, with a sister + queen. + </p> + <p> + No bee, it would seem, dare take on herself the horror of direct and + bloody regicide. Whenever, therefore, the good order and prosperity of the + republic appear to demand that a queen shall die, they endeavour to give + to her death some semblance of natural decease, and by infinite + subdivision of the crime, to render it almost anonymous. + </p> + <p> + They will, therefore, to use the picturesque expression of the apiarist, + "ball" the queenly intruder; in other words, they will entirely surround + her with their innumerable interlaced bodies. They will thus form a sort + of living prison wherein the captive is unable to move; and in this prison + they will keep her for twenty-four hours, if need be, till the victim die + of suffocation or hunger. + </p> + <p> + But if, at this moment, the legitimate queen draw near, and, scenting a + rival, appear disposed to attack her, the living walls of the prison will + at once fly open; and the bees, forming a circle around the two enemies, + will eagerly watch the strange duel that will ensue, though remaining + strictly impartial, and taking no share in it. For it is written that + against a mother the sting may be drawn by a mother alone; only she who + bears in her flanks close on two million lives appears to possess the + right with one blow to inflict close on two million deaths. + </p> + <p> + But if the combat last too long, without any result, if the circular + weapons glide harmlessly over the heavy cuirasses, if one of the queens + appear anxious to make her escape, then, be she the legitimate sovereign + or be she the stranger, she will at once be seized and lodged in the + living prison until such time as she manifest once more the desire to + attack her foe. It is right to add, however, that the numerous experiments + that have been made on this subject have almost invariably resulted in the + victory of the reigning queen, owing perhaps to the extra courage and + ardour she derives from the knowledge that she is at home, with her + subjects around her, or to the fact that the bees, however impartial while + the fight is in progress, may possibly display some favouritism in their + manner of imprisoning the rivals; for their mother would seem scarcely to + suffer from the confinement, whereas the stranger almost always emerges in + an appreciably bruised and enfeebled condition. + </p> + <p> + {33} + </p> + <p> + There is one simple experiment which proves the readiness with which the + bees will recognise their queen, and the depth of the attachment they bear + her. Remove her from the hive, and there will soon be manifest all the + phenomena of anguish and distress that I have described in a preceding + chapter. Replace her, a few hours later, and all her daughters will hasten + towards her, offering honey. One section will form a lane, for her to pass + through; others, with head bent low and abdomen high in the air, will + describe before her great semicircles throbbing with sound; hymning, + doubtless, the chant of welcome their rites dictate for moments of supreme + happiness or solemn respect. + </p> + <p> + But let it not be imagined that a foreign queen may with impunity be + substituted for the legitimate mother. The bees will at once detect the + imposture; the intruder will be seized, and immediately enclosed in the + terrible, tumultuous prison, whose obstinate walls will be relieved, as it + were, till she dies; for in this particular instance it hardly ever occurs + that the stranger emerges alive. + </p> + <p> + And here it is curious to note to what diplomacy and elaborate stratagem + man is compelled to resort in order to delude these little sagacious + insects, and bend them to his will. In their unswerving loyalty, they will + accept the most unexpected events with touching courage, regarding them + probably as some new and inevitable fatal caprice of nature. And, indeed, + all this diplomacy notwithstanding, in the desperate confusion that may + follow one of these hazardous expedients, it is on the admirable good + sense of the bee that man always, and almost empirically, relies; on the + inexhaustible treasure of their marvellous laws and customs, on their love + of peace and order, their devotion to the public weal, and fidelity to the + future; on the adroit strength, the earnest disinterestedness, of their + character, and, above all, on the untiring devotion with which they fulfil + their duty. But the enumeration of such procedures belongs rather to + technical treatises on apiculture, and would take us too far.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *The stranger queen is usually brought into the hive + enclosed in a little cage, with iron wires, which is hung + between two combs. The cage has a door made of wax and + honey, which the workers, their anger over, proceed to gnaw, + thus freeing the prisoner, whom they will often receive + without any ill-will. Mr. Simmins, manager of the great + apiary at Rottingdean, has recently discovered another + method of introducing a queen, which, being extremely simple + and almost invariably successful, bids fair to be generally + adopted by apiarists who value their art. It is the + behaviour of the queen that usually makes her introduction a + matter of so great difficulty. She is almost distracted, + flies to and fro, hides, and generally comports herself as + an intruder, thus arousing the suspicions of the bees, which + are soon confirmed by the workers' examination. Mr. Simmins + at first completely isolates the queen he intends to + introduce, and lets her fast for half an hour. He then lifts + a corner of the inner cover of the orphaned hive, and places + the strange queen on the top of one of the combs. Her former + isolation having terrified her, she is delighted to find + herself in the midst of the bees; and being famished she + eagerly accepts the food they offer her. The workers, + deceived by her assurance, do not examine her, but probably + imagine that their old queen has returned, and welcome her + joyfully. It would seem, therefore, that, contrary to the + opinion of Huber and all other investigators, the bees are + not capable of recognising their queen. In any event, the + two explanations, which are both equally plausible—though + the truth may lurk, perhaps, in a third, that is not yet + known to us—only prove once again how complex and obscure + is the psychology of the bee. And from this, as from all + questions that deal with life, we can draw one conclusion + only: that, till better obtain, curiosity still must rule in + our heart. +</pre> + <p> + {34} + </p> + <p> + As regards this personal affection of which we have spoken, there is one + word more to be said. That such affection exists is certain, but it is + certain also that its memory is exceedingly short-lived. Dare to replace + in her kingdom a mother whose exile has lasted some days, and her + indignant daughters will receive her in such a fashion as to compel you + hastily to snatch her from the deadly imprisonment reserved for unknown + queens. For the bees have had time to transform a dozen workers' + habitations into royal cells, and the future of the race is no longer in + danger. Their affection will increase, or dwindle, in the degree that the + queen represents the future. Thus we often find, when a virgin queen is + performing the perilous ceremony known as the "nuptial flight," of which I + will speak later, that her subjects are so fearful of losing her that they + will all accompany her on this tragic and distant quest of love. This they + will never do, however, if they be provided with a fragment of comb + containing brood-cells, whence they shall be able to rear other queens. + Indeed, their affection even may turn into fury and hatred should their + sovereign fail in her duty to that sort of abstract divinity that we + should call future society, which the bees would appear to regard far more + seriously than we. It happens, for instance, at times, that apiarists for + various reasons will prevent the queen from joining a swarm by inserting a + trellis into the hive; the nimble and slender workers will flit through + it, unperceiving, but to the poor slave of love, heavier and more + corpulent than her daughters, it offers an impassable barrier. The bees, + when they find that the queen has not followed, will return to the hive, + and scold the unfortunate prisoner, hustle and ill-treat her, accusing her + of laziness, probably, or suspecting her of feeble mind. On their second + departure, when they find that she still has not followed, her ill-faith + becomes evident to them, and their attacks grow more serious. And finally, + when they shall have gone forth once more, and still with the same result, + they will almost always condemn her, as being irremediably faithless to + her destiny and to the future of the race, and put her to death in the + royal prison. + </p> + <p> + {35} + </p> + <p> + It is to the future, therefore, that the bees subordinate all things; and + with a foresight, a harmonious co-operation, a skill in interpreting + events and turning them to the best advantage, that must compel our + heartiest admiration, particularly when we remember in how startling and + supernatural a light our recent intervention must present itself to them. + It may be said, perhaps, that in the last instance we have given, they + place a very false construction upon the queen's inability to follow them. + But would our powers of discernment be so very much subtler, if an + intelligence of an order entirely different from our own, and served by a + body so colossal that its movements were almost as imperceptible as those + of a natural phenomenon, were to divert itself by laying traps of this + kind for us? Has it not taken us thousands of years to invent a + sufficiently plausible explanation for the thunderbolt? There is a certain + feebleness that overwhelms every intellect the moment it emerges from its + own sphere, and is brought face to face with events not of its own + initiation. And, besides, it is quite possible that if this ordeal of the + trellis were to obtain more regularly and generally among the bees, they + would end by detecting the pitfall, and by taking steps to elude it. They + have mastered the intricacies of the movable comb, of the sections that + compel them to store their surplus honey in little boxes symmetrically + piled; and in the case of the still more extraordinary innovation of + foundation wax, where the cells are indicated only by a slender + circumference of wax, they are able at once to grasp the advantages this + new system presents; they most carefully extend the wax, and thus, without + loss of time or labour, construct perfect cells. So long as the event that + confronts them appear not a snare devised by some cunning and malicious + god, the bees may be trusted always to discover the best, nay, the only + human, solution. Let me cite an instance; an event, that, though occurring + in nature, is still in itself wholly abnormal. I refer to the manner in + which the bees will dispose of a mouse or a slug that may happen to have + found its way into the hive. The intruder killed, they have to deal with + the body, which will very soon poison their dwelling. If it be impossible + for them to expel or dismember it, they will proceed methodically and + hermetically to enclose it in a veritable sepulchre of propolis and wax, + which will tower fantastically above the ordinary monuments of the city. + In one of my hives last year I discovered three such tombs side by side, + erected with party-walls, like the cells of the comb, so that no wax + should be wasted. These tombs the prudent grave-diggers had raised over + the remains of three snails that a child had introduced into the hive. As + a rule, when dealing with snails, they will be content to seal up with wax + the orifice of the shell. But in this case the shells were more or less + cracked and broken; and they had considered it simpler, therefore, to bury + the entire snail; and had further contrived, in order that circulation in + the entrance-hall might not be impeded, a number of galleries exactly + proportionate, not to their own girth, but to that of the males, which are + almost twice as large as themselves. Does not this instance, and the one + that follows, warrant our believing that they would in time discover the + cause of the queen's inability to follow them through the trellis? They + have a very nice sense of proportion, and of the space required for the + movement of bodies. In the regions where the hideous death's-head sphinx, + the acherontia atropos, abounds, they construct little pillars of wax at + the entrance of the hive, so restricting the dimension as to prevent the + passage of the nocturnal marauder's enormous abdomen. + </p> + <p> + {36} + </p> + <p> + But enough on this point; were I to cite every instance I should never + have done. To return to the queen, whose position in the hive, and the + part that she plays therein, we shall most fitly describe by declaring her + to be the captive heart of the city, and the centre around which its + intelligence revolves. Unique sovereign though she be, she is also the + royal servant, the responsible delegate of love, and its captive + custodian. Her people serve her and venerate her; but they never forget + that it is not to her person that their homage is given, but to the + mission that she fulfils, and the destiny she represents. It would not be + easy for us to find a human republic whose scheme comprised more of the + desires of our planet; or a democracy that offered an independence more + perfect and rational, combined with a submission more logical and more + complete. And nowhere, surely, should we discover more painful and + absolute sacrifice. Let it not be imagined that I admire this sacrifice to + the extent that I admire its results. It were evidently to be desired that + these results might be obtained at the cost of less renouncement and + suffering. But, the principle once accepted,—and this is needful, + perhaps, in the scheme of our globe,—its organisation compels our + wonder. Whatever the human truth on this point may be, life, in the hive, + is not looked on as a series of more or less pleasant hours, whereof it is + wise that those moments only should be soured and embittered that are + essential for maintaining existence. The bees regard it as a great common + duty, impartially distributed amongst them all, and tending towards a + future that goes further and further back ever since the world began. And, + for the sake of this future, each one renounces more than half of her + rights and her joys. The queen bids farewell to freedom, the light of day, + and the calyx of flowers; the workers give five or six years of their + life, and shall never know love, or the joys of maternity. The queen's + brain turns to pulp, that the reproductive organs may profit; in the + workers these organs atrophy, to the benefit of their intelligence. Nor + would it be fair to allege that the will plays no part in all these + renouncements. We have seen that each worker's larva can be transformed + into a queen if lodged and fed on the royal plan; and similarly could each + royal larva be turned into worker if her food were changed and her cell + reduced. These mysterious elections take place every day in the golden + shade of the hive. It is not chance that controls them, but a wisdom whose + deep loyalty, gravity, and unsleeping watchfulness man alone can betray: a + wisdom that makes and unmakes, and keeps careful watch over all that + happens within and without the city. If sudden flowers abound, or the + queen grow old, or less fruitful; if population increase, and be pressed + for room, you then shall find that the bees will proceed to rear royal + cells. But these cells may be destroyed if the harvest fail, or the hive + be enlarged. Often they will be retained so long as the young queen have + not accomplished, or succeeded in, her marriage flight,—to be at + once annihilated when she returns, trailing behind her, trophy-wise, the + infallible sign of her impregnation. Who shall say where the wisdom + resides that can thus balance present and future, and prefer what is not + yet visible to that which already is seen? Where the anonymous prudence + that selects and abandons, raises and lowers; that of so many workers + makes so many queens, and of so many mothers can make a people of virgins? + We have said elsewhere that it lodged in the "Spirit of the Hive," but + where shall this spirit of the hive be looked for if not in the assembly + of workers? To be convinced of its residence there, we need not perhaps + have studied so closely the habits of this royal republic. It was enough + to place under the microscope, as Dujardin, Brandt, Girard, Vogel, and + other entomologists have done, the little uncouth and careworn head of the + virgin worker side by side with the somewhat empty skull of the queen and + the male's magnificent cranium, glistening with its twenty-six thousand + eyes. Within this tiny head we should find the workings of the vastest and + most magnificent brain of the hive: the most beautiful and complex, the + most perfect, that, in another order and with a different organisation, is + to be found in nature after that of man. Here again, as in every quarter + where the scheme of the world is known to us, there where the brain is, + are authority and victory, veritable strength and wisdom. And here again + it is an almost invisible atom of this mysterious substance that organises + and subjugates matter, and is able to create its own little triumphant and + permanent place in the midst of the stupendous, inert forces of + nothingness and death.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *The brain of the bee, according to the calculation of + Dujardin, constitutes the 1-174th part of the insect's + weight, and that of the ant the 1-296th. On the other hand + the peduncular parts, whose development usually keeps pace + with the triumphs the intellect achieves over instinct, are + somewhat less important in the bee than in the ant. It would + seem to result from these estimates—which are of course + hypothetical, and deal with a matter that is exceedingly + obscure—that the intellectual value of the bee and the ant + must be more or less equal. +</pre> + <p> + {37} + </p> + <p> + And now to return to our swarming hive, where the bees have already given + the signal for departure, without waiting for these reflections of ours to + come to an end. At the moment this signal is given, it is as though one + sudden mad impulse had simultaneously flung open wide every single gate in + the city; and the black throng issues, or rather pours forth in a double, + or treble, or quadruple jet, as the number of exits may be; in a tense, + direct, vibrating, uninterrupted stream that at once dissolves and melts + into space, where the myriad transparent, furious wings weave a tissue + throbbing with sound. And this for some moments will quiver right over the + hive, with prodigious rustle of gossamer silks that countless electrified + hands might be ceaselessly rending and stitching; it floats undulating, it + trembles and flutters like a veil of gladness invisible fingers support in + the sky, and wave to and fro, from the flowers to the blue, expecting + sublime advent or departure. And at last one angle declines another is + lifted; the radiant mantle unites its four sunlit corners; and like the + wonderful carpet the fairy-tale speaks of, that flits across space to obey + its master's command, it steers its straight course, bending forward a + little as though to hide in its folds the sacred presence of the future, + towards the willow, the pear-tree, or lime whereon the queen has alighted; + and round her each rhythmical wave comes to rest, as though on a nail of + gold, and suspends its fabric of pearls and of luminous wings. + </p> + <p> + And then there is silence once more; and, in an instant, this mighty + tumult, this awful curtain apparently laden with unspeakable menace and + anger, this bewildering golden hail that streamed upon every object near—all + these become merely a great, inoffensive, peaceful cluster of bees, + composed of thousands of little motionless groups, that patiently wait, as + they hang from the branch of a tree, for the scouts to return who have + gone in search of a place of shelter. + </p> + <p> + {38} + </p> + <p> + This is the first stage of what is known as the "primary swarm" at whose + head the old queen is always to be found. They will settle as a rule on + the shrub or the tree that is nearest the hive; for the queen, besides + being weighed down by her eggs, has dwelt in constant darkness ever since + her marriage-flight, or the swarm of the previous year; and is naturally + reluctant to venture far into space, having indeed almost forgotten the + use of her wings. + </p> + <p> + The bee-keeper waits till the mass be completely gathered together; then, + having covered his head with a large straw hat (for the most inoffensive + bee will conceive itself caught in a trap if entangled in hair, and will + infallibly use its sting), but, if he be experienced, wearing neither mask + nor veil; having taken the precaution only of plunging his arms in cold + water up to the elbow, he proceeds to gather the swarm by vigorously + shaking the bough from which the bees depend over an inverted hive. Into + this hive the cluster will fall as heavily as an over-ripe fruit. Or, if + the branch be too stout, he can plunge a spoon into the mass; and deposit + where he will the living spoonfuls, as though he were ladling out corn. He + need have no fear of the bees that are buzzing around him, settling on his + face and hands. The air resounds with their song of ecstasy, which is + different far from their chant of anger. He need have no fear that the + swarm will divide, or grow fierce, will scatter, or try to escape. This is + a day, I repeat, when a spirit of holiday would seem to animate these + mysterious workers, a spirit of confidence, that apparently nothing can + trouble. They have detached themselves from the wealth they had to defend, + and they no longer recognise their enemies. They become inoffensive + because of their happiness, though why they are happy we know not, except + it be because they are obeying their law. A moment of such blind happiness + is accorded by nature at times to every living thing, when she seeks to + accomplish her end. Nor need we feel any surprise that here the bees are + her dupes; we ourselves, who have studied her movements these centuries + past, and with a brain more perfect than that of the bee, we too are her + dupes, and know not even yet whether she be benevolent or indifferent, or + only basely cruel. + </p> + <p> + There where the queen has alighted the swarm will remain; and had she + descended alone into the hive, the bees would have followed, in long black + files, as soon as intelligence had reached them of the maternal retreat. + The majority will hasten to her, with utmost eagerness; but large numbers + will pause for an instant on the threshold of the unknown abode, and there + will describe the circles of solemn rejoicing with which it is their habit + to celebrate happy events. "They are beating to arms," say the French + peasants. And then the strange home will at once be accepted, and its + remotest corners explored; its position in the apiary, its form, its + colour, are grasped and retained in these thousands of prudent and + faithful little memories. Careful note is taken of the neighbouring + landmarks, the new city is founded, and its place established in the mind + and the heart of all its inhabitants; the walls resound with the love-hymn + of the royal presence, and work begins. + </p> + <p> + {39} + </p> + <p> + But if the swarm be not gathered by man, its history will not end here. It + will remain suspended on the branch until the return of the workers, who, + acting as scouts, winged quartermasters, as it were, have at the very + first moment of swarming sallied forth in all directions in search of a + lodging. They return one by one, and render account of their mission; and + as it is manifestly impossible for us to fathom the thought of the bees, + we can only interpret in human fashion the spectacle that they present. We + may regard it as probable, therefore, that most careful attention is given + to the reports of the various scouts. One of them it may be, dwells on the + advantage of some hollow tree it has seen; another is in favour of a + crevice in a ruinous wall, of a cavity in a grotto, or an abandoned + burrow. The assembly often will pause and deliberate until the following + morning. Then at last the choice is made, and approved by all. At a given + moment the entire mass stirs, disunites, sets in motion, and then, in one + sustained and impetuous flight, that this time knows no obstacle, it will + steer its straight course, over hedges and cornfields, over haystack and + lake, over river and village, to its determined and always distant goal. + It is rarely indeed that this second stage can be followed by man. The + swarm returns to nature; and we lose the track of its destiny. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0006" id="link2H_4_0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + III — THE FOUNDATION OF THE CITY + </h2> + <h3> + {40} + </h3> + <p> + LET us rather consider the proceedings of the swarm the apiarist shall + have gathered into his hive. And first of all let us not be forgetful of + the sacrifice these fifty thousand virgins have made, who, as Ronsard + sings,— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + "In a little body bear so true a heart,—" +</pre> + <p> + and let us, yet once again, admire the courage with which they begin life + anew in the desert whereon they have fallen. They have forgotten the + splendour and wealth of their native city, where existence had been so + admirably organised and certain, where the essence of every flower + reminiscent of sunshine had enabled them to smile at the menace of winter. + There, asleep in the depths of their cradles, they have left thousands and + thousands of daughters, whom they never again will see. They have + abandoned, not only the enormous treasure of pollen and propolis they had + gathered together, but also more than 120 pounds of honey; a quantity + representing more than twelve times the entire weight of the population, + and close on 600,000 times that of the individual bee. To man this would + mean 42,000 tons of provisions, a vast fleet of mighty ships laden with + nourishment more precious than any known to us; for to the bee honey is a + kind of liquid life, a species of chyle that is at once assimilated, with + almost no waste whatever. + </p> + <p> + Here, in the new abode, there is nothing; not a drop of honey, not a + morsel of wax; neither guiding-mark nor point of support. There is only + the dreary emptiness of an enormous monument that has nothing but sides + and roof. Within the smooth and rounded walls there only is darkness; and + the enormous arch above rears itself over nothingness. But useless regrets + are unknown to the bee; or in any event it does not allow them to hinder + its action. Far from being cast down by an ordeal before which every other + courage would succumb, it displays greater ardour than ever. Scarcely has + the hive been set in its place, or the disorder allayed that ensued on the + bees' tumultuous fall, when we behold the clearest, most unexpected + division in that entangled mass. The greater portion, forming in solid + columns, like an army obeying a definite order, will proceed to climb the + vertical walls of the hive. The cupola reached, the first to arrive will + cling with the claws of their anterior legs, those that follow hang on to + the first, and so in succession, until long chains have been formed that + serve as a bridge to the crowd that rises and rises. And, by slow degrees, + these chains, as their number increases, supporting each other and + incessantly interweaving, become garlands which, in their turn, the + uninterrupted and constant ascension transforms into a thick, triangular + curtain, or rather a kind of compact and inverted cone, whose apex attains + the summit of the cupola, while its widening base descends to a half, or + two-thirds, of the entire height of the hive. And then, the last bee that + an inward voice has impelled to form part of this group having added + itself to the curtain suspended in darkness, the ascension ceases; all + movement slowly dies away in the dome; and, for long hours, this strange + inverted cone will wait, in a silence that almost seems awful, in a + stillness one might regard as religious, for the mystery of wax to appear. + </p> + <p> + In the meantime the rest of the bees—those, that is, that remained + down below in the hive—have shown not the slightest desire to join + the others aloft, and pay no heed to the formation of the marvellous + curtain on whose folds a magical gift is soon to descend. They are + satisfied to examine the edifice and undertake the necessary labours. They + carefully sweep the floor, and remove, one by one, twigs, grains of sand, + and dead leaves; for the bees are almost fanatically cleanly, and when, in + the depths of winter, severe frosts retard too long what apiarists term + their "flight of cleanliness," rather than sully the hive they will perish + by thousands of a terrible bowel-disease. The males alone are incurably + careless, and will impudently bestrew the surface of the comb with their + droppings, which the workers are obliged to sweep as they hasten behind + them. + </p> + <p> + The cleaning over, the bees of the profane group that form no part of the + cone suspended in a sort of ecstasy, set to work minutely to survey the + lower circumference of the common dwelling. Every crevice is passed in + review, and filled, covered over with propolis; and the varnishing of the + walls is begun, from top to bottom. Guards are appointed to take their + stand at the gate; and very soon a certain number of workers will go to + the fields and return with their burden of pollen. + </p> + <p> + {41} + </p> + <p> + Before raising the folds of the mysterious curtain beneath whose shelter + are laid the veritable foundations of the home, let us endeavour to form + some conception of the sureness of vision, the accurate calculation and + industry our little people of emigrants will be called to display in order + to adapt this new dwelling to their requirements. In the void round about + them they must lay the plans for their city, and logically mark out the + site of the edifices that must be erected as economically and quickly as + possible, for the queen, eager to lay, already is scattering her eggs on + the ground. And in this labyrinth of complicated buildings, so far + existing only in imagination, laws of ventilation must be considered, of + stability, solidity; resistance of the wax must not be lost sight of, or + the nature of the food to be stored, or the habits of the queen; ready + access must be contrived to all parts, and careful attention be given to + the distribution of stores and houses, passages and streets,—this + however is in some measure pre-established, the plan already arrived at + being organically the best,—and there are countless problems + besides, whose enumeration would take too long. + </p> + <p> + Now, the form of the hive that man offers to the bee knows infinite + variety, from the hollow tree or earthenware vessel still obtaining in + Asia and Africa, and the familiar bell-shaped constructions of straw which + we find in our farmers' kitchen-gardens or beneath their windows, lost + beneath masses of sunflowers, phlox, and hollyhock, to what may really be + termed the factory of the model apiarist of today. An edifice, this, that + can contain more than three hundred pounds of honey, in three or four + stories of superposed combs enclosed in a frame which permits of their + being removed and handled, of the harvest being extracted through + centrifugal force by means of a turbine, and of their being then restored + to their place like a book in a well-ordered library. + </p> + <p> + And one fine day the industry or caprice of man will install a docile + swarm in one of these disconcerting abodes. And there the little insect is + expected to learn its bearings, to find its way, to establish its home; to + modify the seemingly unchangeable plans dictated by the nature of things. + In this unfamiliar place it is required to determine the site of the + winter storehouses, that must not extend beyond the zone of heat that + issues from the half-numbed inhabitants; it must divine the exact point + where the brood-cells shall concentrate, under penalty of disaster should + these be too high or too low, too near to or far from the door. The swarm, + it may be, has just left the trunk of a fallen tree, containing one long, + narrow, depressed, horizontal gallery; and it finds itself now in a + tower-shaped edifice, whose roof is lost in gloom. Or, to take a case that + is more usual, perhaps, and one that will give some idea of the surprise + habitually in store for the bees: after having lived for centuries past + beneath the straw dome of our village hives, they are suddenly + transplanted to a species of mighty cupboard, or chest, three or four + times as large as the place of their birth; and installed in the midst of + a confused scaffolding of superposed frames, some running parallel to the + entrance and some perpendicular; the whole forming a bewildering network + that obscures the surfaces of their dwelling. + </p> + <p> + And yet, for all this, there exists not a single instance of a swarm + refusing its duty, or allowing itself to be baffled or discouraged by the + strangeness of its surroundings, except only in the case of the new + dwelling being absolutely uninhabitable, or impregnated with evil odours. + And even then the bees will not be disheartened or bewildered; even then + they will not abandon their mission. The swarm will simply forsake the + inhospitable abode, to seek better fortune some little distance away. And + similarly it can never be said of them that they can be induced to + undertake any illogical or foolish task. Their common-sense has never been + known to fail them; they have never, at a loss for definite decision, + erected at haphazard structures of a wild or heterogeneous nature. Though + you place the swarm in a sphere, a cube, or a pyramid, in an oval or + polygonal basket, you will find, on visiting the bees a few days later, + that if this strange assembly of little independent intellects has + accepted the new abode, they will at once, and unhesitatingly and + unanimously have known how to select the most favourable, often humanly + speaking the only possible spot in this absurd habitation, in pursuance of + a method whose principles may appear inflexible, but whose results are + strikingly vivid. + </p> + <p> + When installed in one of the huge factories, bristling with frames, that + we mentioned just now, these frames will interest them only to the extent + in which they provide them with a basis or point of departure for their + combs; and they very naturally pay not the slightest heed to the desires + or intentions of man. But if the apiarist have taken the precaution of + surrounding the upper lath of some of these frames with a narrow fillet of + wax, they will be quick to perceive the advantage this tempting offer + presents, and will carefully extract the fillet, using their own wax as + solder, and will prolong the comb in accordance with the indicated plan. + Similarly—and the case is frequent in modern apiculture—if all + the frames of the hive into which the bees have been gathered be covered + from top to bottom with leaves of foundation-wax, they will not waste time + in erecting buildings across or beside these, or in producing useless wax, + but, finding that the work is already half finished, they will be + satisfied to deepen and lengthen each of the cells designed in the leaf, + carefully rectifying these where there is the slightest deviation from the + strictest vertical. Proceeding in this fashion, therefore, they will + possess in a week a city as luxurious and well-constructed as the one they + have quitted; whereas, had they been thrown on their own resources, it + would have taken them two or three months to construct so great a + profusion of dwellings and storehouses of shining wax. + </p> + <p> + {43} + </p> + <p> + This power of appropriation may well be considered to overstep the limit + of instinct; and indeed there can be nothing more arbitrary than the + distinction we draw between instinct and intelligence properly so-called. + Sir John Lubbock, whose observations on ants, bees, and wasps are so + interesting and so personal, is reluctant to credit the bee, from the + moment it forsakes the routine of its habitual labour, with any power of + discernment or reasoning. This attitude of his may be due in some measure + to an unconscious bias in favour of the ants, whose ways he has more + specially noted; for the entomologist is always inclined to regard that + insect as the more intelligent to which he has more particularly devoted + himself, and we have to be on our guard against this little personal + predilection. As a proof of his theory, Sir John cites as an instance an + experiment within the reach of all. If you place in a bottle half a dozen + bees and the same number of flies, and lay the bottle down horizontally, + with its base to the window, you will find that the bees will persist, + till they die of exhaustion or hunger, in their endeavour to discover an + issue through the glass; while the flies, in less than two minutes, will + all have sallied forth through the neck on the opposite side. From this + Sir John Lubbock concludes that the intelligence of the bee is exceedingly + limited, and that the fly shows far greater skill in extricating itself + from a difficulty, and finding its way. This conclusion, however, would + not seem altogether flawless. Turn the transparent sphere twenty times, if + you will, holding now the base, now the neck, to the window, and you will + find that the bees will turn twenty times with it, so as always to face + the light. It is their love of the light, it is their very intelligence, + that is their undoing in this experiment of the English savant. They + evidently imagine that the issue from every prison must be there where the + light shines clearest; and they act in accordance, and persist in too + logical action. To them glass is a supernatural mystery they never have + met with in nature; they have had no experience of this suddenly + impenetrable atmosphere; and, the greater their intelligence, the more + inadmissible, more incomprehensible, will the strange obstacle appear. + Whereas the featherbrained flies, careless of logic as of the enigma of + crystal, disregarding the call of the light, flutter wildly hither and + thither, and, meeting here the good fortune that often waits on the + simple, who find salvation there where the wiser will perish, necessarily + end by discovering the friendly opening that restores their liberty to + them. + </p> + <p> + The same naturalist cites yet another proof of the bees' lack of + intelligence, and discovers it in the following quotation from the great + American apiarist, the venerable and paternal Langstroth:— + </p> + <p> + "As the fly was not intended to banquet on blossoms, but on substances in + which it might easily be drowned, it cautiously alights on the edge of any + vessel containing liquid food, and warily helps itself; while the poor + bee, plunging in headlong, speedily perishes. The sad fate of their + unfortunate companions does not in the least deter others who approach the + tempting lure from madly alighting on the bodies of the dying and the + dead, to share the same miserable end. No one can understand the extent of + their infatuation until he has seen a confectioner's shop assailed by + myriads of hungry bees. I have seen thousands strained out from the syrups + in which they had perished; thousands more alighting even on the boiling + sweets; the floors covered and windows darkened with bees, some crawling, + others flying, and others still so completely besmeared as to be able + neither to crawl nor to fly—not one in ten able to carry home its + ill-gotten spoils, and yet the air filled with new hosts of thoughtless + comers." + </p> + <p> + This, however, seems to me no more conclusive than might be the spectacle + of a battlefield, or of the ravages of alcoholism, to a superhuman + observer bent on establishing the limits of human understanding. Indeed, + less so, perhaps; for the situation of the bee, when compared with our + own, is strange in this world. It was intended to live in the midst of an + indifferent and unconscious nature, and not by the side of an + extraordinary being who is forever disturbing the most constant laws, and + producing grandiose, inexplicable phenomena. In the natural order of + things, in the monotonous life of the forest, the madness Langstroth + describes would be possible only were some accident suddenly to destroy a + hive full of honey. But in this case, even, there would be no fatal glass, + no boiling sugar or cloying syrup; no death or danger, therefore, other + than that to which every animal is exposed while seeking its prey. + </p> + <p> + Should we be more successful than they in preserving our presence of mind + if some strange power were at every step to ensnare our reason? Let us not + be too hasty in condemning the bees for the folly whereof we are the + authors, or in deriding their intellect, which is as poorly equipped to + foil our artifices as our own would be to foil those of some superior + creature unknown to us to-day, but on that account not impossible. None + such being known at present, we conclude that we stand on the topmost + pinnacle of life on this earth; but this belief, after all, is by no means + infallible. I am not assuming that when our actions are unreasonable, or + contemptible, we merely fall into the snares that such a creature has + laid; though it is not inconceivable that this should one day be proved + true. On the other hand, it cannot be wise to deny intelligence to the bee + because it has not yet succeeded in distinguishing us from the great ape + or the bear. It is certain that there are, in us and about us, influences + and powers no less dissimilar whose distinction escapes us as readily. + </p> + <p> + And finally, to end this apology, wherein I seem somewhat to have fallen + into the error I laid to Sir John Lubbock's charge, does not the capacity + for folly so great in itself argue intelligence? For thus it is ever in + the uncertain domain of the intellect, apparently the most vacillating and + precarious condition of matter. The same light that falls on the intellect + falls also on passion, whereof none can tell whether it be the smoke of + the flame or the wick. In the case above it has not been mere animal + desire to gorge themselves with honey that has urged on the bees. They + could do this at their leisure in the store-rooms at home. Watch them in + an analogous circumstance; follow them; you will see that, as soon as + their sac is filled, they will return to the hive and add their spoil to + the general store; and visit the marvellous vintage, and leave it, perhaps + thirty times in an hour. Their admirable labours, therefore, are inspired + by a single desire: zeal to bring as much wealth as they can to the home + of their sisters, which is also the home of the future. When we discover a + cause as disinterested for the follies of men, we are apt to call them by + another name. + </p> + <p> + {44} + </p> + <p> + However, the whole truth must be told. In the midst of the marvels of + their industry, their policy, their sacrifice, one thing exists that must + always check and weaken our admiration; and this is the indifference with + which they regard the misfortunes or death of their comrades. There is a + strange duality in the character of the bee. In the heart of the hive all + help and love each other. They are as united as the good thoughts that + dwell in the same soul. Wound one of them, and a thousand will sacrifice + themselves to avenge its injury. But outside the hive they no longer + recognise each other. Mutilate them, crush them,—or rather, do + nothing of the kind; it would be a useless cruelty, for the fact is + established beyond any doubt,—but were you to mutilate, or crush, on + a piece of comb placed a few steps from their dwelling, twenty or thirty + bees that have all issued from the same hive, those you have left + untouched will not even turn their heads. With their tongue, fantastic as + a Chinese weapon, they will tranquilly continue to absorb the liquid they + hold more precious than life, heedless of the agony whose last gestures + almost are touching them, of the cries of distress that arise all around. + And when the comb is empty, so great is their anxiety that nothing shall + be lost, that their eagerness to gather the honey which clings to the + victims will induce them tranquilly to climb over dead and dying, unmoved + by the presence of the first and never dreaming of helping the others. In + this case, therefore, they have no notion of the danger they run, seeing + that they are wholly untroubled by the death that is scattered about them, + and they have not the slightest sense of solidarity or pity. As regards + the danger, the explanation lies ready to hand; the bees know not the + meaning of fear, and, with the exception only of smoke, are afraid of + nothing in the world. Outside the hive, they display extreme condescension + and forbearance. They will avoid whatever disturbs them, and affect to + ignore its existence, so long as it come not too close; as though aware + that this universe belongs to all, that each one has his place there, and + must needs be discreet and peaceful. But beneath this indulgence is + quietly hidden a heart so sure of itself that it never dreams of + protesting. If they are threatened, they will alter their course, but + never attempt to escape. In the hive, however, they will not confine + themselves to this passive ignoring of peril. They will spring with + incredible fury on any living thing, ant or lion or man, that dares to + profane the sacred ark. This we may term anger, ridiculous obstinacy, or + heroism, according as our mind be disposed. + </p> + <p> + But of their want of solidarity outside the hive, and even of sympathy + within it, I can find nothing to say. Are we to believe that each form of + intellect possesses its own strange limitation, and that the tiny flame + which with so much difficulty at last burns its way through inert matter + and issues forth from the brain, is still so uncertain that if it illumine + one point more strongly the others are forced into blacker darkness? Here + we find that the bees (or nature acting within them) have organised work + in common, the love and cult of the future, in a manner more perfect than + can elsewhere be discovered. Is it for this reason that they have lost + sight of all the rest? They give their love to what lies ahead of them; we + bestow ours on what is around. And we who love here, perhaps, have no love + left for what is beyond. Nothing varies so much as the direction of pity + or charity. We ourselves should formerly have been far less shocked than + we are to-day at the insensibility of the bees; and to many an ancient + people such conduct would not have seemed blameworthy. And further, can we + tell how many of the things that we do would shock a being who might be + watching us as we watch the bees? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0007" id="link2H_4_0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + IV — THE LIFE OF THE BEE + </h2> + <h3> + {45} + </h3> + <p> + LET us now, in order to form a clearer conception of the bees' + intellectual power, proceed to consider their methods of + inter-communication. There can be no doubting that they understand each + other; and indeed it were surely impossible for a republic so + considerable, wherein the labours are so varied and so marvellously + combined, to subsist amid the silence and spiritual isolation of so many + thousand creatures. They must be able, therefore, to give expression to + thoughts and feelings, by means either of a phonetic vocabulary or more + probably of some kind of tactile language or magnetic intuition, + corresponding perhaps to senses and properties of matter wholly unknown to + ourselves. And such intuition well might lodge in the mysterious antennae—containing, + in the case of the workers, according to Cheshire's calculation, twelve + thousand tactile hairs and five thousand "smell-hollows," wherewith they + probe and fathom the darkness. For the mutual understanding of the bees is + not confined to their habitual labours; the extraordinary also has a name + and place in their language; as is proved by the manner in which news, + good or bad, normal or supernatural, will at once spread in the hive; the + loss or return of the mother, for instance, the entrance of an enemy, the + intrusion of a strange queen, the approach of a band of marauders, the + discovery of treasure, etc. And so characteristic is their attitude, so + essentially different their murmur at each of these special events, that + the experienced apiarist can without difficulty tell what is troubling the + crowd that moves distractedly to and fro in the shadow. + </p> + <p> + If you desire a more definite proof, you have but to watch a bee that + shall just have discovered a few drops of honey on your window-sill or the + corner of your table. She will immediately gorge herself with it; and so + eagerly, that you will have time, without fear of disturbing her, to mark + her tiny belt with a touch of paint. But this gluttony of hers is all on + the surface; the honey will not pass into the stomach proper, into what we + might call her personal stomach, but remains in the sac, the first + stomach,—that of the community, if one may so express it. This + reservoir full, the bee will depart, but not with the free and thoughtless + motion of the fly or butterfly; she, on the contrary, will for some + moments fly backwards, hovering eagerly about the table or window, with + her head turned toward the room. + </p> + <p> + She is reconnoitring, fixing in her memory the exact position of the + treasure. Thereupon she will go to the hive, disgorge her plunder into one + of the provision-cells, and in three or four minutes return, and resume + operations at the providential window. And thus, while the honey lasts, + will she come and go, at intervals of every five minutes, till evening, if + need be; without interruption or rest; pursuing her regular journeys from + the hive to the window, from the window back to the hive. + </p> + <p> + {46} + </p> + <p> + Many of those who have written on bees have thought fit to adorn the + truth; I myself have no such desire. For studies of this description to + possess any interest, it is essential that they should remain absolutely + sincere. Had the conclusion been forced upon me that bees are incapable of + communicating to each other news of an event occurring outside the hive, I + should, I imagine, as a set-off against the slight disappointment this + discovery would have entailed, have derived some degree of satisfaction in + recognising once more that man, after all, is the only truly intelligent + being who inhabits our globe. And there comes too a period of life when we + have more joy in saying the thing that is true than in saying the thing + that merely is wonderful. Here as in every case the principle holds that, + should the naked truth appear at the moment less interesting, less great + and noble than the imaginary embellishment it lies in our power to bestow, + the fault must rest with ourselves who still are unable to perceive the + astonishing relation in which this truth always must stand to our being, + and to universal law; and in that case it is not the truth, but our + intellect, that needs embellishment and ennoblement. + </p> + <p> + I will frankly confess, therefore, that the marked bee often returns + alone. Shall we believe that in bees there exists the same difference of + character as in men; that of them too some are gossips, and others prone + to silence? A friend who stood by and watched my experiment, declared that + it was evidently mere selfishness or vanity that caused so many of the + bees to refrain from revealing the source of their wealth, and from + sharing with others the glory of an achievement that must seem miraculous + to the hive. These were sad vices indeed, which give not forth the sweet + odour, so fragrant and loyal, that springs from the home of the many + thousand sisters. But, whatever the cause, it often will also happen that + the bee whom fortune has favoured will return to the honey accompanied by + two or three friends. I am aware that Sir John Lubbock, in the appendix to + his book on "Ants, Bees, and Wasps," records the results of his + investigations in long and minute tables; and from these we are led to + infer that it is a matter of rarest occurrence for a single bee to follow + the one who has made the discovery. The learned naturalist does not name + the race of bees which he selected for his experiments, or tell us whether + the conditions were especially unfavourable. As for myself I only can say + that my own tables, compiled with great care,—and every possible + precaution having been taken that the bees should not be directly + attracted by the odour of the honey,—establish that on an average + one bee will bring others four times out of ten. + </p> + <p> + I even one day came across an extraordinary little Italian bee, whose belt + I had marked with a touch of blue paint. In her second trip she brought + two of her sisters, whom I imprisoned, without interfering with her. She + departed once more, and this time returned with three friends, whom I + again confined, and so till the end of the afternoon, when, counting my + prisoners, I found that she had told the news to no less than eighteen + bees. + </p> + <p> + In fact you will find, if you make this experiment yourself, that + communication, if not general, at least is frequent. The possession of + this faculty is so well known to American bee-hunters that they trade upon + it when engaged in searching for nests. Mr. Josiah Emery remarks on this + head (quoted by Romanes in his "Intellect of Animals"): "Going to a field + or wood at a distance from tame bees with their box of honey, they gather + up from the flowers and imprison one or more bees, and after they have + become sufficiently gorged, let them out to return to their home with + their easily gotten load. Waiting patiently a longer or shorter time, + according to the distance of the bee-tree, the hunter scarcely ever fails + to see the bee or bees return accompanied by other bees, which are in like + manner imprisoned till they in turn are filled; then one or more are let + out at places distant from each other, and the direction in which the bee + flies noted; and thus, by a kind of triangulation, the position of the + bee-tree proximately ascertained." + </p> + <p> + {47} + </p> + <p> + You will notice too in your experiments that the friends who appear to + obey the behests of good fortune do not always fly together, and that + there will often be an interval of several seconds between the different + arrivals. As regards these communications, therefore, we must ask + ourselves the question that Sir John Lubbock has solved as far as the ants + are concerned. + </p> + <p> + Do the comrades who flock to the treasure only follow the bee that first + made the discovery, or have they been sent on by her, and do they find it + through following her indications, her description of the place where it + lies? Between these two hypotheses, that refer directly to the extent and + working of the bee's intellect, there is obviously an enormous difference. + The English savant has succeeded, by means of an elaborate and ingenious + arrangement of gangways, corridors, moats full of water, and flying + bridges, in establishing that the ants in such cases do no more than + follow in the track of the pioneering insect. With ants, that can be made + to pass where one will, such experiments are possible; but for the bee, + whose wings throw every avenue open, some other expedient must of + necessity be contrived. I imagined the following, which, though it gave no + definite result, might yet, under more favourable conditions, and if + organised more carefully, give rise to definite and satisfactory + conclusions. + </p> + <p> + My study in the country is on the first floor, above a somewhat lofty + room; sufficiently high, therefore, to be out of the ordinary range of the + bees' flight, except at times when the chestnuts and lime trees are in + bloom. And for more than a week before I started this experiment I had + kept on my table an open comb of honey, without the perfume having + attracted, or induced the visit of, a single bee. Then I went to a glass + hive that was close to the house, took an Italian bee, brought her to my + study, set her on the comb, and marked her while she was feeding. + </p> + <p> + When satisfied, she flew away and returned to the hive. I followed, saw + her pass over the surface of the crowd, plunge her head into an empty + cell, disgorge her honey, and prepare to set forth again. At the door of + the hive I had placed a glass box, divided by a trap into two + compartments. The bee flew into this box; and as she was alone, and no + other bee seemed to accompany or follow her, I imprisoned her and left her + there. I then repeated the experiment on twenty different bees in + succession. When the marked bee reappeared alone, I imprisoned her as I + had imprisoned the first. But eight of them came to the threshold of the + hive and entered the box accompanied by two or three friends. By means of + the trap I was able to separate the marked bee from her companions, and to + keep her a prisoner in the first compartment. Then, having marked her + companions with a different colour, I threw open the second compartment + and set them at liberty, myself returning quickly to my study to await + their arrival. Now it is evident that if a verbal or magnetic + communication had passed, indicating the place, describing the way, etc., + a certain number of the bees, having been furnished with this information, + should have found their way to my room. I am compelled to admit that there + came but a single one. Was this mere chance, or had she followed + instructions received? The experiment was insufficient, but circumstances + prevented me from carrying it further. I released the "baited" bees, and + my study soon was besieged by the buzzing crowd to whom they had taught + the way to the treasure. + </p> + <p> + We need not concern ourselves with this incomplete attempt of mine, for + many other curious traits compel us to recognise the existence among the + bees of spiritual communications that go beyond a mere "yes" or "no," and + that are manifest in cases where mere example or gesture would not be + sufficient. Of such, for instance, are the remarkable harmony of their + work in the hive, the extraordinary division of labour, the regularity + with which one worker will take the place of another, etc. I have often + marked bees that went foraging in the morning, and found that, in the + afternoon, unless flowers were specially abundant, they would be engaged + in heating and fanning the brood-cells, or perhaps would form part of the + mysterious, motionless curtain in whose midst the wax-makers and sculptors + would be at work. Similarly I have noticed that workers whom I have seen + gathering pollen for the whole of one day, will bring no pollen back on + the morrow, but will concern themselves exclusively with the search for + nectar, and vice-versa. + </p> + <p> + {48} + </p> + <p> + And further, we might mention what M. Georges de Layens, the celebrated + French apiarist, terms the "Distribution of Bees over Melliferous Plants." + Day after day, at the first hour of sunrise, the explorers of the dawn + return, and the hive awakes to receive the good news of the earth. "The + lime trees are blossoming to-day on the banks of the canal." "The grass by + the roadside is gay with white clover." "The sage and the lotus are about + to open." "The mignonette, the lilies are overflowing with pollen." + Whereupon the bees must organise quickly, and arrange to divide the work. + Five thousand of the sturdiest will sully forth to the lime trees, while + three thousand juniors go and refresh the white clover. Those who + yesterday were absorbing nectar from the corollas will to-day repose their + tongue and the glands of their sac, and gather red pollen from the + mignonette, or yellow pollen from the tall lilies; for never shall you see + a bee collecting or mixing pollen of a different colour or species; and + indeed one of the chief pre-occupations of the hive is the methodical + bestowal of these pollens in the store-rooms, in strict accordance with + their origin and colour. Thus does the hidden genius issue its commands. + The workers immediately sally forth, in long black files, whereof each one + will fly straight to its allotted task. "The bees," says De Layens, "would + seem to be perfectly informed as to the locality, the relative melliferous + value, and the distance of every melliferous plant within a certain radius + from the hive. + </p> + <p> + "If we carefully note the different directions in which these foragers + fly, and observe in detail the harvest they gather from the various plants + around, we shall find that the workers distribute themselves over the + flowers in proportion not only to the numbers of flowers of one species, + but also to their melliferous value. Nay, more—they make daily + calculations as to the means of obtaining the greatest possible wealth of + saccharine liquid. In the spring, for instance, after the willows have + bloomed, when the fields still are bare, and the first flowers of the + woods are the one resource of the bees, we shall see them eagerly visiting + gorse and violets, lungworts and anemones. But, a few days later, when + fields of cabbage and colza begin to flower in sufficient abundance, we + shall find that the bees will almost entirely forsake the plants in the + woods, though these be still in full blossom, and will confine their + visits to the flowers of cabbage and colza alone. In this fashion they + regulate, day by day, their distribution over the plants, so as to collect + the greatest value of saccharine liquid in the least possible time. + </p> + <p> + "It may fairly be claimed, therefore, for the colony of bees that, in its + harvesting labours no less than in its internal economy, it is able to + establish a rational distribution of the number of workers without ever + disturbing the principle of the division of labour." + </p> + <p> + {49} + </p> + <p> + But what have we to do, some will ask, with the intelligence of the bees? + What concern is it of ours whether this be a little less or a little more? + Why weigh, with such infinite care, a minute fragment of almost invisible + matter, as though it were a fluid whereon depended the destiny of man? I + hold, and exaggerate nothing, that our interest herein is of the most + considerable. The discovery of a sign of true intellect outside ourselves + procures us something of the emotion Robinson Crusoe felt when he saw the + imprint of a human foot on the sandy beach of his island. We seem less + solitary than we had believed. And indeed, in our endeavour to understand + the intellect of the bees, we are studying in them that which is most + precious in our own substance: an atom of the extraordinary matter which + possesses, wherever it attach itself, the magnificent power of + transfiguring blind necessity, of organising, embellishing, and + multiplying life; and, most striking of all, of holding in suspense the + obstinate force of death, and the mighty, irresponsible wave that wraps + almost all that exists in an eternal unconsciousness. + </p> + <p> + Were we sole possessors of the particle of matter that, when maintained in + a special condition of flower or incandescence, we term the intellect, we + should to some extent be entitled to look on ourselves as privileged + beings, and to imagine that in us nature achieved some kind of aim; but + here we discover, in the hymenoptera, an entire category of beings in whom + a more or less identical aim is achieved. And this fact, though it decide + nothing perhaps, still holds an honourable place in the mass of tiny facts + that help to throw light on our position in this world. It affords even, + if considered from a certain point of view, a fresh proof of the most + enigmatic part of our being; for the superpositions of destinies that we + find in the hive are surveyed by us from an eminence loftier than any we + can attain for the contemplation of the destinies of man. There we see + before us, in miniature, the large and simple lines that in our own + disproportionate sphere we never have the occasion to disentangle and + follow to the end. Spirit and matter are there, the race and the + individual, evolution and permanence, life and death, the past and the + future; all gathered together in a retreat that our hand can lift and one + look of our eye embrace. And may we not reasonably ask ourselves whether + the mere size of a body, and the room that it fills in time and space, can + modify to the extent we imagine the secret idea of nature; the idea that + we try to discover in the little history of the hive, which in a few days + already is ancient, no less than in the great history of man, of whom + three generations overlap a long century? + </p> + <p> + {50} + </p> + <p> + Let us go on, then, with the story of our hive; let us take it up where we + left it; and raise, as high as we may, a fold of the festooned curtain in + whose midst a strange sweat, white as snow and airier than the down of a + wing, is beginning to break over the swarm. For the wax that is now being + born is not like the wax that we know; it is immaculate, it has no weight; + seeming truly to be the soul of the honey, that itself is the spirit of + flowers. And this motionless incantation has called it forth that it may + serve us, later—in memory of its origin, doubtless, wherein it is + one with the azure sky, and heavy with perfumes of magnificence and purity—as + the fragrant light of the last of our altars. + </p> + <p> + {51} + </p> + <p> + To follow the various phases of the secretion and employment of wax by a + swarm that is beginning to build, is a matter of very great difficulty. + All comes to pass in the blackest depths of the crowd, whose + agglomeration, growing denser and denser, produces the temperature needful + for this exudation, which is the privilege of the youngest bees. Huber, + who was the first to study these phenomena, bringing incredible patience + to bear and exposing himself at times to very serious danger, devotes to + them more than two hundred and fifty pages; which, though of considerable + interest, are necessarily somewhat confused. But I am not treating this + subject technically; and while referring when necessary to Huber's + admirable studies, I shall confine myself generally to relating what is + patent to any one who may gather a swarm into a glass hive. + </p> + <p> + We have to admit, first of all, that we know not yet by what process of + alchemy the honey transforms itself into wax in the enigmatic bodies of + our suspended bees. We can only say that they will remain thus suspended + for a period extending from eighteen to twenty-four hours, in a + temperature so high that one might almost believe that a fire was burning + in the hollow of the hive; and then white and transparent scales will + appear at the opening of four little pockets that every bee has underneath + its abdomen. + </p> + <p> + When the bodies of most of those who form the inverted cone have thus been + adorned with ivory tablets, we shall see one of the bees, as though + suddenly inspired, abruptly detach herself from the mass, and climb over + the backs of the passive crowd till she reach the inner pinnacle of the + cupola. To this she will fix herself solidly, dislodging, with repeated + blows of her head, such of her neighbours as may seem to hamper her + movements. Then, with her mouth and claws, she will seize one of the eight + scales that hang from her abdomen, and at once proceed to clip it and + plane it, extend it, knead it with her saliva, bend it and flatten it, + roll it and straighten it, with the skill of a carpenter handling a + pliable panel. When at last the substance, thus treated, appears to her to + possess the required dimensions and consistency, she will attach it to the + highest point of the dome, thus laying the first, or rather the keystone + of the new town; for we have here an inverted city, hanging down from the + sky, and not rising from the bosom of earth like a city of men. + </p> + <p> + To this keystone, depending in the void, she will add other fragments of + wax that she takes in succession from beneath her rings of horn; and + finally, with one last lick of the tongue, one last wave of antennae, she + will go as suddenly as she came, and disappear in the crowd. Another will + at once take her place, continue the work at the point where the first one + has left it, add on her own, change and adjust whatever may seem to offend + the ideal plan of the tribe, then vanish in her turn, to be succeeded by a + third, a fourth, and a fifth, all appearing unexpectedly, suddenly, one + after the other, none completing the work, but each bringing her share to + the task in which all combine. + </p> + <p> + {52} + </p> + <p> + A small block of wax, formless as yet, hangs down from the top of the + vault. So soon as its thickness may be deemed sufficient, we shall see + another bee emerge from the mass, her physical appearance differing + appreciably from that of the foundresses who preceded her. And her manner + displays such settled conviction, her movements are followed so eagerly by + all the crowd, that we almost might fancy that some illustrious engineer + had been summoned to trace in the void the site of the first cell of all, + from which every other must mathematically depend. This bee belongs to the + sculptor or carver class of workers; she produces no wax herself and is + content to deal with the materials others provide. She locates the first + cell, scoops into the block for an instant, lays the wax she has removed + from the cavity on the borders around it; and then, like the foundresses, + abruptly departs and abandons her model. Her place is taken at once by an + impatient worker, who continues the task that a third will finish, while + others close by are attacking the rest of the surface and the opposite + side of the wall; each one obeying the general law of interrupted and + successive labour, as though it were an inherent principle of the hive + that the pride of toil should be distributed, and every achievement be + anonymous and common to all, that it might thereby become more fraternal. + </p> + <p> + {53} + </p> + <p> + The outline of the nascent comb may soon be divined. In form it will still + be lenticular, for the little prismatic tubes that compose it are unequal + in length, and diminish in proportion as they recede from the centre to + the extremities. In thickness and appearance at present it more or less + resembles a human tongue whose sides might be formed of hexagonal cells, + contiguous, and placed back to back. + </p> + <p> + The first cells having been built, the foundresses proceed to add a second + block of wax to the roof; and so in gradation a third and a fourth. These + blocks follow each other at regular intervals so nicely calculated that + when, at a much later period, the comb shall be fully developed, there + will be ample space for the bees to move between its parallel walls. + </p> + <p> + Their plan must therefore embrace the final thickness of every comb, which + will be from eighty-eight to ninety-two hundredths of an inch, and at the + same time the width of the avenues between, which must be about half an + inch, or in other words twice the height of a bee, since there must be + room to pass back to back between the combs. + </p> + <p> + The bees, however, are not infallible, nor does their certainty appear + mechanical. They will commit grave errors at times, when circumstances + present unusual difficulty. They will often leave too much space, or too + little, between the combs. This they will remedy as best they can, either + by giving an oblique twist to the comb that too nearly approaches the + other, or by introducing an irregular comb into the gap. "The bees + sometimes make mistakes," Reaumur remarks on this subject, "and herein we + may find yet another fact which appears to prove that they reason." + </p> + <p> + {54} + </p> + <p> + We know that the bees construct four kinds of cells. First of all, the + royal cells, which are exceptional, and contrived somewhat in the shape of + an acorn; then the large cells destined for the rearing of males and + storing of provisions when flowers super-abound; and the small cells, + serving as workers' cradles and ordinary store-rooms, which occupy + normally about four-fifths of the built-over surface of the hive. And + lastly, so as to connect in orderly fashion the larger cells with the + small, the bees will erect a certain number of what are known as + transition cells. These must of necessity be irregular in form; but so + unerringly accurate are the dimensions of the second and third types that, + at the time when the decimal system was established, and a fixed measure + sought in nature to serve as a starting-point and an incontestable + standard, it was proposed by Reaumur to select for this purpose the cell + of the bee.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *It was as well, perhaps, that this standard was not + adopted. For although the diameter of the cells is admirably + regular, it is, like all things produced by a living + organism, not <i>mathematically</i> invariable in the same hive. + Further, as M. Maurice Girard has pointed out, the apothem + of the cell varies among different races of bees, so that + the standard would alter from hive to hive, according to the + species of bee that inhabited it. +</pre> + <p> + Each of the cells is an hexagonal tube placed on a pyramidal base; and two + layers of these tubes form the comb, their bases being opposed to each + other in such fashion that each of the three rhombs or lozenges which on + one side constitute the pyramidal base of one cell, composes at the same + time the pyramidal base of three cells on the other. It is in these + prismatic tubes that the honey is stored; and to prevent its escaping + during the period of maturation,—which would infallibly happen if + the tubes were as strictly horizontal as they appear to be,—the bees + incline them slightly, to an angle of 4 deg or 5 deg. + </p> + <p> + "Besides the economy of wax," says Reaumur, when considering this + marvellous construction in its entirety, "besides the economy of wax that + results from the disposition of the cells, and the fact that this + arrangement allows the bees to fill the comb without leaving a single spot + vacant, there are other advantages also with respect to the solidity of + the work. The angle at the base of each cell, the apex of the pyramidal + cavity, is buttressed by the ridge formed by two faces of the hexagon of + another cell. The two triangles, or extensions of the hexagon faces which + fill one of the convergent angles of the cavity enclosed by the three + rhombs, form by their junction a plane angle on the side they touch; each + of these angles, concave within the cell, supports, on its convex side, + one of the sheets employed to form the hexagon of another cell; the sheet, + pressing on this angle, resists the force which is tending to push it + outwards; and in this fashion the angles are strengthened. Every advantage + that could be desired with regard to the solidity of each cell is procured + by its own formation and its position with reference to the others." + </p> + <p> + {55} + </p> + <p> + "There are only," says Dr. Reid, "three possible figures of the cells + which can make them all equal and similar, without any useless + interstices. These are the equilateral triangle, the square, and the + regular hexagon. Mathematicians know that there is not a fourth way + possible in which a plane shall be cut into little spaces that shall be + equal, similar, and regular, without useless spaces. Of the three figures, + the hexagon is the most proper for convenience and strength. Bees, as if + they knew this, make their cells regular hexagons. + </p> + <p> + "Again, it has been demonstrated that, by making the bottoms of the cells + to consist of three planes meeting in a point, there is a saving of + material and labour in no way inconsiderable. The bees, as if acquainted + with these principles of solid geometry, follow them most accurately. It + is a curious mathematical problem at what precise angle the three planes + which compose the bottom of a cell ought to meet, in order to make the + greatest possible saving, or the least expense of material and labour.* + This is one of the problems which belong to the higher parts of + mathematics. It has accordingly been resolved by some mathematicians, + particularly by the ingenious Maclaurin, by a fluctionary calculation + which is to be found in the Transactions of the Royal Society of London. + He has determined precisely the angle required, and he found, by the most + exact mensuration the subject would admit, that it is the very angle in + which the three planes at the bottom of the cell of a honey comb do + actually meet." + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *Reaumur suggested the following problem to the celebrated + mathematician Koenig: "Of all possible hexagonal cells with + pyramidal base composed of three equal and similar rhombs, + to find the one whose construction would need the least + material." Koenig's answer was, the cell that had for its + base three rhombs whose large angle was 109 deg 26', and the + small 70 deg 34'. Another savant, Maraldi, had measured as + exactly as possible the angles of the rhombs constructed by + the bees, and discovered the larger to be 109 deg 28', and + the other 70 deg 32'. Between the two solutions there was a + difference, therefore, of only 2'. It is probable that the + error, if error there be, should be attributed to Maraldi + rather than to the bees; for it is impossible for any + instrument to measure the angles of the cells, which are not + very clearly defined, with infallible precision. +</pre> + <p> + The problem suggested to Koenig was put to another mathematician, Cramer, + whose solution came even closer to that of the bees, viz., 109 deg 28 1/2' + for the large angle, and 70 deg 31 1/2' for the small. + </p> + <p> + {56} + </p> + <p> + I myself do not believe that the bees indulge in these abstruse + calculations; but, on the other hand, it seems equally impossible to me + that such astounding results can be due to chance alone, or to the mere + force of circumstance. The wasps, for instance, also build combs with + hexagonal cells, so that for them the problem was identical, and they have + solved it in a far less ingenious fashion. Their combs have only one layer + of cells, thus lacking the common base that serves the bees for their two + opposite layers. The wasps' comb, therefore, is not only less regular, but + also less substantial; and so wastefully constructed that, besides loss of + material, they must sacrifice about a third of the available space and a + quarter of the energy they put forth. Again, we find that the trigonae and + meliponae, which are veritable and domesticated bees, though of less + advanced civilisation, erect only one row of rearing-cells, and support + their horizontal, superposed combs on shapeless and costly columns of wax. + Their provision-cells are merely great pots, gathered together without any + order; and, at the point between the spheres where these might have + intersected and induced a profitable economy of space and material, the + meliponae clumsily insert a section of cells with flat walls. Indeed, to + compare one of their nests with the mathematical cities of our own + honey-flies, is like imagining a hamlet composed of primitive huts side by + side with a modern town; whose ruthless regularity is the logical, though + perhaps somewhat charmless, result of the genius of man, that to-day, more + fiercely than ever before, seeks to conquer space, matter, and time. + </p> + <p> + {57} + </p> + <p> + There is a theory, originally propounded by Buffon and now revived, which + assumes that the bees have not the least intention of constructing + hexagons with a pyramidal base, but that their desire is merely to + contrive round cells in the wax; only, that as their neighbours, and those + at work on the opposite side of the comb, are digging at the same moment + and with the same intentions, the points where the cells meet must of + necessity become hexagonal. Besides, it is said, this is precisely what + happens to crystals, the scales of certain kinds of fish, soap-bubbles, + etc., as it happens in the following experiment that Buffon suggested. + "If," he said, "you fill a dish with peas or any other cylindrical bean, + pour as much water into it as the space between the beans will allow, + close it carefully and then boil the water, you will find that all these + cylinders have become six-sided columns. And the reason is evident, being + indeed purely mechanical; each of the cylindrical beans tends, as it + swells, to occupy the utmost possible space within a given space; + wherefore it follows that the reciprocal compression compels them all to + become hexagonal. Similarly each bee seeks to occupy the utmost possible + space within a given space, with the necessary result that, its body being + cylindrical, the cells become hexagonal for the same reason as before, + viz., the working of reciprocal obstacles." + </p> + <p> + {58} + </p> + <p> + These reciprocal obstacles, it would seem, are capable of marvellous + achievement; on the same principle, doubtless, that the vices of man + produce a general virtue, whereby the human race, hateful often in its + individuals, ceases to be so in the mass. We might reply, first of all, + with Brougham, Kirby and Spence, and others, that experiments with peas + and soap-bubbles prove nothing; for the reason that in both cases the + pressure produces only irregular forms, and in no wise explains the + existence of the prismatic base of the cells. But above all we might + answer that there are more ways than one of dealing with rigid necessity; + that the wasp, the humble-bee, the trigonae and meliponae of Mexico and + Brazil achieve very different and manifestly inferior results, although + the circumstances, and their own intentions, are absolutely identical with + those of the bees. It might further be urged that if the bee's cell does + indeed follow the law that governs crystals, snow, soap-bubbles, as well + as Buffon's boiled peas, it also, through its general symmetry, + disposition in opposite layers, and angle of inclination, obeys many other + laws that are not to be found in matter. May we not say, too, of man that + all his genius is comprised in his fashion of handling kindred + necessities? And if it appear to us that his manner of treating these is + the best there can possibly be, the reason only can lie in the absence of + a judge superior to ourselves. But it is well that argument should make + way for fact; and indeed, to the objection based on an experiment, the + best reply of all must be a counter-experiment. + </p> + <p> + In order to satisfy myself that hexagonal architecture truly was written + in the spirit of the bee, I cut off and removed one day a disc of the size + of a five-franc piece from the centre of a comb, at a spot where there + were both brood-cells and cells full of honey. I cut into the + circumference of this disc, at the intersecting point of the pyramidal + cells; inserted a piece of tin on the base of one of these sections, + shaped exactly to its dimensions, and possessed of resistance sufficient + to prevent the bees from bending or twisting it. Then I replaced the slice + of comb, duly furnished with its slab of tin, on the spot whence I had + removed it; so that, while one side of the comb presented no abnormal + feature, the damage having been repaired, the other displayed a sort of + deep cavity, covering the space of about thirty cells, with the piece of + tin as its base. The bees were disconcerted at first; they flocked in + numbers to inspect and examine this curious chasm; day after day they + wandered agitatedly to and fro, apparently unable to form a decision. But, + as I fed them copiously every evening, there came a moment when they had + no more cells available for the storage of provisions. Thereupon they + probably summoned their great engineers, distinguished sculptors, and + wax-workers, and invited them to turn this useless cavity to profitable + account. + </p> + <p> + The wax-makers having gathered around and formed themselves into a dense + festoon, so that the necessary heat might be maintained, other bees + descended into the hole and proceeded solidly to attach the metal, and + connect it with the walls of adjacent cells, by means of little waxen + hooks which they distributed regularly over its surface. In the upper + semicircle of the disc they then began to construct three or four cells, + uniting these to the hooks. Each of these transition, or accommodation, + cells was more or less deformed at the top, to allow of its being soldered + to the adjoining cell on the comb; but its lower portion already designed + on the tin three very clear angles, whence there ran three little straight + lines that correctly indicated the first half of the following cell. + </p> + <p> + After forty-eight hours, and notwithstanding the fact that only three bees + at a time were able to work in the cavity, the entire surface of the tin + was covered with outlined cells. These were less regular, certainly, than + those of an ordinary comb; wherefore the queen, having inspected them, + wisely declined to lay any eggs there, for the generation that would have + arisen therefrom would necessarily have been deformed. Each cell, however, + was a perfect hexagon; nor did it contain a single crooked line, a single + curved figure or angle. And yet the ordinary conditions had all been + changed; the cells had neither been scooped out of a block, according to + Huber's description, nor had they been designed within a waxen hood, and, + from being circular at first, been subsequently converted into hexagons by + the pressure of adjoining cells, as explained by Darwin. Neither could + there be question here of reciprocal obstacles, the cells having been + formed one by one, and their first lines traced on what practically was a + bare table. It would seem incontestable, therefore, that the hexagon is + not merely the result of mechanical necessities, but that it has its true + place in the plans, the experience, the intellect and will of the bee. I + may relate here another curious instance of the workers' sagacity: the + cells they built on the tin had no other base than the metal itself. The + engineers of the corps had evidently decided that the tin could adequately + retain the honey; and had considered that, the substance being + impermeable, they need not waste the material they value so highly by + covering the metal with a layer of wax. But, a short time after, some + drops of honey having been placed in two of these cells, the bees + discovered, in tasting it, that the contact of the metal had a + deteriorating effect. Thereupon they reconsidered the matter, and covered + over with wax the entire surface of the tin. + </p> + <p> + {59} + </p> + <p> + Were it our desire to throw light upon all the secrets of this geometric + architecture, we should have more than one curious question still to + consider; as for instance the shape of the first cells, which, being + attached to the roof, are modified in such a manner as to touch the roof + at the greatest possible number of points. + </p> + <p> + The design of the principal thoroughfares is determined by the parallelism + of the combs; but we must admire the ingenious construction of alleys and + gangways through and around the comb, so skilfully contrived as to provide + short cuts in every direction and prevent congestion of traffic, while + ensuring free circulation of air. And finally we should have to study the + construction of transition cells, wherein we see a unanimous instinct at + work that impels the bees at a given moment to increase the size of their + dwellings. Three reasons may dictate this step: an extraordinary harvest + may call for larger receptacles, the workers may consider the population + to be sufficiently numerous, or it may have become necessary that males + should be born. Nor can we in such cases refrain from wondering at the + ingenious economy, the unerring, harmonious conviction, with which the + bees will pass from the small to the large, from the large to the small; + from perfect symmetry to, where unavoidable, its very reverse, returning + to ideal regularity so soon as the laws of a live geometry will allow; and + all the time not losing a cell, not suffering a single one of their + numerous structures to be sacrificed, to be ridiculous, uncertain, or + barbarous, or any section thereof to become unfit for use. But I fear that + I have already wandered into many details that will have but slender + interest for the reader, whose eyes perhaps may never have followed a + flight of bees; or who may have regarded them only with the passing + interest with which we are all of us apt to regard the flower, the bird or + the precious stone, asking of these no more than a slight superficial + assurance, and forgetting that the most trivial secret of the non-human + object we behold in nature connects more closely perhaps with the profound + enigma of our origin and our end, than the secret of those of our passions + that we study the most eagerly and the most passionately. + </p> + <p> + {60} + </p> + <p> + And I will pass over too—in my desire that this essay shall not + become too didactic—the remarkable instinct that induces the bees at + times to thin and demolish the extremity of their combs, when these are to + be enlarged or lengthened; though it must be admitted that in this case + the "blind building instinct" fails signally to account for their + demolishing in order that they may rebuild, or undoing what has been done + that it may be done afresh, and with more regularity. I will content + myself also with a mere reference to the remarkable experiment that + enables us, with the aid of a piece of glass, to compel the bees to start + their combs at a right angle; when they most ingeniously contrive that the + enlarged cells on the convex side shall coincide with the reduced cells on + the concave side of the comb. + </p> + <p> + But before finally quitting this subject let us pause, though it be but + for an instant, and consider the mysterious fashion in which they manage + to act in concert and combine their labour, when simultaneously carving + two opposite sides of a comb, and unable therefore to see each other. Take + a finished comb to the light, fix your eyes on the diaphanous wax; you + will see, most clearly designed, an entire network of sharply cut prisms, + a whole system of concordances so infallible that one might almost believe + them to be stamped on steel. + </p> + <p> + I wonder whether those who never have seen the interior of a hive can form + an adequate conception of the arrangement and aspect of the combs. Let + them imagine—we will take a peasant's hive, where the bee is left + entirely to its own resources—let them imagine a dome of straw or + osier, divided from top to bottom by five, six, eight, sometimes ten, + strips of wax, resembling somewhat great slices of bread, that run in + strictly parallel lines from the top of the dome to the floor, espousing + closely the shape of the ovoid walls. Between these strips is contrived a + space of about half an inch, to enable the bees to stand and to pass each + other. At the moment when they begin to construct one of these strips at + the top of the hive, the waxen wall (which is its rough model, and will + later be thinned and extended) is still very thick, and completely + excludes the fifty or sixty bees at work on its inner face from the fifty + or sixty simultaneously engaged in carving the outer, so that it is wholly + impossible for one group to see the other, unless indeed their sight be + able to penetrate opaque matter. And yet there is not a hole that is + scooped on the inner surface, not a fragment of wax that is added, but + corresponds with mathematical precision to a protuberance or cavity on the + outer surface, and vice versa. How does this happen? How is it that one + does not dig too deep, another not deep enough? Whence the invariable + magical coincidence between the angles of the lozenges? What is it tells + the bees that at this point they must begin, and at that point stop? Once + again we must content ourselves with the reply, that is no reply: "It is a + mystery of the hive." + </p> + <p> + Huber has sought to explain this mystery by suggesting that the pressure + of the bees' hooks and teeth may possibly produce slight projections, at + regular intervals, on the opposite side of the comb; or that they may be + able to estimate the thickness of the block by the flexibility, + elasticity, or some other physical quality of the wax; or again, that + their antennae, which seem so well adapted for the questioning of the + finer, less evident side of things, may serve as a compass in the + invisible; or, lastly, that the position of every cell may derive + mathematically from the arrangement and dimensions of the cells on the + first row, and thus dispense with the need for further measurement. But + these explanations are evidently insufficient; the first are mere + hypotheses that cannot be verified, the others do no more than transplant + the mystery. And useful as it may be to transplant mystery as often as we + possibly can, it were not wise to imagine that a mystery has ceased to be + because we have shifted its home. + </p> + <p> + {61} + </p> + <p> + Now let us leave these dreary building grounds, this geometrical desert of + cells. The combs have been started, and are becoming habitable. Though it + be here the infinitely little that, without apparent hope, adds itself to + the infinitely little; though our eye with its limited vision look and see + nothing, the work of wax, halting neither by day nor by night, will + advance with incredible quickness. The impatient queen already has more + than once paced the stockades that gleam white in the darkness; and no + sooner is the first row of dwellings complete than she takes possession + with her escort of counsellors, guardians, or servants—for we know + not whether she lead or be led, be venerated or supervised. When the spot + has been reached that she, or her urgent advisers, may regard as + favourable, she arches her back, bends forward, and introduces the + extremity of her long spindle-shaped abdomen into one of the cells; + the-little eager heads of her escort meanwhile forming a passionate circle + around her, watching her with their enormous black eyes, supporting her, + caressing her wings, and waving their feverish antennae as though to + encourage, incite, or congratulate. You may easily discover the spot where + the queen shall be found by the sort of starry cockade, or oval brooch + perhaps of the imposing kind our grandmothers used to wear, of which she + forms the central stone. And one may mention here the curious fact that + the workers always avoid turning their back on the queen. No sooner has + she approached a group than they will invariably arrange themselves so as + to face her with eyes and antennae, and to walk backwards before her. It + is a token of respect, or of solicitude, that, unlikely as it may seem, is + nevertheless constant and general. But to return to the queen. During the + slight spasm that visibly accompanies the emission of an egg, one of her + daughters will often throw her arms round her and appear to be whispering + to her, brow pressed to brow and mouth to mouth. But the queen, in no wise + disturbed by this somewhat bold demonstration, takes her time, tranquilly, + calmly, wholly absorbed by the mission that would seem amorous delight to + her rather than labour. And after some seconds she will rise, very + quietly, take a step back, execute a slight turn on herself, and proceed + to the next cell, into which she will first, before introducing her + abdomen, dip her head to make sure that all is in order and that she is + not laying twice in the same cell; and in the meanwhile two or three of + her escort will have plunged into the cell she has quitted to see whether + the work be duly accomplished, and to care for, and tenderly house, the + little bluish egg she has laid. + </p> + <p> + From this moment, up to the first frosts of autumn, she does not cease + laying; she lays while she is being fed, and even in her sleep, if indeed + she sleeps at all, she still lays. She represents henceforth the devouring + force of the future, which invades every corner of the kingdom. Step by + step she pursues the unfortunate workers who are exhaustedly, feverishly + erecting the cradles her fecundity demands. We have here the union of two + mighty instincts; and their workings throw into light, though they leave + unresolved, many an enigma of the hive. + </p> + <p> + It will happen, for instance, that the workers will distance her, and + acquire a certain start; whereupon, mindful of their duties as careful + housewives to provide for the bad days ahead, they hasten to fill with + honey the cells they have wrested from the avidity of the species. But the + queen approaches; material wealth must give way to the scheme of nature; + and the distracted workers are compelled with all speed to remove the + importunate treasure. + </p> + <p> + But assume them to be a whole comb ahead, and to have no longer before + them her who stands for the tyranny of days they shall none of them see; + we find then that they eagerly, hurriedly, build a zone of large cells, + cells for males; whose construction is very much easier, and far more + rapid. When the queen in her turn attains this unthankful zone, she will + regretfully lay a few eggs there, then cease, pass beyond, and clamour for + more workers' cells. Her daughters obey; little by little they reduce the + cells; and then the pursuit starts afresh, till at last the insatiable + mother shall have traversed the whole circumference of the hive, and have + returned to the first cells. These, by this time, will be empty; for the + first generation will have sprung into life, soon to go forth, from their + shadowy corner of birth, disperse over the neighbouring blossoms, people + the rays of the sun and quicken the smiling hours; and then sacrifice + themselves in their turn to the new generations that are already filling + their place in the cradles. + </p> + <p> + {62} + </p> + <p> + And whom does the queen-bee obey? She is ruled by nourishment given her; + for she does not take her own food, but is fed like a child by the very + workers whom her fecundity harasses. And the food these workers deal out + is nicely proportioned to the abundance of flowers, to the spoil brought + back by those who visit the calyces. Here, then, as everywhere else in the + world, one part of the circle is wrapped in darkness; here, as everywhere, + it is from without, from an unknown power, that the supreme order issues; + and the bees, like ourselves, obey the nameless lord of the wheel that + incessantly turns on itself, and crushes the wills that have set it in + motion. + </p> + <p> + Some little time back, I conducted a friend to one of my hives of glass, + and showed him the movements of this wheel, which was as readily + perceptible as the great wheel of a clock; showed him, in all its + bareness, the universal agitation on every comb, the perpetual, frantic, + bewildered haste of the nurses around the brood-cells; the living gangways + and ladders formed by the makers of wax, the abounding, unceasing activity + of the entire population, and their pitiless, useless effort; the ardent, + feverish coming and going of all, the general absence of sleep save in the + cradles alone, around which continuous labour kept watch; the denial of + even the repose of death in a home which permits no illness and accords no + grave; and my friend, his astonishment over, soon turned his eyes away, + and in them I could read the signs of I know not what saddened fear. + </p> + <p> + And truly, underlying the gladness that we note first of all in the hive, + underlying the dazzling memories of beautiful days that render it the + storehouse of summer's most precious jewels, underlying the blissful + journeys that knit it so close to the flowers and to running water, to the + sky, to the peaceful abundance of all that makes for beauty and happiness—underlying + all these exterior joys, there reposes a sadness as deep as the eye of man + can behold. And we, who dimly gaze on these things with our own blind + eyes, we know full well that it is not they alone that we are striving to + see, not they alone that we cannot understand, but that before us there + lies a pitiable form of the great power that quickens us also. + </p> + <p> + Sad let it be, as all things in nature are sad, when our eyes rest too + closely upon them. And thus it ever shall be so long as we know not her + secret, know not even whether secret truly there be. And should we + discover some day that there is no secret, or that the secret is + monstrous, other duties will then arise that, as yet, perhaps, have no + name. Let our heart, if it will, in the meanwhile repeat, "It is sad;" but + let our reason be content to add, "Thus it is." At the present hour the + duty before us is to seek out that which perhaps may be hiding behind + these sorrows; and, urged on by this endeavour, we must not turn our eyes + away, but steadily, fixedly, watch these sorrows and study them, with a + courage and interest as keen as though they were joys. It is right that + before we judge nature, before we complain, we should at least ask every + question that we can possibly ask. + </p> + <p> + {63} + </p> + <p> + We have seen that the workers, when free for the moment from the + threatening fecundity of the queen, hasten to erect cells for provisions, + whose construction is more economical and capacity greater. We have seen, + too, that the queen prefers to lay in the smaller cells, for which she is + incessantly clamouring. When these are wanting, however, or till they be + provided, she resigns herself to laying her eggs in the large cells she + finds on her road. + </p> + <p> + These eggs, though absolutely identical with those from which workers are + hatched, will give birth to males, or drones. Now, conversely to what + takes place when a worker is turned into queen, it is here neither the + form nor the capacity of the cell that produces this change; for from an + egg laid in a large cell and afterwards transferred to that of a worker (a + most difficult operation, because of the microscopic minuteness and + extreme fragility of the egg, but one that I have four or five times + successfully accomplished) there will issue an undeniable male, though + more or less atrophied. It follows, therefore, that the queen must possess + the power, while laying, of knowing or determining the sex of the egg, and + of adapting it to the cell over which she is bending. She will rarely make + a mistake. How does she contrive, from among the myriad eggs her ovaries + contain, to separate male from female, and lower them, at will, into the + unique oviduct? + </p> + <p> + Here, yet again, there confronts us an enigma of the hive; and in this + case one of the most unfathomable. We know that the virgin queen is not + sterile; but the eggs that she lays will produce only males. It is not + till after the impregnation of the nuptial flight that she can produce + workers or drones at will. The nuptial flight places her permanently in + possession, till death, of the spermatozoa torn from her unfortunate + lover. These spermatozoa, whose number Dr. Leuckart estimates at + twenty-five millions, are preserved alive in a special gland known as the + spermatheca, that is situate under the ovaries, at the entrance to the + common oviduct. It is imagined that the narrow aperture of the smaller + cells, and the manner in which the form of this aperture compels the queen + to bend forward, exercise a certain pressure upon the spermatheca, in + consequence of which the spermatozoa spring forth and fecundate the egg as + it passes. In the large cells this pressure would not take place, and the + spermatheca would therefore not open. Others, again, believe that the + queen has perfect control over the muscles that open and close the + spermatheca on the vagina; and these muscles are certainly very numerous, + complex, and powerful. For myself, I incline to the second of these + hypotheses, though I do not for a moment pretend to decide which is the + more correct; for indeed, the further we go and the more closely we study, + the more plainly is it brought home to us that we merely are waifs + shipwrecked on the ocean of nature; and ever and anon, from a sudden wave + that shall be more transparent than others, there leaps forth a fact that + in an instant confounds all we imagined we knew. But the reason of my + preferring the second theory is that, for one thing, the experiments of a + Bordeaux bee-keeper, M. Drory, have shown that in cases where all the + large cells have been removed from the hive, the mother will not hesitate, + when the moment for laying male eggs has come, to deposit these in + workers' cells; and that, inversely, she will lay workers' eggs in cells + provided for males, if she have no others at her disposal. And, further, + we learn from the interesting observations of M. Fabre on the Osmiae, + which are wild and olitary bees of the Gastrilegidae family, that not only + does the Osmia know in advance the sex of the egg she will lay, but that + this sex is "optional for the mother, who decides it in accordance with + the space of which she disposes; this space being often governed by chance + and not to be modified; and she will deposit a male egg here and a female + there." I shall not enter into the details of the great French + entomologist's experiments, for they are exceedingly minute, and would + take us too far. But whichever be the hypothesis we prefer to accept, + either will serve to explain the queen's inclination to lay her eggs in + workers' cells, without it being necessary to credit her with the least + concern for the future. + </p> + <p> + It is not impossible that this slave-mother, whom we are inclined to pity, + may be indeed a great amorist, a great voluptuary, deriving a certain + enjoyment, an after-taste, as it were, of her one marriage-flight, from + the union of the male and female principle that thus comes to pass in her + being. Here again nature, never so ingenious, so cunningly prudent and + diverse, as when contriving her snares of love, will not have failed to + provide a certain pleasure as a bait in the interest of the species. And + yet let us pause for a moment, and not become the dupes of our own + explanation. For indeed, to attribute an idea of this kind to nature, and + regard that as sufficient, is like flinging a stone into an unfathomable + gulf we may find in the depths of a grotto, and imagining that the sounds + it creates as it falls shall answer our every question, or reveal to us + aught beside the immensity of the abyss. + </p> + <p> + When we say to ourselves, "This thing is of nature's devising; she has + ordained this marvel; those are her desires that we see before us!" the + fact is merely that our special attention has been drawn to some tiny + manifestation of life upon the boundless surface of matter that we deem + inactive, and choose to describe, with evident inaccuracy, as nothingness + and death. A purely fortuitous chain of events has allowed this special + manifestation to attract our attention; but a thousand others, no less + interesting, perhaps, and informed with no less intelligence, have + vanished, not meeting with a like good-fortune, and have lost for ever the + chance of exciting our wonder. It were rash to affirm aught beside; and + all that remains, our reflections, our obstinate search for the final + cause, our admiration and hopes—all these in truth are no more than + our feeble cry as, in the depths of the unknown, we clash against what is + more unknowable still; and this feeble cry declares the highest degree of + individual existence attainable for us on this mute and impenetrable + surface, even as the flight of the condor, the song of the nightingale, + reveal to them the highest degree of existence their species allows. But + the evocation of this feeble cry, whenever opportunity offers, is none the + less one of our most unmistakable duties; nor should we let ourselves be + discouraged by its apparent futility. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0008" id="link2H_4_0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + V — THE YOUNG QUEENS + </h2> + <h3> + {64} + </h3> + <p> + HERE let us close our hive, where we find that life is reassuming its + circular movement, is extending and multiplying, to be again divided as + soon as it shall attain the fulness of its happiness and strength; and let + us for the last time reopen the mother-city, and see what is happening + there after the departure of the swarm. + </p> + <p> + The tumult having subsided, the hapless city, that two thirds of her + children have abandoned for ever, becomes feeble, empty, moribund; like a + body from which the blood has been drained. Some thousands of bees have + remained, however; and these, though a trifle languid perhaps, are still + immovably faithful to the duty a precise destiny has laid upon them, still + conscious of the part that they have themselves to play; they resume their + labours, therefore, fill as best they can the place of those who have + gone, remove all trace of the orgy, carefully house the provisions that + have escaped pillage, sally forth to the flowers again, and keep + scrupulous guard over the hostages of the future. + </p> + <p> + And for all that the moment may appear gloomy, hope abounds wherever the + eye may turn. We might be in one of the castles of German legend, whose + walls are composed of myriad phials containing the souls of men about to + be born. For we are in the abode of life that goes before life. On all + sides, asleep in their closely sealed cradles, in this infinite + superposition of marvellous six-sided cells, lie thousands of nymphs, + whiter than milk, who with folded arms and head bent forward await the + hour of awakening. In their uniform tombs, that, isolated, become nearly + transparent, they seem almost like hoary gnomes, lost in deep thought, or + legions of virgins whom the folds of the shroud have contorted, who are + buried in hexagonal prisms that some inflexible geometrician has + multiplied to the verge of delirium. + </p> + <p> + Over the entire area that the vertical walls enclose, and in the midst of + this growing world that so soon shall transform itself, that shall four or + five times in succession assume fresh vestments, and then spin its own + winding-sheet in the shadow, hundreds of workers are dancing and flapping + their wings. They appear thus to generate the necessary heat, and + accomplish some other object besides that is still more obscure; for this + dance of theirs contains some extraordinary movements, so methodically + conceived that they must infallibly answer some purpose which no observer + has as yet, I believe, been able to divine. + </p> + <p> + A few days more, and the lids of these myriad urns—whereof a + considerable hive will contain from sixty to eighty thousand—will + break, and two large and earnest black eyes will appear, surmounted by + antennae that already are groping at life, while active jaws are busily + engaged in enlarging the opening from within. The nurses at once come + running; they help the young bee to emerge from her prison, they clean her + and brush her, and at the tip of their tongue present the first honey of + the new life. But the bee, that has come from another world, is bewildered + still, trembling and pale; she wears the feeble look of a little old man + who might have escaped from his tomb, or perhaps of a traveller strewn + with the powdery dust of the ways that lead unto life. She is perfect, + however, from head to foot; she knows at once all that has to be known; + and, like the children of the people, who learn, as it were, at their + birth, that for them there shall never be time to play or to laugh, she + instantly makes her way to the cells that are closed, and proceeds to beat + her wings and to dance in cadence, so that she in her turn may quicken her + buried sisters; nor does she for one instant pause to decipher the + astounding enigma of her destiny, or her race. + </p> + <p> + {65} + </p> + <p> + The most arduous labours will, however, at first be spared her. A week + must elapse from the day of her birth before she will quit the hive; she + will then perform her first "cleansing flight," and absorb the air into + her tracheae, which, filling, expand her body, and proclaim her the bride + of space. Thereupon she returns to the hive, and waits yet one week more; + and then, with her sisters born the same day as herself, she will for the + first time set forth to visit the flowers. A special emotion now will lay + hold of her; one that French apiarists term the "soleil d'artifice," but + which might more rightly perhaps be called the "sun of disquiet." For it + is evident that the bees are afraid, that these daughters of the crowd, of + secluded darkness, shrink from the vault of blue, from the infinite + loneliness of the light; and their joy is halting, and woven of terror. + They cross the threshold and pause; they depart, they return, twenty + times. They hover aloft in the air, their head persistently turned to the + home; they describe great soaring circles that suddenly sink beneath the + weight of regret; and their thirteen thousand eyes will question, reflect, + and retain the trees and the fountain, the gate and the walls, the + neighbouring windows and houses, till at last the aerial course whereon + their return shall glide have become as indelibly stamped in their memory + as though it were marked in space by two lines of steel. + </p> + <p> + {66} + </p> + <p> + A new mystery confronts us here, which we shall do well to challenge; for + though it reply not, its silence still will extend the field of our + conscious ignorance, which is the most fertile of all that our activity + knows. How do the bees contrive to find their way back to the hive that + they cannot possibly see, that is hidden, perhaps, by the trees, that in + any event must form an imperceptible point in space? How is it that if + taken in a box to a spot two or three miles from their home, they will + almost invariably succeed in finding their way back? + </p> + <p> + Do obstacles offer no barrier to their sight; do they guide themselves by + certain indications and landmarks; or do they possess that peculiar, + imperfectly understood sense that we ascribe to the swallows and pigeons, + for instance, and term the "sense of direction"? The experiments of J. H. + Fabre, of Lubbock, and, above all, of Romanes (Nature, 29 Oct. 1886) seem + to establish that it is not this strange instinct that guides them. I + have, on the other hand, more than once noticed that they appear to pay no + attention to the colour or form of the hive. They are attracted rather by + the ordinary appearance of the platform on which their home reposes, by + the position of the entrance, and of the alighting-board. But this even is + merely subsidiary; were the front of the hive to be altered from top to + bottom, during the workers' absence, they would still unhesitatingly + direct their course to it from out the far depths of the horizon; and only + when confronted by the unrecognisable threshold would they seem for one + instant to pause. Such experiments as lie in our power point rather to + their guiding themselves by an extraordinarily minute and precise + appreciation of landmarks. It is not the hive that they seem to remember, + but its position, calculated to the minutest fraction, in its relation to + neighbouring objects. And so marvellous is this appreciation, so + mathematically certain, so profoundly inscribed in their memory, that if, + after five months' hibernation in some obscure cellar, the hive, when + replaced on the platform, should be set a little to right or to left of + its former position, all the workers, on their return from the earliest + flowers, will infallibly steer their direct and unwavering course to the + precise spot that it filled the previous year; and only after some + hesitation and groping will they discover the door which stands not now + where it once had stood. It is as though space had preciously preserved, + the whole winter through, the indelible track of their flight: as though + the print of their tiny, laborious footsteps, still lay graven in the sky. + </p> + <p> + If the hive be displaced, therefore, many bees will lose their way; except + in the case of their having been carried far from their former home, and + finding the country completely transformed that they had grown to know + perfectly within a radius of two or three miles; for then, if care be + taken to warn them, by means of a little gangway connecting with the + alighting-board, at the entrance to the hive, that some change has + occurred, they will at once proceed to seek new bearings and create fresh + landmarks. + </p> + <p> + {67} + </p> + <p> + And now let us return to the city that is being repeopled, where myriad + cradles are incessantly opening, and the solid walls even appear to be + moving. But this city still lacks a queen. Seven or eight curious + structures arise from the centre of one of the combs, and remind us, + scattered as they are over the surface of the ordinary cells, of the + circles and protuberances that appear so strange on the photographs of the + moon. They are a species of capsule, contrived of wrinkled wax or of + inclined glands, hermetically sealed, which fills the place of three or + four workers' cells. As a rule, they are grouped around the same point; + and a numerous guard keep watch, with singular vigilance and restlessness, + over this region that seems instinct with an indescribable prestige. It is + here that the mothers are formed. In each one of these capsules, before + the swarm departs, an egg will be placed by the mother, or more probably—though + as to this we have no certain knowledge—by one of the workers; an + egg that she will have taken from some neighbouring cell, and that is + absolutely identical with those from which workers are hatched. + </p> + <p> + From this egg, after three days, a small larva will issue, and receive a + special and very abundant nourishment; and henceforth we are able to + follow, step by step, the movements of one of those magnificently vulgar + methods of nature on which, were we dealing with men, we should bestow the + august name of fatality. The little larva, thanks to this regimen, assumes + an exceptional development; and in its ideas, no less than in its body, + there ensues so considerable a change that the bee to which it will give + birth might almost belong to an entirely different race of insects. + </p> + <p> + Four or five years will be the period of her life, instead of the six or + seven weeks of the ordinary worker. Her abdomen will be twice as long, her + colour more golden, and clearer; her sting will be curved, and her eyes + have seven or eight thousand facets instead of twelve or thirteen + thousand. Her brain will be smaller, but she will possess enormous + ovaries, and a special organ besides, the spermatheca, that will render + her almost an hermaphrodite. None of the instincts will be hers that + belong to a life of toil; she will have no brushes, no pockets wherein to + secrete the wax, no baskets to gather the pollen. The habits, the + passions, that we regard as inherent in the bee, will all be lacking in + her. She will not crave for air, or the light of the sun; she will die + without even once having tasted a flower. Her existence will pass in the + shadow, in the midst of a restless throng; her sole occupation the + indefatigable search for cradles that she must fill. On the other hand she + alone will know the disquiet of love. Not even twice, it may be, in her + life shall she look on the light—for the departure of the swarm is + by no means inevitable; on one occasion only, perhaps, will she make use + of her wings, but then it will be to fly to her lover. It is strange to + see so many things—organs, ideas, desires, habits, an entire destiny—depending, + not on a germ, which were the ordinary miracle of the plant, the animal, + and man, but on a curious inert substance: a drop of honey.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *It is generally admitted to-day that workers and queens, + after the hatching of the egg, receive the same + nourishment,—a kind of milk, very rich in nitrogen, that a + special gland in the nurses' head secretes. But after a few + days the worker larvae are weaned, and put on a coarser diet + of honey and pollen; whereas the future queen, until she be + fully developed, is copiously fed on the precious milk known + as "royal jelly." +</pre> + <p> + {68} + </p> + <p> + About a week has passed since the departure of the old queen. The royal + nymphs asleep in the capsules are not all of the same age, for it is to + the interest of the bees that the births should be nicely gradationed, and + take place at regular intervals, in accordance with their possible desire + for a second swarm, a third, or even a fourth. The workers have for some + hours now been actively thinning the walls of the ripest cell, while the + young queen, from within, has been simultaneously gnawing the rounded lid + of her prison. And at last her head appears; she thrusts herself forward; + and, with the help of the guardians who hasten eagerly to her, who brush + her, caress her, and clean her, she extricates herself altogether and + takes her first steps on the comb. At the moment of birth she too, like + the workers, is trembling and pale, but after ten minutes or so her legs + become stronger, and a strange restlessness seizes her; she feels that she + is not alone, that her kingdom has yet to be conquered, that close by + pretenders are hiding; and she eagerly paces the waxen walls in search of + her rivals. But there intervene here the mysterious decisions and wisdom + of instinct, of the spirit of the hive, or of the assembly of workers. The + most surprising feature of all, as we watch these things happening before + us in a hive of glass, is the entire absence of hesitation, of the + slightest division of opinion. There is not a trace of discussion or + discord. The atmosphere of the city is one of absolute unanimity, + preordained, which reigns over all; and every one of the bees would appear + to know in advance the thought of her sisters. And yet this moment is the + gravest, the most vital, in their entire history. They have to choose + between three or four courses whose results, in the distant future, will + be totally different; which, too, the slightest accident may render + disastrous. They have to reconcile the multiplication of species—which + is their passion, or innate duty—with the preservation of the hive + and its people. They will err at times; they will successively send forth + three or four swarms, thereby completely denuding the mother-city; and + these swarms, too feeble to organise, will succumb, it may be, at the + approach of winter, caught unawares by this climate of ours, which is + different far from their original climate, that the bees, notwithstanding + all, have never forgotten. In such cases they suffer from what is known as + "swarming fever;" a condition wherein life, as in ordinary fever, reacting + too ardently on itself, passes its aim, completes the circle, and + discovers only death. + </p> + <p> + {69} + </p> + <p> + Of all the decisions before them there is none that would seem imperative; + nor can man, if content to play the part of spectator only, foretell in + the slightest degree which one the bees will adopt. But that the most + careful deliberation governs their choice is proved by the fact that we + are able to influence, or even determine it, by for instance reducing or + enlarging the space we accord them; or by removing combs full of honey, + and setting up, in their stead, empty combs which are well supplied with + workers' cells. + </p> + <p> + The question they have to consider is not whether a second or third swarm + shall be immediately launched,—for in arriving at such a decision + they would merely be blindly and thoughtlessly yielding to the caprice or + temptation of a favourable moment,—but the instantaneous, unanimous + adoption of measures that shall enable them to issue a second swarm or + "cast" three or four days after the birth of the first queen, and a third + swarm three days after the departure of the second, with this first queen + at their head. It must be admitted, therefore, that we discover here a + perfectly reasoned system, and a mature combination of plans extending + over a period considerable indeed when compared with the brevity of the + bee's existence. + </p> + <p> + These measures concern the care of the youthful queens who still lie + immured in their waxen prisons. Let us assume that the "spirit of the + hive" has pronounced against the despatch of a second swarm. Two courses + still remain open. The bees may permit the first-born of the royal + virgins, the one whose birth we have witnessed, to destroy her + sister-enemies; or they may elect to wait till she have performed the + perilous ceremony known as the "nuptial flight," whereon the nation's + future depends. The immediate massacre will be authorised often, and often + denied; but in the latter case it is of course not easy for us to + pronounce whether the bees' decision be due to a desire for a second + swarm, or to their recognition of the dangers attending the nuptial + flight; for it will happen at times that, on account of the weather + unexpectedly becoming less favourable, or for some other reason we cannot + divine, they will suddenly change their mind, renounce the cast that they + had decreed, and destroy the royal progeny they had so carefully + preserved. But at present we will suppose that they have determined to + dispense with a second swarm, and that they accept the risks of the + nuptial flight. Our young queen hastens towards the large cradles, urged + on by her great desire, and the guard make way before her. Listening only + to her furious jealousy, she will fling herself on to the first cell she + comes across, madly strip off the wax with her teeth and claws, tear away + the cocoon that carpets the cell, and divest the sleeping princess of + every covering. If her rival should be already recognisable, the queen + will turn so that her sting may enter the capsule, and will frantically + stab it with her venomous weapon until the victim perish. She then becomes + calmer, appeased by the death that puts a term to the hatred of every + creature; she withdraws her sting, hurries to the adjoining cell, attacks + it and opens it, passing it by should she find in it only an imperfect + larva or nymph; nor does she pause till, at last, exhausted and + breathless, her claws and teeth glide harmless over the waxen walls. + </p> + <p> + The bees that surround her have calmly watched her fury, have stood by, + inactive, moving only to leave her path clear; but no sooner has a cell + been pierced and laid waste than they eagerly flock to it, drag out the + corpse of the ravished nymph, or the still living larva, and thrust it + forth from the hive, thereupon gorging themselves with the precious royal + jelly that adheres to the sides of the cell. And finally, when the queen + has become too weak to persist in her passion, they will themselves + complete the massacre of the innocents; and the sovereign race, and their + dwellings, will all disappear. + </p> + <p> + This is the terrible hour of the hive; the only occasion, with that of the + more justifiable execution of the drones, when the workers suffer discord + and death to be busy amongst them; and here, as often in nature, it is the + favoured of love who attract to themselves the most extraordinary shafts + of violent death. + </p> + <p> + It will happen at times that two queens will be hatched simultaneously, + the occurrence being rare, however, for the bees take special care to + prevent it. But whenever this does take place, the deadly combat will + begin the moment they emerge from their cradles; and of this combat Huber + was the first to remark an extraordinary feature. Each time, it would seem + that the queens, in their passes, present their chitrinous cuirasses to + each other in such a fashion that the drawing of the sting would prove + mutually fatal; one might almost believe that, even as a god or goddess + was wont to interpose in the combats of the Iliad, so a god or a goddess, + the divinity of the race, perhaps, interposes here; and the two warriors, + stricken with simultaneous terror, divide and fly, to meet shortly after + and separate again should the double disaster once more menace the future + of their people; till at last one of them shall succeed in surprising her + clumsier or less wary rival, and in killing her without risk to herself. + For the law of the race has called for one sacrifice only. + </p> + <p> + The cradles having thus been destroyed and the rivals all slain, the young + queen is accepted by her people; but she will not truly reign over them, + or be treated as was her mother before her, until the nuptial flight be + accomplished; for until she be impregnated the bees will hold her but + lightly, and render most passing homage. Her history, however, will rarely + be as uneventful as this, for the bees will not often renounce their + desire for a second swarm. In that case, as before, quick with the same + desires, the queen will approach the royal cells; but instead of meeting + with docile servants who second her efforts, she will find her path + blocked by a numerous and hostile guard. In her fury, and urged on by her + fixed idea, she will endeavour to force her way through, or to outflank + them; but everywhere sentinels are posted to protect the sleeping + princesses. She persists, she returns to the charge, to be repulsed with + ever increasing severity, to be somewhat roughly handled even, until at + last she begins vaguely to understand that these little inflexible workers + stand for a law before which that law must bend whereby she is inspired. + </p> + <p> + And at last she goes, and wanders from comb to comb, her unsatisfied wrath + finding vent in a war-song, or angry complaint, that every bee-keeper + knows; resembling somewhat the note of a distant trumpet of silver; so + intense, in its passionate feebleness, as to be clearly audible, in the + evening especially, two or three yards from the double walls of the most + carefully enclosed hive. + </p> + <p> + Upon the workers this royal cry has a magical effect. It terrifies them, + it induces a kind of respectful stupor; and when the queen sends it forth, + as she halts in front of the cells whose approach is denied her, the + guardians who have but this moment been hustling her, pushing her back, + will at once desist, and wait, with bent head, till the cry shall have + ceased to resound. Indeed, some believe that it is thanks to the prestige + of this cry, which the Sphinx Atropos imitates, that the latter is able to + enter the hive, and gorge itself with honey, without the least molestation + on the part of the bees. + </p> + <p> + For two or three days, sometimes even for five, this indignant lament will + be heard, this challenge that the queen addresses to her well protected + rivals. And as these in their turn develop, in their turn grow anxious to + see the light, they too set to work to gnaw the lids of their cells. A + mighty disorder would now appear to threaten the republic. But the genius + of the hive, at the time that it formed its decision, was able to foretell + every consequence that might ensue; and the guardians have had their + instructions: they know exactly what must be done, hour by hour, to meet + the attacks of a foiled instinct, and conduct two opposite forces to a + successful issue. They are fully aware that if the young queens should + escape who now clamour for birth, they would fall into the hands of their + elder sister, by this time irresistible, who would destroy them one by + one. The workers, therefore, will pile on fresh layers of wax in + proportion as the prisoner reduces, from within, the walls of her tower; + and the impatient princess will ardently persist in her labour, little + suspecting that she has to deal with an enchanted obstacle, that rises + ever afresh from its ruin. She hears the war-cry of her rival; and already + aware of her royal duty and destiny, although she has not yet looked upon + life, nor knows what a hive may be, she answers the challenge from within + the depths of her prison. But her cry is different; it is stifled and + hollow, for it has to traverse the walls of a tomb; and, when night is + falling, and noises are hushed, and high over all there reigns the silence + of the stars, the apiarist who nears these marvellous cities and stands, + questioning, at their entrance, recognises and understands the dialogue + that is passing between the wandering queen and the virgins in prison. + </p> + <p> + {72} + </p> + <p> + To the young princesses, however, this prolonged reclusion is of material + benefit; for when they at last are freed they have grown mature and + vigorous, and are able to fly. But during this period of waiting the + strength of the first queen has also increased, and is sufficient now to + enable her to face the perils of the voyage. The time has arrived, + therefore, for the departure of the second swarm, or "cast," with the + first-born of the queens at its head. No sooner has she gone than the + workers left in the hive will set one of the prisoners free; and she will + evince the same murderous desires, send forth the same cries of anger, + until, at last, after three or four days, she will leave the hive in her + turn, at the head of the tertiary swarm; and so in succession, in the case + of "swarming fever," till the mother-city shall be completely exhausted. + </p> + <p> + Swammerdam cites a hive that, through its swarms and the swarms of its + swarms, was able in a single season to found no less than thirty colonies. + </p> + <p> + Such extraordinary multiplication is above all noticeable after disastrous + winters; and one might almost believe that the bees, forever in touch with + the secret desires of nature, are conscious of the dangers that menace + their race. But at ordinary times this fever will rarely occur in a strong + and well-governed hive. There are many that swarm only once; and some, + indeed, not at all. + </p> + <p> + After the second swarm the bees, as a rule, will renounce further + division, owing either to their having observed the excessive feebleness + of their own stock, or to the prudence urged upon them by threatening + skies. In that case they will allow the third queen to slaughter the + captives; ordinary life will at once be resumed, and pursued with the more + ardour for the reason that the workers are all very young, that the hive + is depopulated and impoverished, and that there are great voids to fill + before the arrival of winter. + </p> + <p> + {73} + </p> + <p> + The departure of the second and third swarms resembles that of the first, + and the conditions are identical, with the exception that the bees are + fewer in number, less circumspect, and lacking in scouts; and also that + the young and virgin queen, being unencumbered and ardent, will fly much + further, and in the first stage lead the swarm to a considerable distance + from the hive. The conduct of these second and third migrations will be + far more rash, and their future more problematical. The queen at their + head, the representative of the future, has not yet been impregnated. + Their entire destiny depends on the ensuing nuptial flight. A passing + bird, a few drops of rain, a mistake, a cold wind—any one of these + may give rise to irremediable disaster. Of this the bees are so well aware + that when the young queen sallies forth in quest of her lover, they often + will abandon the labours they have begun, will forsake the home of a day + that already is dear to them, and accompany her in a body, dreading to let + her pass out of their sight, eager, as they form closely around her, and + shelter her beneath their myriad devoted wings, to lose themselves with + her, should love cause her to stray so far from the hive that the as yet + unfamiliar road of return shall grow blurred and hesitating in every + memory. + </p> + <p> + {74} + </p> + <p> + But so potent is the law of the future that none of these uncertainties, + these perils of death, will cause a single bee to waver. The enthusiasm + displayed by the second and third swarms is not less than that of the + first. No sooner has the mother-city pronounced its decision than a + battalion of workers will flock around each dangerous young queen, eager + to follow her fortunes, to accompany her on the voyage where there is so + much to lose, and so little to gain beyond the desire of a satisfied + instinct. Whence do they derive the energy we ourselves never possess, + whereby they break with the past as though with an enemy? Who is it + selects from the crowd those who shall go forth, and declares who shall + remain? No special class divides those who stay from those who wander + abroad; it will be the younger here and the elder there; around each queen + who shall never return veteran foragers jostle tiny workers, who for the + first time shall face the dizziness of the blue. Nor is the proportionate + strength of a swarm controlled by chance or accident, by the momentary + dejection or transport of an instinct, thought, or feeling. I have more + than once tried to establish a relation between the number of bees + composing a swarm and the number of those that remain; and although the + difficulties of this calculation are such as to preclude anything + approaching mathematical precision, I have at least been able to gather + that this relation—if we take into account the brood-cells, or in + other words the forthcoming births—is sufficiently constant to point + to an actual and mysterious reckoning on the part of the genius of the + hive. + </p> + <p> + {75} + </p> + <p> + We will not follow these swarms on their numerous, and often most + complicated, adventures. Two swarms, at times, will join forces; at + others, two or three of the imprisoned queens will profit by the confusion + attending the moment of departure to elude the watchfulness of their + guardians and join the groups that are forming. Occasionally, too, one of + the young queens, finding herself surrounded by males, will cause herself + to be impregnated in the swarming flight, and will then drag all her + people to an extraordinary height and distance. In the practice of + apiculture these secondary and tertiary swarms are always returned to the + mother-hive. The queens will meet on the comb; the workers will gather + around and watch their combat; and, when the stronger has overcome the + weaker they will then, in their ardour for work and hatred of disorder, + expel the corpses, close the door on the violence of the future, forget + the past, return to their cells, and resume their peaceful path to the + flowers that await them. + </p> + <p> + {76} + </p> + <p> + We will now, in order to simplify matters, return to the queen whom the + bees have permitted to slaughter her sisters, and resume the account of + her adventures. As I have already stated, this massacre will be often + prevented, and often sanctioned, at times even when the bees apparently do + not intend to issue a second swarm; for we notice the same diversity of + political spirit in the different hives of an apiary as in the different + human nations of a continent. But it is clear that the bees will act + imprudently in giving their consent; for if the queen should die, or stray + in the nuptial flight, it will be impossible to fill her place, the + workers' larvae having passed the age when they are susceptible of royal + transformation. Let us assume, however, that the imprudence has been + committed; and behold our first-born, therefore, unique sovereign, and + recognised as such in the spirit of her people. But she is still a virgin. + To become as was the mother before her, it is essential that she should + meet the male within the first twenty days of her life. Should the event + for some reason be delayed beyond this period, her virginity becomes + irrevocable. And yet we have seen that she is not sterile, virgin though + she be. There confronts us here the great mystery—or precaution—of + Nature, that is known as parthenogenesis, and is common to a certain + number of insects, such as the aphides, the lepidoptera of the Psyche + genus, the hymenoptera of the Cynipede family, etc. The virgin queen is + able to lay; but from all the eggs that she will deposit in the cells, be + these large or small, there will issue males alone; and as these never + work, as they live at the expense of the females, as they never go + foraging except on their own account, and are generally incapable of + providing for their subsistence, the result will be, at the end of some + weeks, that the last exhausted worker will perish, and the colony be + ruined and totally annihilated. The queen, we have said, will produce + thousands of drones; and each of these will possess millions of the + spermatozoa whereof it is impossible that a single one can have penetrated + into the organism of the mother. That may not be more astounding, perhaps, + than a thousand other and analogous phenomena; and, indeed, when we + consider these problems, and more especially those of generation, the + marvellous and the unexpected confront us so constantly—occurring + far more frequently, and above all in far less human fashion, than in the + most miraculous fairy stories—that after a time astonishment becomes + so habitual with us that we almost cease to wonder. The fact, however, is + sufficiently curious to be worthy of notice. But, on the other hand, how + shall we explain to ourselves the aim that nature can have in thus + favouring the valueless drones at the cost of the workers who are so + essential? Is she afraid lest the females might perhaps be induced by + their intellect unduly to limit the number of their parasites, which, + destructive though they be, are still necessary for the preservation of + the race? Or is it merely an exaggerated reaction against the misfortune + of the unfruitful queen? Can we have here one of those blind and extreme + precautions which, ignoring the cause of the evil, overstep the remedy; + and, in the endeavour to prevent an unfortunate accident, bring about a + catastrophe? In reality—though we must not forget that the natural, + primitive reality is different: from that of the present, for in the + original forest the colonies might well be far more scattered than they + are to-day—in reality the queen's unfruitfulness will rarely be due + to the want of males, for these are very numerous always, and will flock + from afar; but rather to the rain, or the cold, that will have kept her + too long in the hive, and more frequently still to the imperfect state of + her wings, whereby she will be prevented from describing the high flight + in the air that the organ of the male demands. Nature, however, heedless + of these more intrinsic causes, is so deeply concerned with the + multiplication of males, that we sometimes find, in motherless hives, two + or three workers possessed of so great a desire to preserve the race that, + their atrophied ovaries notwithstanding, they will still endeavour to lay; + and, their organs expanding somewhat beneath the empire of this + exasperated sentiment, they will succeed in depositing a few eggs in the + cells; but from these eggs, as from those of the virgin mother, there + will, issue only males. + </p> + <p> + {77} + </p> + <p> + Here we behold the active intervention of a superior though perhaps + imprudent will, which offers irresistible obstruction to the intelligent + will of a life. In the insect world such interventions are comparatively + frequent, and much can be gained from their study; for this world being + more densely peopled and more complex than others, certain special desires + of nature are often more palpably revealed to us there; and she may even + at times be detected in the midst of experiments we might almost be + warranted in regarding as incomplete. She has one great and general + desire, for instance, that she displays on all sides; the amelioration of + each species through the triumph of the stronger. This struggle, as a + rule, is most carefully organised. The hecatomb of the weak is enormous, + but that matters little so long as the victors' reward be effectual and + certain. But there are cases when one might almost imagine that nature had + not had time enough to disentangle her combinations; cases where reward is + impossible, and the fate of the victor no less disastrous than that of the + vanquished. And of such, selecting an instance that will not take us too + far from our bees, I know of no instance more striking than that of the + triongulins of the <i>Sitaris colletes.</i> And it will be seen that, in + many details, this story is less foreign to the history of man than might + perhaps be imagined. + </p> + <p> + These triongulins are the primary larvae of a parasite proper to a wild, + obtuse-tongued, solitary bee, the Colletes, which builds its nest in + subterranean galleries. It is their habit to lie in wait for the bee at + the approach to these galleries; and then, to the number of three, four, + five, or often of more, they will leap on her back, and bury themselves in + her hair. Were the struggle of the weak against the strong to take place + at this moment there would be no more to be said, and all would pass in + accordance with universal law. But, for a reason we know not, their + instinct requires, and nature has consequently ordained, that they should + hold themselves tranquil so long as they remain on the back of the bee. + They patiently bide their time while she visits the flowers, and + constructs and provisions her cells. But no sooner has an egg been laid + than they all spring upon it; and the innocent colletes carefully seals + down her cell, which she has duly supplied with food, never suspecting + that she has at the same time ensured the death of her offspring. + </p> + <p> + The cell has scarcely been closed when the triongulins grouped round the + egg engage in the inevitable and salutary combat of natural selection. The + stronger, more agile, will seize its adversary beneath the cuirass, and, + raising it aloft, will maintain it for hours in its mandibles until the + victim expire. But, while this fight is in progress, another of the + triongulins, that had either no rival to meet, or already has conquered, + takes possession of the egg and bursts it open. The ultimate victor has + therefore this fresh enemy to subdue; but the conquest is easy, for the + triongulin, deep in the satisfaction of its pre-natal hunger, clings + obstinately to the egg, and does not even attempt to defend itself. It is + quickly despatched; and the other is at last alone, and possessor of the + precious egg it has won so well. It eagerly plunges its head into the + opening its predecessor had made; and begins the lengthy repast that shall + transform it into a perfect insect. But nature, that has decreed this + ordeal of battle, has, on the other hand, established the prize of victory + with such miserly precision that nothing short of an entire egg will + suffice for the nourishment of a single triongulin. So that, as we are + informed by M. Mayet, to whom we owe the account of these disconcerting + adventures, there is lacking to our conqueror the food its last victim + consumed before death; and incapable therefore of achieving the first + stage of its transformation, it dies in its turn, adhering to the skin of + the egg, or adding itself, in the sugary liquid, to the number of the + drowned. + </p> + <p> + {78} + </p> + <p> + This case, though rarely to be followed so closely, is not unique in + natural history. We have here, laid bare before us, the struggle between + the conscious will of the triongulin, that seeks to live, and the obscure + and general will of nature, that not only desires that the triongulin + should live, but is anxious even that its life should be improved, and + fortified, to a degree beyond that to which its own will impels it. But, + through some strange inadvertence, the amelioration nature imposes + suppresses the life of even the fittest, and the Sitaris Colletes would + have long since disappeared had not chance, acting in opposition to the + desires of nature, permitted isolated individuals to escape from the + excellent and far-seeing law that ordains on all sides the triumph of the + stronger. + </p> + <p> + Can this mighty power err, then, that seems unconscious to us, but + necessarily wise, seeing that the life she organises and maintains is + forever proving her to be right? Can feebleness at times overcome that + supreme reason, which we are apt to invoke when we have attained the + limits of our own? And if that be so, by whom shall this feebleness be set + right? + </p> + <p> + But let us return to that special form of her resistless intervention that + we find in parthenogenesis. And we shall do well to remember that, remote + as the world may seem in which these problems confront us, they do indeed + yet concern ourselves very nearly. Who would dare to affirm that no + interventions take place in the sphere of man—interventions that may + be more hidden, but not the less fraught with danger? And in the case + before us, which is right, in the end,—the insect, or nature? What + would happen if the bees, more docile perhaps, or endowed with a higher + intelligence, were too clearly to understand the desires of nature, and to + follow them to the extreme; to multiply males to infinity, seeing that + nature is imperiously calling for males? Would they not risk the + destruction of their species? Are we to believe that there are intentions + in nature that it is dangerous to understand too clearly, fatal to follow + with too much ardour; and that it is one of her desires that we should not + divine, and follow, all her desires? Is it not possible that herein there + may lie one of the perils of the human race? We too are aware of + unconscious forces within us, that would appear to demand the reverse of + what our intellect urges. And this intellect of ours, that, as a rule, its + own boundary reached, knows not whither to go—can it be well that it + should join itself to these forces, and add to them its unexpected weight? + </p> + <p> + {79} + </p> + <p> + Have we the right to conclude, from the dangers of parthenogenesis, that + nature is not always able to proportion the means to the end; and that + what she intends to preserve is preserved at times by means of precautions + she has to contrive against her own precautions, and often through foreign + circumstances she has not herself foreseen? But is there anything she does + foresee, anything she does intend to preserve? Nature, some may say, is a + word wherewith we clothe the unknowable; and few things authorise our + crediting it with intelligence, or with aim. That is true. We touch here + the hermetically sealed vases that furnish our conception of the universe. + Reluctant, over and over again, to label these with the inscription + "UNKNOWN," that disheartens us and compels us to silence, we engrave upon + them, in the degree of their size and grandeur, the words "Nature, life, + death, infinite, selection, spirit of the race," and many others, even as + those who went before us affixed the words "God, Providence, destiny, + reward," etc. Let it be so, if one will, and no more. But, though the + contents of the vases remain obscure, there is gain at least in the fact + that the inscriptions to-day convey less menace to us, that we are able + therefore to approach them and touch them, and lay our ears close to them + and listen, with wholesome curiosity. + </p> + <p> + But whatever the name we attach to these vases, it is certain that one of + them, at least, and the greatest—that which bears on its flank the + name "Nature"—encloses a very real force, the most real of all, and + one that is able to preserve an enormous and marvellous quantity and + quality of life on our globe, by means so skilful that they surpass all + that the genius of man could contrive. Could this quantity and quality be + maintained by other means? Is it we who deceive ourselves when we imagine + that we see precautions where perhaps there is truly no more than a + fortunate chance, that has survived a million unfortunate chances? + </p> + <p> + {80} + </p> + <p> + That may be; but these fortunate chances teach us a lesson in admiration + as valuable as those we might learn in regions superior to chance. If we + let our gaze travel beyond the creatures that are possessed of a glimmer + of intellect and consciousness, beyond the protozoa even, which are the + first nebulous representatives of the dawning animal kingdom, we find, as + has been abundantly proved by the experiments of Mr. H. J. Carter, the + celebrated microscopist, that the very lowest embryos, such as the + myxomycetes, manifest a will and desires and preferences; and that + infusoria, which apparently have no organism whatever, give evidence of a + certain cunning. The Amoebae, for instance, will patiently lie in wait for + the new-born Acinetes, as they leave the maternal ovary; being aware that + these must as yet be lacking their poisonous tentacles. Now, the Amoebae + have neither a nervous system nor distinguishable organs of any kind. Or + if we turn to the plants, which, being motionless, would seem exposed to + every fatality,—without pausing to consider carnivorous species like + the Drusera, which really act as animals,—we are struck by the + genius that some of our humblest flowers display in contriving that the + visit of the bee shall infallibly procure them the crossed fertilisation + they need. See the marvellous fashion in which the Orchis Moris, our + humble country orchid, combines the play of its rostellum and retinacula; + observe the mathematical and automatic inclination and adhesion of its + pollinia; as also the unerring double seesaw of the anthers of the wild + sage, which touch the body of the visiting insect at a particular spot in + order that the insect may, in its turn, touch the stigma of the + neighbouring flower at another particular spot; watch, too, in the case of + the Pedicularis Sylvatica, the successive, calculated movements of its + stigma; and indeed the entrance of the bee into any one of these three + flowers sets every organ vibrating, just as the skilful marksman who hits + the black spot on the target will cause all the figures to move in the + elaborate mechanisms we see in our village fairs. + </p> + <p> + We might go lower still, and show, as Ruskin has shown in his "Ethics of + the Dust," the character, habits, and artifices of crystals; their + quarrels, and mode of procedure, when a foreign body attempts to oppose + their plans, which are more ancient by far than our imagination can + conceive; the manner in which they admit or repel an enemy, the possible + victory of the weaker over the stronger, as, for instance, when the + all-powerful quartz submits to the humble and wily epidote, and allows + this last to conquer it; the struggle, terrible sometimes and sometimes + magnificent, between the rock-crystal and iron; the regular, immaculate + expansion and uncompromising purity of one hyaline block, which rejects + whatever is foul, and the sickly growth, the evident immorality, of its + brother, which admits corruption, and writhes miserably in the void; as we + might quote also the strange phenomena of crystalline cicatrisation and + reintegration mentioned by Claude Bernard, etc. But the mystery here + becomes too foreign to us. Let us keep to our flowers, which are the last + expression of a life that has yet some kinship with our own. We are not + dealing now with animals or insects, to which we attribute a special, + intelligent will, thanks to which they survive. We believe, rightly or + wrongly, that the flowers possess no such will; at least we cannot + discover in them the slightest trace of the organs wherein will, + intellect, and initiative of action, are usually born and reside. It + follows, therefore, that all that acts in them in so admirable a fashion + must directly proceed from what we elsewhere call nature. We are no longer + concerned with the intellect of the individual; here we find the un + conscious, undivided force in the act of ensnaring other forms of itself. + Shall we on that account refuse to believe that these snares are pure + accidents, occurring in accordance with a routine that is also incidental? + We are not yet entitled to such a deduction. It might be urged that these + flowers, had these miraculous combinations not been, would not have + survived, but would have had their place filled by others that stood in no + need of crossed fertilisation; and the non-existence of the first would + have been perceived by none, nor would the life that vibrates on the earth + have seemed less incomprehensible to us, less diverse, or less astounding. + </p> + <p> + And yet it would be difficult not to admit that acts which bear all the + appearance of acts of intelligence and prudence produce and support these + fortunate chances. Whence do they issue,—from the being itself, or + from the force whence that being draws life? I will not say "it matters + but little," for, on the contrary, to know the answer were of supreme + importance to us. But, in the meantime, and till we shall learn whether it + be the flower that endeavours to maintain and perfect the life that nature + has placed within it, or whether it be nature that puts forth an effort to + maintain and improve the degree of existence the flower has assumed, or + finally whether it be chance that ultimately governs chance, a multitude + of semblances invite us to believe that something equal to our loftiest + thoughts issues at times from a common source, that we are compelled to + admire without knowing where it resides. + </p> + <p> + There are moments when what seems error to us comes forth from this common + source. But, although we know very few things, proofs abound that the + seeming error was in reality an act of prudence that we at first could not + grasp. In the little circle, even, that our eyes embrace we are constantly + shown that what we regarded as nature's blunder close by was due to her + deeming it well to adjust the presumed inadvertence out yonder. She has + placed the three flowers we mentioned under conditions of such difficulty + that they are unable to fertilise themselves; she considers it beneficial, + therefore, for reasons beyond our powers of perception, that they should + cause themselves to be fertilised by their neighbours; and, inasmuch as + she enhances the intelligence of her victims, she displays on our right + the genius she failed to display on our left. The byways of this genius of + hers remain incomprehensible to us, but its level is always the same. It + will appear to fall into error—assuming that error be possible—thereupon + rising again at once in the organ charged to repair this error. Turn where + we may, it towers high over our heads. It is the circular ocean, the + tideless water, whereon our boldest and most independent thoughts will + never be more than mere abject bubbles. We call it Nature to-day; + to-morrow, perhaps, we shall give it another name, softer or more + alarming. In the meanwhile it holds simultaneous, impartial sway over life + and death; furnishing the two irreconcilable sisters with the magnificent + and familiar weapons that adorn and distract its bosom. + </p> + <p> + {81} + </p> + <p> + Does this force take measures to maintain what may be struggling on its + surface, or must we say, arguing in the strangest of circles, that what + floats on its surface must guard itself against the genius that has given + it life? That question must be left open. We have no means of ascertaining + whether it be notwithstanding the efforts of the superior will, or + independently of these, or lastly because of these, that a species has + been able to survive. + </p> + <p> + All we can say is that such a species exists, and that, on this point, + therefore, nature would seem to be right. But who shall tell us how many + others that we have not known have fallen victim to her restless and + forgetful intellect? Beyond this, we can recognise only the surprising and + occasionally hostile forms that the extraordinary fluid we call life + assumes, in utter unconsciousness sometimes, at others with a kind of + consciousness: the fluid which animates us equally with all the rest, + which produces the very thoughts that judge it, and the feeble voice that + attempts to tell its story. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0009" id="link2H_4_0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VI — THE NUPTIAL FLIGHT + </h2> + <p> + WE will now consider the manner in which the impregnation of the queen-bee + comes to pass. Here again nature has taken extraordinary measures to + favour the union of males with females of a different stock; a strange + law, whereto nothing would seem to compel her; a caprice, or initial + inadvertence, perhaps, whose reparation calls for the most marvellous + forces her activity knows. + </p> + <p> + If she had devoted half the genius she lavishes on crossed fertilisation + and other arbitrary desires to making life more certain, to alleviating + pain, to softening death and warding off horrible accidents, the universe + would probably have presented an enigma less incomprehensible, less + pitiable, than the one we are striving to solve. But our consciousness, + and the interest we take in existence, must grapple, not with what might + have been, but with what is. + </p> + <p> + Around the virgin queen, and dwelling with her in the hive, are hundreds + of exuberant males, forever drunk on honey; the sole reason for their + existence being one act of love. But, notwithstanding the incessant + contact of two desires that elsewhere invariably triumph over every + obstacle, the union never takes place in the hive, nor has it been + possible to bring about the impregnation of a captive queen.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *Professor McLain has recently succeeded in causing a few + queens to be artificially impregnated; but this has been the + result of a veritable surgical operation, of the most + delicate and complicated nature. Moreover, the fertility of + the queens was restricted and ephemeral. +</pre> + <p> + While she lives in their midst the lovers about her know not what she is. + They seek her in space, in the remote depths of the horizon, never + suspecting that they have but this moment quitted her, have shared the + same comb with her, have brushed against her, perhaps, in the eagerness of + their departure. One might almost believe that those wonderful eyes of + theirs, that cover their head as though with a glittering helmet, do not + recognise or desire her save when she soars in the blue. Each day, from + noon till three, when the sun shines resplendent, this plumed horde + sallies forth in search of the bride, who is indeed more royal, more + difficult of conquest, than the most inaccessible princess of fairy + legend; for twenty or thirty tribes will hasten from all the neighbouring + cities, her court thus consisting of more than ten thousand suitors; and + from these ten thousand one alone will be chosen for the unique kiss of an + instant that shall wed him to death no less than to happiness; while the + others will fly helplessly round the intertwined pair, and soon will + perish without ever again beholding this prodigious and fatal apparition. + </p> + <p> + {83} + </p> + <p> + I am not exaggerating this wild and amazing prodigality of nature. The + best-conducted hives will, as a rule, contain four to five hundred males. + Weaker or degenerate ones will often have as many as four or five + thousand; for the more a hive inclines to its ruin, the more males will it + produce. It may be said that, on an average, an apiary composed of ten + colonies will at a given moment send an army of ten thousand males into + the air, of whom ten or fifteen at most will have the occasion of + performing the one act for which they were born. + </p> + <p> + In the meanwhile they exhaust the supplies of the city; each one of the + parasites requiring the unceasing labour of five or six workers to + maintain it in its abounding and voracious idleness, its activity being + indeed solely confined to its jaws. But nature is always magnificent when + dealing with the privileges and prerogatives of love. She becomes miserly + only when doling out the organs and instruments of labour. She is + especially severe on what men have termed virtue, whereas she strews the + path of the most uninteresting lovers with innumerable jewels and favours. + "Unite and multiply; there is no other law, or aim, than love," would seem + to be her constant cry on all sides, while she mutters to herself, + perhaps: "and exist afterwards if you can; that is no concern of mine." Do + or desire what else we may, we find, everywhere on our road, this morality + that differs so much from our own. And note, too, in these same little + creatures, her unjust avarice and insensate waste. From her birth to her + death, the austere forager has to travel abroad in search of the myriad + flowers that hide in the depths of the thickets. She has to discover the + honey and pollen that lurk in the labyrinths of the nectaries and in the + most secret recesses of the anthers. And yet her eyes and olfactory organs + are like the eyes and organs of the infirm, compared with those of the + male. Were the drones almost blind, had they only the most rudimentary + sense of smell, they scarcely would suffer. They have nothing to do, no + prey to hunt down; their food is brought to them ready prepared, and their + existence is spent in the obscurity of the hive, lapping honey from the + comb. But they are the agents of love; and the most enormous, most useless + gifts are flung with both hands into the abyss of the future. Out of a + thousand of them, one only, once in his life, will have to seek, in the + depths of the azure, the presence of the royal virgin. Out of a thousand + one only will have, for one instant, to follow in space the female who + desires not to escape. That suffices. The partial power flings open her + treasury, wildly, even deliriously. To every one of these unlikely lovers, + of whom nine hundred and ninety-nine will be put to death a few days after + the fatal nuptials of the thousandth, she has given thirteen thousand eyes + on each side of their head, while the worker has only six thousand. + According to Cheshire's calculations, she has provided each of their + antennae with thirty-seven thousand eight hundred olfactory cavities, + while the worker has only five thousand in both. There we have an instance + of the almost universal disproportion that exists between the gifts she + rains upon love and her niggardly doles to labour; between the favours she + accords to what shall, in an ecstasy, create new life, and the + indifference wherewith she regards what will patiently have to maintain + itself by toil. Whoever would seek faithfully to depict the character of + nature, in accordance with the traits we discover here, would design an + extraordinary figure, very foreign to our ideal, which nevertheless can + only emanate from her. But too many things are unknown to man for him to + essay such a portrait, wherein all would be deep shadow save one or two + points of flickering light. + </p> + <p> + {84} + </p> + <p> + Very few, I imagine, have profaned the secret of the queen-bee's wedding, + which comes to pass in the infinite, radiant circles of a beautiful sky. + But we are able to witness the hesitating departure of the bride-elect and + the murderous return of the bride. + </p> + <p> + However great her impatience, she will yet choose her day and her hour, + and linger in the shadow of the portal till a marvellous morning fling + open wide the nuptial spaces in the depths of the great azure vault. She + loves the moment when drops of dew still moisten the leaves and the + flowers, when the last fragrance of dying dawn still wrestles with burning + day, like a maiden caught in the arms of a heavy warrior; when through the + silence of approaching noon is heard, once and again, a transparent cry + that has lingered from sunrise. + </p> + <p> + Then she appears on the threshold—in the midst of indifferent + foragers, if she have left sisters in the hive; or surrounded by a + delirious throng of workers, should it be impossible to fill her place. + </p> + <p> + She starts her flight backwards; returns twice or thrice to the + alighting-board; and then, having definitely fixed in her mind the exact + situation and aspect of the kingdom she has never yet seen from without, + she departs like an arrow to the zenith of the blue. She soars to a + height, a luminous zone, that other bees attain at no period of their + life. Far away, caressing their idleness in the midst of the flowers, the + males have beheld the apparition, have breathed the magnetic perfume that + spreads from group to group till every apiary near is instinct with it. + Immediately crowds collect, and follow her into the sea of gladness, whose + limpid boundaries ever recede. She, drunk with her wings, obeying the + magnificent law of the race that chooses her lover, and enacts that the + strongest alone shall attain her in the solitude of the ether, she rises + still; and, for the first time in her life, the blue morning air rushes + into her stigmata, singing its song, like the blood of heaven, in the + myriad tubes of the tracheal sacs, nourished on space, that fill the + centre of her body. She rises still. A region must be found unhaunted by + birds, that else might profane the mystery. She rises still; and already + the ill-assorted troop below are dwindling and falling asunder. The + feeble, infirm, the aged, unwelcome, ill-fed, who have flown from inactive + or impoverished cities, these renounce the pursuit and disappear in the + void. Only a small, indefatigable cluster remain, suspended in infinite + opal. She summons her wings for one final effort; and now the chosen of + incomprehensible forces has reached her, has seized her, and bounding + aloft with united impetus, the ascending spiral of their intertwined + flight whirls for one second in the hostile madness of love. + </p> + <p> + {85} + </p> + <p> + Most creatures have a vague belief that a very precarious hazard, a kind + of transparent membrane, divides death from love; and that the profound + idea of nature demands that the giver of life should die at the moment of + giving. Here this idea, whose memory lingers still over the kisses of man, + is realised in its primal simplicity. No sooner has the union been + accomplished than the male's abdomen opens, the organ detaches itself, + dragging with it the mass of the entrails; the wings relax, and, as though + struck by lightning, the emptied body turns and turns on itself and sinks + down into the abyss. + </p> + <p> + The same idea that, before, in parthenogenesis, sacrificed the future of + the hive to the unwonted multiplication of males, now sacrifices the male + to the future of the hive. + </p> + <p> + This idea is always astounding; and the further we penetrate into it, the + fewer do our certitudes become. Darwin, for instance, to take the man of + all men who studied it the most methodically and most passionately, + Darwin, though scarcely confessing it to himself, loses confidence at + every step, and retreats before the unexpected and the irreconcilable. + Would you have before you the nobly humiliating spectacle of human genius + battling with infinite power, you have but to follow Darwin's endeavours + to unravel the strange, incoherent, inconceivably mysterious laws of the + sterility and fecundity of hybrids, or of the variations of specific and + generic characters. Scarcely has he formulated a principle when numberless + exceptions assail him; and this very principle, soon completely + overwhelmed, is glad to find refuge in some corner, and preserve a shred + of existence there under the title of an exception. + </p> + <p> + For the fact is that in hybridity, in variability (notably in the + simultaneous variations known as correlations of growth), in instinct, in + the processes of vital competition, in geologic succession and the + geographic distribution of organised beings, in mutual affinities, as + indeed in every other direction, the idea of nature reveals itself, in one + and the same phenomenon and at the very same time, as circumspect and + shiftless, niggard and prodigal, prudent and careless, fickle and stable, + agitated and immovable, one and innumerable, magnificent and squalid. + There lay open before her the immense and virgin fields of simplicity; she + chose to people them with trivial errors, with petty contradictory laws + that stray through existence like a flock of blind sheep. It is true that + our eye, before which these things happen, can only reflect a reality + proportionate to our needs and our stature; nor have we any warrant for + believing that nature ever loses sight of her wandering results and + causes. + </p> + <p> + In any event she will rarely permit them to stray too far, or approach + illogical or dangerous regions. She disposes of two forces that never can + err; and when the phenomenon shall have trespassed beyond certain limits, + she will beckon to life or to death—which arrives, re-establishes + order, and unconcernedly marks out the path afresh. + </p> + <p> + {86} + </p> + <p> + She eludes us on every side; she repudiates most of our rules and breaks + our standards to pieces. On our right she sinks far beneath the level of + our thoughts, on our left she towers mountain-high above them. She appears + to be constantly blundering, no less in the world of her first experiments + than in that of her last, of man. There she invests with her sanction the + instincts of the obscure mass, the unconscious injustice of the multitude, + the defeat of intelligence and virtue, the uninspired morality which urges + on the great wave of the race, though manifestly inferior to the morality + that could be conceived or desired by the minds composing the small and + the clearer wave that ascends the other. And yet, can such a mind be wrong + if it ask itself whether the whole truth—moral truths, therefore, as + well as non-moral—had not better be sought in this chaos than in + itself, where these truths would seem comparatively clear and precise? + </p> + <p> + The man who feels thus will never attempt to deny the reason or virtue of + his ideal, hallowed by so many heroes and sages; but there are times when + he will whisper to himself that this ideal has perhaps been formed at too + great a distance from the enormous mass whose diverse beauty it would fain + represent. He has, hitherto, legitimately feared that the attempt to adapt + his morality to that of nature would risk the destruction of what was her + masterpiece. But to-day he understands her a little better; and from some + of her replies, which, though still vague, reveal an unexpected breadth, + he has been enabled to seize a glimpse of a plan and an intellect vaster + than could be conceived by his unaided imagination; wherefore he has grown + less afraid, nor feels any longer the same imperious need of the refuge + his own special virtue and reason afford him. He concludes that what is so + great could surely teach nothing that would tend to lessen itself. He + wonders whether the moment may not have arrived for submitting to a more + judicious examination his convictions, his principles, and his dreams. + </p> + <p> + Once more, he has not the slightest desire to abandon his human ideal. + That even which at first diverts him from this ideal teaches him to return + to it. It were impossible for nature to give ill advice to a man who + declines to include in the great scheme he is endeavouring to grasp, who + declines to regard as sufficiently lofty to be definitive, any truth that + is not at least as lofty as the truth he himself desires. Nothing shifts + its place in his life save only to rise with him; and he knows he is + rising when he finds himself drawing near to his ancient image of good. + But all things transform themselves more freely in his thoughts; and he + can descend with impunity, for he has the presentiment that numbers of + successive valleys will lead him to the plateau that he expects. And, + while he thus seeks for conviction, while his researches even conduct him + to the very reverse of that which he loves, he directs his conduct by the + most humanly beautiful truth, and clings to the one that provisionally + seems to be highest. All that may add to beneficent virtue enters his + heart at once; all that would tend to lessen it remaining there in + suspense, like insoluble salts that change not till the hour for decisive + experiment. He may accept an inferior truth, but before he will act in + accordance therewith he will wait, if need be for centuries, until he + perceive the connection this truth must possess with truths so infinite as + to include and surpass all others. + </p> + <p> + In a word, he divides the moral from the intellectual order, admitting in + the former that only which is greater and more beautiful than was there + before. And blameworthy as it may be to separate the two orders in cases, + only too frequent in life, where we suffer our conduct to be inferior to + our thoughts, where, seeing the good, we follow the worse—to see the + worse and follow the better, to raise our actions high over our idea, must + ever be reasonable and salutary; for human experience renders it daily + more clear that the highest thought we can attain will long be inferior + still to the mysterious truth we seek. Moreover, should nothing of what + goes before be true, a reason more simple and more familiar would counsel + him not yet to abandon his human ideal. For the more strength he accords + to the laws which would seem to set egoism, injustice, and cruelty as + examples for men to follow, the more strength does be at the same time + confer on the others that ordain generosity, justice, and pity; and these + last laws are found to contain something as profoundly natural as the + first, the moment he begins to equalise, or allot more methodically, the + share he attributes to the universe and to himself. + </p> + <p> + {87} + </p> + <p> + Let us return to the tragic nuptials of the queen. Here it is evidently + nature's wish, in the interests of crossed fertilisation, that the union + of the drone and the queen-bee should be possible only in the open sky. + But her desires blend network-fashion, and her most valued laws have to + pass through the meshes of other laws, which, in their turn, the moment + after, are compelled to pass through the first. + </p> + <p> + In the sky she has planted so many dangers—cold winds, + storm-currents, birds, insects, drops of water, all of which also obey + invincible laws—that she must of necessity arrange for this union to + be as brief as possible. It is so, thanks to the startlingly sudden death + of the male. One embrace suffices; the rest all enacts itself in the very + flanks of the bride. + </p> + <p> + She descends from the azure heights and returns to the hive, trailing + behind her, like an oriflamme, the unfolded entrails of her lover. Some + writers pretend that the bees manifest great joy at this return so big + with promise—Buchner, among others, giving a detailed account of it. + I have many a time lain in wait for the queen-bee's return, and I confess + that I have never noticed any unusual emotion except in the case of a + young queen who had gone forth at the head of a swarm, and represented the + unique hope of a newly founded and still empty city. In that instance the + workers were all wildly excited, and rushed to meet her. But as a rule + they appear to forget her, even though the future of their city will often + be no less imperilled. They act with consistent prudence in all things, + till the moment when they authorise the massacre of the rival queens. That + point reached, their instinct halts; and there is, as it were, a gap in + their foresight.—They appear to be wholly indifferent. They raise + their heads; recognise, probably, the murderous tokens of impregnation; + but, still mistrustful, manifest none of the gladness our expectation had + pictured. Being positive in their ways, and slow at illusion, they + probably need further proofs before permitting themselves to rejoice. Why + endeavour to render too logical, or too human, the feelings of little + creatures so different from ourselves? Neither among the bees nor among + any other animals that have a ray of our intellect, do things happen with + the precision our books record. Too many circumstances remain unknown to + us. Why try to depict the bees as more perfect than they are, by saying + that which is not? Those who would deem them more interesting did they + resemble ourselves, have not yet truly realised what it is that should + awaken the interest of a sincere mind. The aim of the observer is not to + surprise, but to comprehend; and to point out the gaps existing in an + intellect, and the signs of a cerebral organisation different from our + own, is more curious by far than the relating of mere marvels concerning + it. + </p> + <p> + But this indifference is not shared by all; and when the breathless queen + has reached the alighting-board, some groups will form and accompany her + into the hive; where the sun, hero of every festivity in which the bees + take part, is entering with little timid steps, and bathing in azure and + shadow the waxen walls and curtains of honey. Nor does the new bride, + indeed, show more concern than her people, there being not room for many + emotions in her narrow, barbarous, practical brain. She has but one + thought, which is to rid herself as quickly as possible of the + embarrassing souvenirs her consort has left her, whereby her movements are + hampered. She seats herself on the threshold, and carefully strips off the + useless organs, that are borne far away by the workers; for the male has + given her all he possessed, and much more than she requires. She retains + only, in her spermatheca, the seminal liquid where millions of germs are + floating, which, until her last day, will issue one by one, as the eggs + pass by, and in the obscurity of her body accomplish the mysterious union + of the male and female element, whence the worker-bees are born. Through a + curious inversion, it is she who furnishes the male principle, and the + drone who provides the female. Two days after the union she lays her first + eggs, and her people immediately surround her with the most particular + care. From that moment, possessed of a dual sex, having within her an + inexhaustible male, she begins her veritable life; she will never again + leave the hive, unless to accompany a swarm; and her fecundity will cease + only at the approach of death. + </p> + <p> + {88} + </p> + <p> + Prodigious nuptials these, the most fairylike that can be conceived, azure + and tragic, raised high above life by the impetus of desire; imperishable + and terrible, unique and bewildering, solitary and infinite. An admirable + ecstasy, wherein death supervening in all that our sphere has of most + limpid and loveliest, in virginal, limitless space, stamps the instant of + happiness in the sublime transparence of the great sky; purifying in that + immaculate light the something of wretchedness that always hovers around + love, rendering the kiss one that can never be forgotten; and, content + this time with moderate tithe, proceeding herself, with hands that are + almost maternal, to introduce and unite, in one body, for a long and + inseparable future, two little fragile lives. + </p> + <p> + Profound truth has not this poetry, but possesses another that we are less + apt to grasp, which, however, we should end, perhaps, by understanding and + loving. Nature has not gone out of her way to provide these two + "abbreviated atoms," as Pascal would call them, with a resplendent + marriage, or an ideal moment of love. Her concern, as we have said, was + merely to improve the race by means of crossed fertilisation. To ensure + this she has contrived the organ of the male in such a fashion that he can + make use of it only in space. A prolonged flight must first expand his two + great tracheal sacs; these enormous receptacles being gorged on air will + throw back the lower part of the abdomen, and permit the exsertion of the + organ. There we have the whole physiological secret—which will seem + ordinary enough to some, and almost vulgar to others—of this + dazzling pursuit and these magnificent nuptials. + </p> + <p> + {89} + </p> + <p> + "But must we always, then," the poet will wonder, "rejoice in regions that + are loftier than the truth?" + </p> + <p> + Yes, in all things, at all times, let us rejoice, not in regions loftier + than the truth, for that were impossible, but in regions higher than the + little truths that our eye can seize. Should a chance, a recollection, an + illusion, a passion,—in a word, should any motive whatever cause an + object to reveal itself to us in a more beautiful light than to others, + let that motive be first of all dear to us. It may only be error, perhaps; + but this error will not prevent the moment wherein this object appears the + most admirable to us from being the moment wherein we are likeliest to + perceive its real beauty. The beauty we lend it directs our attention to + its veritable beauty and grandeur, which, derived as they are from the + relation wherein every object must of necessity stand to general, eternal, + forces and laws, might otherwise escape observation. The faculty of + admiring which an illusion may have created within us will serve for the + truth that must come, be it sooner or later. It is with the words, the + feelings, and ardour created by ancient and imaginary beauties, that + humanity welcomes today truths which perhaps would have never been born, + which might not have been able to find so propitious a home, had these + sacrificed illusions not first of all dwelt in, and kindled, the heart and + the reason whereinto these truths should descend. Happy the eyes that need + no illusion to see that the spectacle is great! It is illusion that + teaches the others to look, to admire, and rejoice. And look as high as + they will, they never can look too high. Truth rises as they draw nearer; + they draw nearer when they admire. And whatever the heights may be whereon + they rejoice, this rejoicing can never take place in the void, or above + the unknown and eternal truth that rests over all things like beauty in + suspense. + </p> + <p> + {90} + </p> + <p> + Does this mean that we should attach ourselves to falsehood, to an unreal + and factitious poetry, and find our gladness therein for want of anything + better? Or that in the example before us—in itself nothing, but we + dwell on it because it stands for a thousand others, as also for our + entire attitude in face of divers orders of truths—that here we + should ignore the physiological explanation, and retain and taste only the + emotions of this nuptial flight, which is yet, and whatever the cause, one + of the most lyrical, most beautiful acts of that suddenly disinterested, + irresistible force which all living creatures obey and are wont to call + love? That were too childish; nor is it possible, thanks to the excellent + habits every loyal mind has today acquired. + </p> + <p> + The fact being incontestable, we must evidently admit that the exsertion + of the organ is rendered possible only by the expansion of the tracheal + vesicles. But if we, content with this fact, did not let our eyes roam + beyond it; if we deduced therefrom that every thought that rises too high + or wanders too far must be of necessity wrong, and that truth must be + looked for only in the material details; if we did not seek, no matter + where, in uncertainties often far greater than the one this little + explanation has solved, in the strange mystery of crossed fertilisation + for instance, or in the perpetuity of the race and life, or in the scheme + of nature; if we did not seek in these for something beyond the current + explanation, something that should prolong it, and conduct us to the + beauty and grandeur that repose in the unknown, I would almost venture to + assert that we should pass our existence further away from the truth than + those, even, who in this case wilfully shut their eyes to all save the + poetic and wholly imaginary interpretation of these marvellous nuptials. + They evidently misjudge the form and colour of the truth, but they live in + its atmosphere and its influence far more than the others, who + complacently believe that the entire truth lies captive within their two + hands. For the first have made ample preparations to receive the truth, + have provided most hospitable lodging within them; and even though their + eyes may not see it, they are eagerly looking towards the beauty and + grandeur where its residence surely must be. + </p> + <p> + We know nothing of nature's aim, which for us is the truth that dominates + every other. But for the very love of this truth, and to preserve in our + soul the ardour we need for its search, it behoves us to deem it great. + And if we should find one day that we have been on a wrong road, that this + aim is incoherent and petty, we shall have discovered its pettiness by + means of the very zeal its presumed grandeur had created within us; and + this pettiness once established, it will teach us what we have to do. In + the meanwhile it cannot be unwise to devote to its search the most + strenuous, daring efforts of our heart and our reason. And should the last + word of all this be wretched, it will be no little achievement to have + laid bare the inanity and the pettiness of the aim of nature. + </p> + <p> + "There is no truth for us yet," a great physiologist of our day remarked + to me once, as I walked with him in the country; "there is no truth yet, + but there are everywhere three very good semblances of truth. Each man + makes his own choice, or rather, perhaps, has it thrust upon him; and this + choice, whether it be thrust upon him, or whether, as is often the case, + he have made it without due reflection, this choice, to which he clings, + will determine the form and the conduct of all that enters within him. The + friend whom we meet, the woman who approaches and smiles, the love that + unlocks our heart, the death or sorrow that seals it, the September sky + above us, this superb and delightful garden, wherein we see, as in + Corneille's 'Psyche,' bowers of greenery resting on gilded statues, and + the flocks grazing yonder, with their shepherd asleep, and the last houses + of the village, and the sea between the trees,—all these are raised + or degraded before they enter within us, are adorned or despoiled, in + accordance with the little signal this choice of ours makes to them. We + must learn to select from among these semblances of truth. I have spent my + own life in eager search for the smaller truths, the physical causes; and + now, at the end of my days, I begin to cherish, not what would lead me + from these, but what would precede them, and, above all, what would + somewhat surpass them." We had attained the summit of a plateau in the + "pays de Caux," in Normandy, which is supple as an English park, but + natural and limitless. It is one of the rare spots on the globe where + nature reveals herself to us unfailingly wholesome and green. A little + further to the north the country is threatened with barrenness, a little + further to the south, it is fatigued and scorched by the sun. At the end + of a plain that ran down to the edge of the sea, some peasants were + erecting a stack of corn. "Look," he said, "seen from here, they are + beautiful. They are constructing that simple and yet so important thing, + which is above all else the happy and almost unvarying monument of human + life taking root—a stack of corn. The distance, the air of the + evening, weave their joyous cries into a kind of song without words, which + replies to the noble song of the leaves as they whisper over our heads. + Above them the sky is magnificent; and one almost might fancy that + beneficent spirits, waving palm-trees of fire, had swept all the light + towards the stack, to give the workers more time. And the track of the + palms still remains in the sky. See the humble church by their side, + overlooking and watching them, in the midst of the rounded lime trees and + the grass of the homely graveyard, that faces its native ocean. They are + fitly erecting their monument of life underneath the monuments of their + dead, who made the same gestures and still are with them. Take in the + whole picture. There are no special, characteristic features, such as we + find in England, Provence, or Holland. It is the presentment, large and + ordinary enough to be symbolic, of a natural and happy life. Observe how + rhythmic human existence becomes in its useful moments. Look at the man + who is leading the horses, at that other who throws up the sheaves on his + fork, at the women bending over the corn, and the children at play. ... + They have not displaced a stone, or removed a spadeful of earth, to add to + the beauty of the scenery; nor do they take one step, plant a tree or a + flower, that is not necessary. All that we see is merely the involuntary + result of the effort that man puts forth to subsist for a moment in + nature; and yet those among us whose desire is only to create or imagine + spectacles of peace, deep thoughtfulness, or beatitude, have been able to + find no scene more perfect than this, which indeed they paint or describe + whenever they seek to present us with a picture of beauty or happiness. + Here we have the first semblance, which some will call the truth." + </p> + <p> + {92} + </p> + <p> + "Let us draw nearer. Can you distinguish the song that blended so well + with the whispering of the leaves? It is made up of abuse and insult; and + when laughter bursts forth, it is due to an obscene remark some man or + woman has made, to a jest at the expense of the weaker,—of the + hunchback unable to lift his load, the cripple they have knocked over, or + the idiot whom they make their butt. + </p> + <p> + "I have studied these people for many years. We are in Normandy; the soil + is rich and easily tilled. Around this stack of corn there is rather more + comfort than one would usually associate with a scene of this kind. The + result is that most of the men, and many of the women, are alcoholic. + Another poison also, which I need not name, corrodes the race. To that, to + the alcohol, are due the children whom you see there: the dwarf, the one + with the hare-lip, the others who are knock-kneed, scrofulous, imbecile. + All of them, men and women, young and old, have the ordinary vices of the + peasant. They are brutal, suspicious, grasping, and envious; hypocrites, + liars, and slanderers; inclined to petty, illicit profits, mean + interpretations, and coarse flattery of the stronger. Necessity brings + them together, and compels them to help each other; but the secret wish of + every individual is to harm his neighbour as soon as this can be done + without danger to himself. The one substantial pleasure of the village is + procured by the sorrows of others. Should a great disaster befall one of + them, it will long be the subject of secret, delighted comment among the + rest. Every man watches his fellow, is jealous of him, detests and + despises him. While they are poor, they hate their masters with a boiling + and pent-up hatred because of the harshness and avarice these last + display; should they in their turn have servants, they profit by their own + experience of servitude to reveal a harshness and avarice greater even + than that from which they have suffered. I could give you minutest details + of the meanness, deceit, injustice, tyranny, and malice that underlie this + picture of ethereal, peaceful toil. Do not imagine that the sight of this + marvellous sky, of the sea which spreads out yonder behind the church and + presents another, more sensitive sky, flowing over the earth like a great + mirror of wisdom and consciousness—do not imagine that either sea or + sky is capable of lifting their thoughts or widening their minds. They + have never looked at them. Nothing has power to influence or move them + save three or four circumscribed fears, that of hunger, of force, of + opinion and law, and the terror of hell when they die. To show what they + are, we should have to consider them one by one. See that tall fellow + there on the right, who flings up such mighty sheaves. Last summer his + friends broke his right arm in some tavern row. I reduced the fracture, + which was a bad and compound one. I tended him for a long time, and gave + him the wherewithal to live till he should be able to get back to work. He + came to me every day. He profited by this to spread the report in the + village that he had discovered me in the arms of my sister-in-law, and + that my mother drank. He is not vicious, he bears me no ill-will; on the + contrary, see what a broad, open smile spreads over his face as he sees + me. It was not social animosity that induced him to slander me. The + peasant values wealth far too much to hate the rich man. But I fancy my + good corn-thrower there could not understand my tending him without any + profit to myself. He was satisfied that there must be some underhand + scheme, and he declined to be my dupe. More than one before him, richer or + poorer, has acted in similar fashion, if not worse. It did not occur to + him that he was lying when he spread those inventions abroad; he merely + obeyed a confused command of the morality he saw about him. He yielded + unconsciously, against his will, as it were, to the all-powerful desire of + the general malevolence.... But why complete a picture with which all are + familiar who have spent some years in the country? Here we have the second + semblance that some will call the real truth. It is the truth of practical + life. It undoubtedly is based on the most precise, the only, facts that + one can observe and test." + </p> + <p> + {93} + </p> + <p> + "Let us sit on these sheaves," he continued, "and look again. Let us + reject not a single one of the little facts that build up the reality of + which I have spoken. Let us permit them to depart of their own accord into + space. They cumber the foreground, and yet we cannot but be aware of the + existence behind them of a great and very curious force that sustains the + whole. Does it only sustain and not raise? These men whom we see before us + are at least no longer the ferocious animals of whom La Bruyere speaks, + the wretches who talked in a kind of inarticulate voice, and withdrew at + night to their dens, where they lived on black bread, water, and roots. + </p> + <p> + "The race, you will tell me, is neither as strong nor as healthy. That may + be; alcohol and the other scourge are accidents that humanity has to + surmount; ordeals, it may be, by which certain of our organs, those of the + nerves, for instance, may benefit; for we invariably find that life + profits by the ills that it overcomes. Besides, a mere trifle that we may + discover to-morrow may render these poisons innocuous. These men have + thoughts and feelings that those of whom La Bruyere speaks had not." "I + prefer the simple, naked animal to the odious half-animal," I murmured. + "You are thinking of the first semblance now," he replied, "the semblance + dear to the poet, that we saw before; let us not confuse it with the one + we are now considering. These thoughts and feelings are petty, if you + will, and vile; but what is petty and vile is still better than that which + is not at all. Of these thoughts and feelings they avail themselves only + to hurt each other, and to persist in their present mediocrity; but thus + does it often happen in nature. The gifts she accords are employed for + evil at first, for the rendering worse what she had apparently sought to + improve; but, from this evil, a certain good will always result in the + end. Besides, I am by no means anxious to prove that there has been + progress, which may be a very small thing or a very great thing, according + to the place whence we regard it. It is a vast achievement, the surest + ideal, perhaps, to render the condition of men a little less servile, a + little less painful; but let the mind detach itself for an instant from + material results, and the difference between the man who marches in the + van of progress and the other who is blindly dragged at its tail ceases to + be very considerable. Among these young rustics, whose mind is haunted + only by formless ideas, there are many who have in themselves the + possibility of attaining, in a short space of time, the degree of + consciousness that we both enjoy. One is often struck by the narrowness of + the dividing line between what we regard as the unconsciousness of these + people and the consciousness that to us is the highest of all." + </p> + <p> + "Besides, of what is this consciousness composed, whereof we are so proud? + Of far more shadow than light, of far more acquired ignorance than + knowledge; of far more things whose comprehension, we are well aware, must + ever elude us, than of things that we actually know. And yet in this + consciousness lies all our dignity, our most veritable greatness; it is + probably the most surprising phenomenon this world contains. It is this + which permits us to raise our head before the unknown principle, and say + to it: 'What you are I know not; but there is something within me that + already enfolds you. You will destroy me, perhaps, but if your object be + not to construct from my ruins an organism better than mine, you will + prove yourself inferior to what I am; and the silence that will follow the + death of the race to which I belong will declare to you that you have been + judged. And if you are not capable even of caring whether you be justly + judged or not, of what value can your secret be? It must be stupid or + hideous. Chance has enabled you to produce a creature that you yourself + lacked the quality to produce. It is fortunate for him that a contrary + chance should have permitted you to suppress him before he had fathomed + the depths of your unconsciousness; more fortunate still that he does not + survive the infinite series of your awful experiments. He had nothing to + do in a world where his intellect corresponded to no eternal intellect, + where his desire for the better could attain no actual good.' + </p> + <p> + "Once more, for the spectacle to absorb us, there is no need of progress. + The enigma suffices; and that enigma is as great, and shines as + mysteriously, in the peasants as in ourselves. As we trace life back to + its all-powerful principle, it confronts us on every side. To this + principle each succeeding century has given a new name. Some of these + names were clear and consoling. It was found, however, that consolation + and clearness were alike illusory. But whether we call it God, Providence, + Nature, chance, life, fatality, spirit, or matter, the mystery remains + unaltered; and from the experience of thousands of years we have learned + nothing more than to give it a vaster name, one nearer to ourselves, more + congruous with our expectation, with the unforeseen. + </p> + <p> + "That is the name it bears to-day, wherefore it has never seemed greater. + Here we have one of the numberless aspects of the third semblance, which + also is truth." + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0010" id="link2H_4_0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VII — THE MASSACRE OF THE MALES + </h2> + <h3> + {94} + </h3> + <p> + IF skies remain clear, the air warm, and pollen and nectar abound in the + flowers, the workers, through a kind of forgetful indulgence, or + over-scrupulous prudence perhaps, will for a short time longer endure the + importunate, disastrous presence of the males. These comport themselves in + the hive as did Penelope's suitors in the house of Ulysses. Indelicate and + wasteful, sleek and corpulent, fully content with their idle existence as + honorary lovers, they feast and carouse, throng the alleys, obstruct the + passages, and hinder the work; jostling and jostled, fatuously pompous, + swelled with foolish, good-natured contempt; harbouring never a suspicion + of the deep and calculating scorn wherewith the workers regard them, of + the constantly growing hatred to which they give rise, or of the destiny + that awaits them. For their pleasant slumbers they select the snuggest + corners of the hive; then, rising carelessly, they flock to the open cells + where the honey smells sweetest, and soil with their excrements the combs + they frequent. The patient workers, their eyes steadily fixed on the + future, will silently set things right. From noon till three, when the + purple country trembles in blissful lassitude beneath the invincible gaze + of a July or August sun, the drones will appear on the threshold. They + have a helmet made of enormous black pearls, two lofty, quivering plumes, + a doublet of iridescent, yellowish velvet, an heroic tuft, and a fourfold + mantle, translucent and rigid. They create a prodigious stir, brush the + sentry aside, overturn the cleaners, and collide with the foragers as + these return laden with their humble spoil. They have the busy air, the + extravagant, contemptuous gait, of indispensable gods who should be + simultaneously venturing towards some destiny unknown to the vulgar. One + by one they sail off into space, irresistible, glorious, and tranquilly + make for the nearest flowers, where they sleep till the afternoon + freshness awake them. Then, with the same majestic pomp, and still + overflowing with magnificent schemes, they return to the hive, go straight + to the cells, plunge their head to the neck in the vats of honey, and fill + themselves tight as a drum to repair their exhausted strength; whereupon, + with heavy steps, they go forth to meet the good, dreamless and careless + slumber that shall fold them in its embrace till the time for the next + repast. + </p> + <p> + {95} + </p> + <p> + But the patience of the bees is not equal to that of men. One morning the + long-expected word of command goes through the hive; and the peaceful + workers turn into judges and executioners. Whence this word issues, we + know not; it would seem to emanate suddenly from the cold, deliberate + indignation of the workers; and no sooner has it been uttered than every + heart throbs with it, inspired with the genius of the unanimous republic. + One part of the people renounce their foraging duties to devote themselves + to the work of justice. The great idle drones, asleep in unconscious + groups on the melliferous walls, are rudely torn from their slumbers by an + army of wrathful virgins. They wake, in pious wonder; they cannot believe + their eyes; and their astonishment struggles through their sloth as a + moonbeam through marshy water. They stare amazedly round them, convinced + that they must be victims of some mistake; and the mother-idea of their + life being first to assert itself in their dull brain, they take a step + towards the vats of honey to seek comfort there. But ended for them are + the days of May honey, the wine-flower of lime trees and fragrant ambrosia + of thyme and sage, of marjoram and white clover. Where the path once lay + open to the kindly, abundant reservoirs, that so invitingly offered their + waxen and sugary mouths, there stands now a burning-bush all alive with + poisonous, bristling stings. The atmosphere of the city is changed; in + lieu of the friendly perfume of honey, the acrid odour of poison prevails; + thousands of tiny drops glisten at the end of the stings, and diffuse + rancour and hatred. Before the bewildered parasites are able to realise + that the happy laws of the city have crumbled, dragging down in most + inconceivable fashion their own plentiful destiny, each one is assailed by + three or four envoys of justice; and these vigorously proceed to cut off + his wings, saw through the petiole that connects the abdomen with the + thorax, amputate the feverish antennae, and seek an opening between the + rings of his cuirass through which to pass their sword. No defence is + attempted by the enormous, but unarmed, creatures; they try to escape, or + oppose their mere bulk to the blows that rain down upon them. Forced on to + their back, with their relentless enemies clinging doggedly to them, they + will use their powerful claws to shift them from side to side; or, turning + on themselves, they will drag the whole group round and round in wild + circles, which exhaustion soon brings to an end. And, in a very brief + space, their appearance becomes so deplorable that pity, never far from + justice in the depths of our heart, quickly returns, and would seek + forgiveness, though vainly, of the stern workers who recognise only + nature's harsh and profound laws. The wings of the wretched creatures are + torn, their antennae bitten, the segments of their legs wrenched off; and + their magnificent eyes, mirrors once of the exuberant flowers, flashing + back the blue light and the innocent pride of summer, now, softened by + suffering, reflect only the anguish and distress of their end. Some + succumb to their wounds, and are at once borne away to distant cemeteries + by two or three of their executioners. Others, whose injuries are less, + succeed in sheltering themselves in some corner, where they lie, all + huddled together, surrounded by an inexorable guard, until they perish of + want. Many will reach the door, and escape into space dragging their + adversaries with them; but, towards evening, impelled by hunger and cold, + they return in crowds to the entrance of the hive to beg for shelter. But + there they encounter another pitiless guard. The next morning, before + setting forth on their journey, the workers will clear the threshold, + strewn with the corpses of the useless giants; and all recollection of the + idle race disappear till the following spring. + </p> + <p> + {96} + </p> + <p> + In very many colonies of the apiary this massacre will often take place on + the same day. The richest, best-governed hive will give the signal; to be + followed, some days after, by the little and less prosperous republics. + Only the poorest, weakest colonies—those whose mother is very old + and almost sterile—will preserve their males till the approach of + winter, so as not to abandon the hope of procuring the impregnation of the + virgin queen they await, and who may yet be born. Inevitable misery + follows; and all the tribe—mother, parasites, workers—collect + in a hungry and closely intertwined group, who perish in silence before + the first snows arrive, in the obscurity of the hive. + </p> + <p> + In the wealthy and populous cities work is resumed after the execution of + the drones,—although with diminishing zeal, for flowers are becoming + scarce. The great festivals, the great dramas, are over. The autumn honey, + however, that shall complete the indispensable provisions, is accumulating + within the hospitable walls; and the last reservoirs are sealed with the + seal of white, incorruptible wax. Building ceases, births diminish, deaths + multiply; the nights lengthen, and days grow shorter. Rain and inclement + winds, the mists of the morning, the ambushes laid by a hastening + twilight, carry off hundreds of workers who never return; and soon, over + the whole little people, that are as eager for sunshine as the + grasshoppers of Attica, there hangs the cold menace of winter. + </p> + <p> + Man has already taken his share of the harvest. Every good hive has + presented him with eighty or a hundred pounds of honey; the most + remarkable will sometimes even give two hundred, which represent an + enormous expanse of liquefied light, immense fields of flowers that have + been visited daily one or two thousand times. He throws a last glance over + the colonies, which are becoming torpid. From the richest he takes their + superfluous wealth to distribute it among those whom misfortune, unmerited + always in this laborious world, may have rendered necessitous. He covers + the dwellings, half closes the doors, removes the useless frames, and + leaves the bees to their long winter sleep. They gather in the centre of + the hive, contract themselves, and cling to the combs that contain the + faithful urns; whence there shall issue, during days of frost, the + transmuted substance of summer. The queen is in the midst of them, + surrounded by her guard. The first row of the workers attach themselves to + the sealed cells; a second row cover the first, a third the second, and so + in succession to the last row of all, which form the envelope. When the + bees of this envelope feel the cold stealing over them, they re-enter the + mass, and others take their place. The suspended cluster is like a sombre + sphere that the walls of the comb divide; it rises imperceptibly and + falls, it advances or retires, in proportion as the cells grow empty to + which it clings. For, contrary to what is generally believed, the winter + life of the bee is not arrested, although it be slackened. By the + concerted beating of their wings—little sisters that have survived + the flames of the sun—which go quickly or slowly in accordance as + the temperature without may vary, they maintain in their sphere an + unvarying warmth, equal to that of a day in spring. This secret spring + comes from the beautiful honey, itself but a ray of heat transformed, that + returns now to its first condition. It circulates in the hive like + generous blood. The bees at the full cells present it to their neighbours, + who pass it on in their turn. Thus it goes from hand to hand and from + mouth to mouth, till it attain the extremity of the group in whose + thousands of hearts one destiny, one thought, is scattered and united. It + stands in lieu of the sun and the flowers, till its elder brother, the + veritable sun of the real, great spring, peering through the half-open + door, glides in his first softened glances, wherein anemones and violets + are coming to life again; and gently awakens the workers, showing them + that the sky once more is blue in the world, and that the uninterrupted + circle that joins death to life has turned and begun afresh. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_4_0011" id="link2H_4_0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + VIII — THE PROGRESS OF THE RACE + </h2> + <h3> + {97} + </h3> + <p> + BEFORE closing this book—as we have closed the hive on the torpid + silence of winter—I am anxious to meet the objection invariably + urged by those to whom we reveal the astounding industry and policy of the + bees. Yes, they will say, that is all very wonderful; but then, it has + never been otherwise. The bees have for thousands of years dwelt under + remarkable laws, but during those thousands of years the laws have not + varied. For thousands of years they have constructed their marvellous + combs, whereto we can add nothing, wherefrom we can take nothing,—combs + that unite in equal perfection the science of the chemist, the + geometrician, the architect, and the engineer; but on the sarcophagi, on + Egyptian stones and papyri, we find drawings of combs that are identical + in every particular. Name a single fact that will show the least progress, + a single instance of their having contrived some new feature or modified + their habitual routine, and we will cheerfully yield, and admit that they + not only possess an admirable instinct, but have also an intellect worthy + to approach that of man, worthy to share in one knows not what higher + destiny than awaits unconscious and submissive matter. + </p> + <p> + This language is not even confined to the profane; it is made use of by + entomologists of the rank of Kirby and Spence, in order to deny the bees + the possession of intellect other than may vaguely stir within the narrow + prison of an extraordinary but unchanging instinct. "Show us," they say, + "a single case where the pressure of events has inspired them with the + idea, for instance, of substituting clay or mortar for wax or propolis; + show us this, and we will admit their capacity for reasoning." + </p> + <p> + This argument, that Romanes refers to as the "question-begging argument," + and that might also be termed the "insatiable argument," is exceedingly + dangerous, and, if applied to man, would take us very far. Examine it + closely, and you find that it emanates from the "mere common-sense," which + is often so harmful; the "common-sense" that replied to Galileo: "The + earth does not turn, for I can see the sun move in the sky, rise in the + morning and sink in the evening; and nothing can prevail over the + testimony of my eyes." Common-sense makes an admirable, and necessary, + background for the mind; but unless it be watched by a lofty disquiet ever + ready to remind it, when occasion demand, of the infinity of its + ignorance, it dwindles into the mere routine of the baser side of our + intellect. But the bees have themselves answered the objection Messrs. + Kirby and Spence advanced. Scarcely had it been formulated when another + naturalist, Andrew Knight, having covered the bark of some diseased trees + with a kind of cement made of turpentine and wax, discovered that his bees + were entirely renouncing the collection of propolis, and exclusively using + this unknown matter, which they had quickly tested and adopted, and found + in abundant quantities, ready prepared, in the vicinity of their dwelling. + </p> + <p> + And indeed, one-half of the science and practice of apiculture consists in + giving free rein to the spirit of initiative possessed by the bees, and in + providing their enterprising intellect with opportunities for veritable + discoveries and veritable inventions. Thus, for instance, to aid in the + rearing of the larvae and nymphs, the bee-keeper will scatter a certain + quantity of flour close to the hive when the pollen is scarce of which + these consume an enormous quantity. In a state of nature, in the heart of + their native forests in the Asiatic valleys, where they existed probably + long before the tertiary epoch, the bees can evidently never have met with + a substance of this kind. And yet, if care be taken to "bait" some of them + with it, by placing them on the flour, they will touch it and test it, + they will perceive that its properties more or less resemble those + possessed by the dust of the anthers; they will spread the news among + their sisters, and we shall soon find every forager hastening to this + unexpected, incomprehensible food, which, in their hereditary memory, must + be inseparable from the calyx of flowers where their flight, for so many + centuries past, has been sumptuously and voluptuously welcomed. + </p> + <p> + {98} + </p> + <p> + It is a little more than a hundred years ago that Huber's researches gave + the first serious impetus to our study of the bees, and revealed the + elementary important truths that allowed us to observe them with fruitful + result. Barely fifty years have passed since the foundation of rational, + practical apiculture was rendered possible by means of the movable combs + and frames devised by Dzierzon and Langstroth, and the hive ceased to be + the inviolable abode wherein all came to pass in a mystery from which + death alone stripped the veil. And lastly, less than fifty years have + elapsed since the improvements of the microscope, of the entomologist's + laboratory, revealed the precise secret of the principal organs of the + workers, of the mother, and the males. Need we wonder if our knowledge be + as scanty as our experience? The bees have existed many thousands of + years; we have watched them for ten or twelve lustres. And if it could + even be proved that no change has occurred in the hive since we first + opened it, should we have the right to conclude that nothing had changed + before our first questioning glance? Do we not know that in the evolution + of species a century is but as a drop of rain that is caught in the whirl + of the river, and that millenaries glide as swiftly over the life of + universal matter as single years over the history of a people? + </p> + <p> + {99} + </p> + <p> + But there is no warrant for the statement that the habits of the bees are + unchanged. If we examine them with an unbiassed eye, and without emerging + from the small area lit by our actual experience, we shall, on the + contrary, discover marked variations. And who shall tell how many escape + us? Were an observer of a hundred and fifty times our height and about + seven hundred and fifty thousand times our importance (these being the + relations of stature and weight in which we stand to the humble + honey-fly), one who knew not our language, and was endowed with senses + totally different from our own; were such an one to have been studying us, + he would recognise certain curious material transformations in the course + of the last two thirds of the century, but would be totally unable to form + any conception of our moral, social, political, economic or religious + evolution. + </p> + <p> + The most likely of all the scientific hypotheses will presently permit us + to connect our domestic bee with the great tribe of the "Apiens," which + embraces all wild bees, and where its ancestors are probably to be found. + We shall then perceive physiological, social, economic, industrial, and + architectural transformations more extraordinary than those of our human + evolution. But for the moment we will limit ourselves to our domestic bee + properly so called. Of these sixteen fairly distinct species are known; + but, essentially, whether we consider the Apis Dorsata, the largest known + to us, or the Apis Florea, which is the smallest, the insect is always + exactly the same, except for the slight modifications induced by the + climate and by the conditions whereto it has had to conform.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *The scientific classification of the domestic bee is as follows: + + Class....... Insecta + + Order....... Hymenoptera + + Family...... Apidae + + Genus....... Apis + + Species..... Mellifica +</pre> + <p> + The term "Mellifica" is that of the Linnaean classification. It is not of + the happiest, for all the Apidae, with the exception of certain parasites + perhaps, are producers of honey. Scopoli uses the term "Cerifera "; + Reaumur "Domestica "; Geoffroy "Gregaria." The "Apis Ligustica," the + Italian bee, is another variety of the "Mellifica." + </p> + <p> + The difference between these various species is scarcely greater than that + between an Englishman and a Russian, a Japanese and a European. In these + preliminary remarks, therefore, we will confine ourselves to what actually + lies within the range of our eyes, refusing the aid of hypothesis, be this + never so probable or so imperious. We shall mention no facts that are not + susceptible of immediate proof; and of such facts we will only rapidly + refer to some of the more significant. + </p> + <p> + {100} + </p> + <p> + Let us consider first of all the most important and most radical + improvement, one that in the case of man would have called for prodigious + labour: the external protection of the community. + </p> + <p> + The bees do not, like ourselves, dwell in towns free to the sky, and + exposed to the caprice of rain and storm, but in cities entirely covered + with a protecting envelope. In a state of nature, however, in an ideal + climate, this is not the case. If they listened only to their essential + instinct, they would construct their combs in the open air. In the Indies, + the Apis Dorsata will not eagerly seek hollow trees, or a hole in the + rocks. The swarm will hang from the crook of a branch; and the comb will + be lengthened, the queen lay her eggs, provisions be stored, with no + shelter other than that which the workers' own bodies provide. Our + Northern bees have at times been known to revert to this instinct, under + the deceptive influence of a too gentle sky; and swarms have been found + living in the heart of a bush. But even in the Indies, the result of this + habit, which would seem innate, is by no means favourable. So considerable + a number of the workers are compelled to remain on one spot, occupied + solely with the maintenance of the heat required by those who are moulding + the wax and rearing the brood, that the Apis Dorsata, hanging thus from + the branches, will construct but a single comb; whereas if she have the + least shelter she will erect four or five, or more, and will + proportionately increase the prosperity and the population of the colony. + And indeed we find that all species of bees existing in cold and temperate + regions have abandoned this primitive method. The intelligent initiative + of the insect has evidently received the sanction of natural selection, + which has allowed only the most numerous and best protected tribes to + survive our winters. What had been merely an idea, therefore, and opposed + to instinct, has thus by slow degrees become an instinctive habit. But it + is none the less true that in forsaking the vast light of nature that was + so dear to them and seeking shelter in the obscure hollow of a tree or a + cavern, the bees have followed what at first was an audacious idea, based + on observation, probably, on experience and reasoning. And this idea might + be almost declared to have been as important to the destinies of the + domestic bee as was the invention of fire to the destinies of man. + </p> + <p> + {101} + </p> + <p> + This great progress, not the less actual for being hereditary and ancient, + was followed by an infinite variety of details which prove that the + industry, and even the policy, of the hive have not crystallised into + infrangible formulae. We have already mentioned the intelligent + substitution of flour for pollen, and of an artificial cement for + propolis. We have seen with what skill the bees are able to adapt to their + needs the occasionally disconcerting dwellings into which they are + introduced, and the surprising adroitness wherewith they turn combs of + foundation-wax to good account. They display extraordinary ingenuity in + their manner of handling these marvellous combs, which are so strangely + useful, and yet incomplete. In point of fact, they meet man half-way. Let + us imagine that we had for centuries past been erecting cities, not with + stones, bricks, and lime, but with some pliable substance painfully + secreted by special organs of our body. One day an all-powerful being + places us in the midst of a fabulous city. We recognise that it is made of + a substance similar to the one that we secrete, but, as regards the rest, + it is a dream, whereof what is logical is so distorted, so reduced, and as + it were concentrated, as to be more disconcerting almost than had it been + incoherent. Our habitual plan is there; in fact, we find everything that + we had expected; but all has been put together by some antecedent force + that would seem to have crushed it, arrested it in the mould, and to have + hindered its completion. The houses whose height must attain some four or + five yards are the merest protuberances, that our two hands can cover. + Thousands of walls are indicated by signs that hint at once of their plan + and material. Elsewhere there are marked deviations, which must be + corrected; gaps to be filled and harmoniously joined to the rest, vast + surfaces that are unstable and will need support. The enterprise is + hopeful, but full of hardship and danger. It would seem to have been + conceived by some sovereign intelligence, that was able to divine most of + our desires, but has executed them clumsily, being hampered by its very + vastness. We must disentangle, therefore, what now is obscure, we must + develop the least intentions of the supernatural donor; we must build in a + few days what would ordinarily take us years; we must renounce organic + habits, and fundamentally alter our methods of labour. It is certain that + all the attention man could devote would not be excessive for the solution + of the problems that would arise, or for the turning to fullest account + the help thus offered by a magnificent providence. Yet that is, more or + less, what the bees are doing in our modern hives.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *As we are now concerned with the construction of the bee, + we may note, in passing, a strange peculiarity of the Apis + Florea. Certain walls of its cells for males are cylindrical + instead of hexagonal. Apparently she has not yet succeeded + in passing from one form to the other, and indefinitely + adopting the better. +</pre> + <p> + {102} + </p> + <p> + I have said that even the policy of the bees is probably subject to + change. This point is the obscurest of all, and the most difficult to + verify. I shall not dwell on their various methods of treating the queens, + or the laws as to swarming that are peculiar to the inhabitants of every + hive, and apparently transmitted from generation to generation, etc.; but + by the side of these facts which are not sufficiently established are + others so precise and unvarying as to prove that the same degree of + political civilisation has not been attained by all races of the domestic + bee, and that, among some of them, the public spirit still is groping its + way, seeking perhaps another solution of the royal problem. The Syrian + bee, for instance, habitually rears 120 queens and often more, whereas our + Apis Mellifica will rear ten or twelve at most. Cheshire tells of a Syrian + hive, in no way abnormal, where 120 dead queen-mothers were found, and 90 + living, unmolested queens. This may be the point of departure, or the + point of arrival, of a strange social evolution, which it would be + interesting to study more thoroughly. We may add that as far as the + rearing of queens is concerned, the Cyprian bee approximates to the + Syrian. And finally, there is yet another fact which establishes still + more clearly that the customs and prudent organisation of the hive are not + the results of a primitive impulse, mechanically followed through + different ages and climates, but that the spirit which governs the little + republic is fully as capable of taking note of new conditions and turning + these to the best advantage, as in times long past it was capable of + meeting the dangers that hemmed it around. Transport our black bee to + California or Australia, and her habits will completely alter. Finding + that summer is perpetual and flowers forever abundant, she will after one + or two years be content to live from day to day, and gather sufficient + honey and pollen for the day's consumption; and, her thoughtful + observation of these new features triumphing over hereditary experience, + she will cease to make provision for the winter.* In fact it becomes + necessary, in order to stimulate her activity, to deprive her + systematically of the fruits of her labour. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *Buchner cites an analogous fact. In the Barbadoes, the bees + whose hives are in the midst of the refineries, where they + find sugar in abundance during the whole year, will entirely + abandon their visits to the flowers. +</pre> + <p> + {103} + </p> + <p> + So much for what our own eyes can see. It will be admitted that we have + mentioned some curious facts, which by no means support the theory that + every intelligence is arrested, every future clearly defined, save only + the intelligence and future of man. + </p> + <p> + But if we choose to accept for one moment the hypothesis of evolution, the + spectacle widens, and its uncertain, grandiose light soon attains our own + destinies. Whoever brings careful attention to bear will scarcely deny, + even though it be not evident, the presence in nature of a will that tends + to raise a portion of matter to a subtler and perhaps better condition, + and to penetrate its substance little by little with a mystery-laden fluid + that we at first term life, then instinct, and finally intelligence; a + will that, for an end we know not, organises, strengthens, and facilitates + the existence of all that is. There can be no certainty, and yet many + instances invite us to believe that, were an actual estimate possible, the + quantity of matter that has raised itself from its beginnings would be + found to be ever increasing. A fragile remark, I admit, but the only one + we can make on the hidden force that leads us; and it stands for much in a + world where confidence in life, until certitude to the contrary reach us, + must remain the first of all our duties, at times even when life itself + conveys no encouraging clearness to us. + </p> + <p> + I know all that may be urged against the theory of evolution. In its + favour are numerous proofs and most powerful arguments, which yet do not + carry irresistible conviction. We must beware of abandoning ourselves + unreservedly to the prevailing truths of our time. A hundred years hence, + many chapters of a book instinct to-day with this truth, will appear as + ancient as the philosophical writings of the eighteenth century seem to us + now, full as they are of a too perfect and non-existing man, or as so many + works of the seventeenth century, whose value is lessened by their + conception of a harsh and narrow god. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, when it is impossible to know what the truth of a thing may + be, it is well to accept the hypothesis that appeals the most urgently to + the reason of men at the period when we happen to have come into the + world. The chances are that it will be false; but so long as we believe it + to be true it will serve a useful purpose by restoring our courage and + stimulating research in a new direction. It might at the first glance seem + wiser, perhaps, instead of advancing these ingenious suppositions, simply + to say the profound truth, which is that we do not know. But this truth + could only be helpful were it written that we never shall know. In the + meanwhile it would induce a state of stagnation within us more pernicious + than the most vexatious illusions. We are so constituted that nothing + takes us further or leads us higher than the leaps made by our errors. In + point of fact we owe the little we have learned to hypotheses that were + always hazardous and often absurd, and, as a general rule, less discreet + than they are to-day. They were unwise, perhaps, but they kept alive the + ardour for research. To the traveller, shivering with cold, who reaches + the human Hostelry, it matters little whether he by whose side he seats + himself, he who has guarded the hearth, be blind or very old. So long as + the fire still burn that he has been watching, he has done as much as the + best could have done. Well for us if we can transmit this ardour, not as + we received it, but added to by ourselves; and nothing will add to it more + than this hypothesis of evolution, which goads us to question with an ever + severer method and ever increasing zeal all that exists on the earth's + surface and in its entrails, in the depths of the sea and expanse of the + sky. Reject it, and what can we set up against it, what can we put in its + place? There is but the grand confession of scientific ignorance, aware of + its knowing nothing—but this is habitually sluggish, and calculated + to discourage the curiosity more needful to man than wisdom—or the + hypothesis of the fixity of the species and of divine creation, which is + less demonstrable than the other, banishes for all time the living + elements of the problem, and explains nothing. + </p> + <p> + {104} + </p> + <p> + Of wild bees approximately 4500 varieties are known. It need scarcely be + said that we shall not go through the list. Some day, perhaps, a profound + study, and searching experiments and observations of a kind hitherto + unknown, that would demand more than one lifetime, will throw a decisive + light upon the history of the bee's evolution. All that we can do now is + to enter this veiled region of supposition, and, discarding all positive + statement, attempt to follow a tribe of hymenoptera in their progress + towards a more intelligent existence, towards a little more security and + comfort, lightly indicating the salient features of this ascension that is + spread over many thousands of years. The tribe in question is already + known to us; it is that of the "Apiens," whose essential characteristics + are so distinct and well-marked that one is inclined to credit all its + members with one common ancestor.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *It is important that the terms we shall successively + employ, adopting the classification of M. Emile Blanchard,— + "APIENS, APIDAE and APITAE,—should not be confounded. The + tribe of the Apiens comprises all families of bees. The + Apidae constitute the first of these families, and are + subdivided into three groups: the Meliponae, the Apitae, and + the Bombi (humble-bees). And, finally, the Apitae include + all the different varieties of our domestic bees. +</pre> + <p> + The disciples of Darwin, Hermann Muller among others, consider a little + wild bee, the Prosopis, which is to be found all over the universe, as the + actual representative of the primitive bee whence all have issued that are + known to us to-day. + </p> + <p> + The unfortunate Prosopis stands more or less in the same relation to the + inhabitants of our hives as the cave-dwellers to the fortunate who live in + our great cities. You will probably more than once have seen her + fluttering about the bushes, in a deserted corner of your garden, without + realising that you were carelessly watching the venerable ancestor to whom + we probably owe most of our flowers and fruits (for it is actually + estimated that more than a hundred thousand varieties of plants would + disappear if the bees did not visit them) and possibly even our + civilisation, for in these mysteries all things intertwine. She is nimble + and attractive, the variety most common in France being elegantly marked + with white on a black background. But this elegance hides an inconceivable + poverty. She leads a life of starvation. She is almost naked, whereas her + sisters are dad in a warm and sumptuous fleece. She has not, like the + Apidae, baskets to gather the pollen, nor, in their default, the tuft of + the Andrenae, nor the ventral brush of the Gastrilegidae. Her tiny claws + must laboriously gather the powder from the calices, which powder she + needs must swallow in order to take it back to her lair. She has no + implements other than her tongue, her mouth and her claws; but her tongue + is too short, her legs are feeble, and her mandibles without strength. + Unable to produce wax, bore holes through wood, or dig in the earth, she + contrives clumsy galleries in the tender pith of dry berries; erects a few + awkward cells, stores these with a little food for the offspring she never + will see; and then, having accomplished this poor task of hers, that tends + she knows not whither and of whose aim we are no less ignorant, she goes + off and dies in a corner, as solitarily as she had lived. + </p> + <p> + We shall pass over many intermediary species, wherein we may see the + gradual lengthening of the tongue, enabling more nectar to be extracted + from the cups of corollas, and the dawning formation and subsequent + development of the apparatus for collecting pollen,—hairs, tufts, + brushes on the tibia, on the tarsus, and abdomen,—as also claws and + mandibles becoming stronger, useful secretions being formed, and the + genius that presides over the construction of dwellings seeking and + finding extraordinary improvement in every direction. Such a study would + need a whole volume. I will merely outline a chapter of it, less than a + chapter, a page, which shall show how the hesitating endeavours of the + will to live and be happier result in the birth, development, and + affirmation of social intelligence. + </p> + <p> + We have seen the unfortunate Prosopis silently bearing her solitary little + destiny in the midst of this vast universe charged with terrible forces. A + certain number of her sisters, belonging to species already more skilful + and better supplied with utensils, such as the well-clad Colletes, or the + marvellous cutter of rose-leaves, the Megachile Centuncularis, live in an + isolation no less profound; and if by chance some creature attach itself + to them, and share their dwelling, it will either be an enemy, or, more + often, a parasite. + </p> + <p> + For the world of bees is peopled with phantoms stranger than our own; and + many a species will thus have a kind of mysterious and inactive double, + exactly similar to the victim it has selected, save only that its + immemorial idleness has caused it to lose one by one its implements of + labour, and that it exists solely at the expense of the working type of + its race.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *The humble-bees, for instance, have the Psithyri as + parasites, while the Stelites live on the Anthidia. "As + regards the frequent identity of the parasite with its + victim," M. J. Perez very justly remarks in his book "The + Bees," "one must necessarily admit that the two genera are + only different forms of the same type, and are united to + each other by the closest affinity. And to naturalists who + believe in the theory of evolution this relationship is not + purely ideal, but real. The parasitic genus must be regarded + as merely a branch of the foraging genus, having lost its + foraging organs because of its adaptation to parasitic + life." +</pre> + <p> + Among the bees, however, which are somewhat too arbitrarily termed the + "solitary Apidae," the social instinct already is smouldering, like a + flame crushed beneath the overwhelming weight of matter that stifles all + primitive life. And here and there, in unexpected directions, as though + reconnoitring, with timid and sometimes fantastic outbursts, it will + succeed in piercing the mass that oppresses it, the pyre that some day + shall feed its triumph. + </p> + <p> + If in this world all things be matter, this is surely its most immaterial + movement. Transition is called for from a precarious, egotistic and + incomplete life to a life that shall be fraternal, a little more certain, + a little more happy. The spirit must ideally unite that which in the body + is actually separate; the individual must sacrifice himself for the race, + and substitute for visible things the things that cannot be seen. Need we + wonder that the bees do not at the first glance realise what we have not + yet disentangled, we who find ourselves at the privileged spot whence + instinct radiates from all sides into our consciousness? And it is curious + too, almost touching, to see how the new idea gropes its way, at first, in + the darkness that enfolds all things that come to life on this earth. It + emerges from matter, it is still quite material. It is cold, hunger, fear, + transformed into something that as yet has no shape. It crawls vaguely + around great dangers, around the long nights, the approach of winter, of + an equivocal sleep which almost is death.... + </p> + <p> + {106} + </p> + <p> + The Xylocopae are powerful bees which worm their nest in dry wood. Their + life is solitary always. Towards the end of summer, however, some + individuals of a particular species, the Xylocopa Cyanescens, may be found + huddled together in a shivering group, on a stalk of asphodel, to spend + the winter in common. Among the Xylocopae this tardy fraternity is + exceptional, but among the Ceratinae, which are of their nearest kindred, + it has become a constant habit. The idea is germinating. It halts + immediately; and hitherto has not succeeded, among the Xylocopae, in + passing beyond this first obscure line of love. + </p> + <p> + Among other Apiens, this groping idea assumes other forms. The + Chalicodomae of the out-houses, which are building-bees, the Dasypodae and + Halicti, which dig holes in the earth, unite in large colonies to + construct their nests. But it is an illusory crowd composed of solitary + units, that possess no mutual understanding, and do not act in common. + Each one is profoundly isolated in the midst of the multitude, and builds + a dwelling for itself alone, heedless of its neighbour. "They are," M. + Perez remarks, "a mere congregation of individuals, brought together by + similar tastes and habits, but observing scrupulously the maxim of each + one for itself; in fact, a mere mob of workers, resembling the swarm of a + hive only as regards their number and zeal. Such assemblies merely result + from a great number of individuals inhabiting the same locality." + </p> + <p> + But when we come to the Panurgi, which are cousins of the Dasypodae, a + little ray of light suddenly reveals the birth of a new sentiment in this + fortuitous crowd. They collect in the same way as the others, and each one + digs its own subterranean chambers; but the entrance is common to all, as + also the gallery which leads from the surface of the ground to the + different cells. "And thus," M. Perez adds, "as far as the work of the + cells is concerned, each bee acts as though she were alone; but all make + equal use of the gallery that conducts to the cells, so that the multitude + profit by the labours of an individual, and are spared the time and + trouble required for the construction of separate galleries. It would be + interesting to discover whether this preliminary work be not executed in + common, by relays of females, relieving each other in turn." + </p> + <p> + However this may be, the fraternal idea has pierced the wall that divided + two worlds. It is no longer wild and unrecognisable, wrested from instinct + by cold and hunger, or by the fear of death; it is prompted by active + life. But it halts once more; and in this instance arrives no further. No + matter, it does not lose courage; it will seek other channels. It enters + the humble-bee, and, maturing there, becomes embodied in a different + atmosphere, and works its first decisive miracles. + </p> + <p> + The humble-bees, the great hairy, noisy creatures that all of us know so + well, so harmless for all their apparent fierceness, lead a solitary life + at first. At the beginning of March the impregnated female who has + survived the winter starts to construct her nest, either underground or in + a bush, according to the species to which she belongs. She is alone in the + world, in the midst of awakening spring. She chooses a spot, clears it, + digs it and carpets it. Then she erects her somewhat shapeless waxen + cells, stores these with honey and pollen, lays and hatches the eggs, + tends and nourishes the larvae that spring to life, and soon is surrounded + by a troop of daughters who aid her in all her labours, within the nest + and without, while some of them soon begin to lay in their turn. The + construction of the cells improves; the colony grows, the comfort + increases. The foundress is still its soul, its principal mother, and + finds herself now at the head of a kingdom which might be the model of + that of our honeybee. But the model is still in the rough. + </p> + <p> + The prosperity of the humble-bees never exceeds a certain limit, their + laws are ill-defined and ill-obeyed, primitive cannibalism and infanticide + reappear at intervals, the architecture is shapeless and entails much + waste of material; but the cardinal difference between the two cities is + that the one is permanent, and the other ephemeral. For, indeed, that of + the humble-bee will perish in the autumn; its three or four hundred + inhabitants will die, leaving no trace of their passage or their + endeavours; and but a single female will survive, who, the next spring, in + the same solitude and poverty as her mother before her, will recommence + the same useless work. The idea, however, has now grown aware of its + strength. Among the humble-bees it goes no further than we have stated, + but, faithful to its habits and pursuing its usual routine, it will + immediately undergo a sort of unwearying metempsychosis, and re-incarnate + itself, trembling with its last triumph, rendered all-powerful now and + nearly perfect, in another group, the last but one of the race, that which + immediately precedes our domestic bee wherein it attains its crown; the + group of the Meliponitae, which comprises the tropical Meliponae and + Trigonae. + </p> + <p> + {108} + </p> + <p> + Here the organisation is as complete as in our hives. There is an unique + mother, there are sterile workers and males. Certain details even seem + better devised. The males, for instance, are not wholly idle; they secrete + wax. The entrance to the hive is more carefully guarded; it has a door + that can be closed when nights are cold, and when these are warm a kind of + curtain will admit the air. + </p> + <p> + But the republic is less strong, general life less assured, prosperity + more limited, than with our bees; and wherever these are introduced, the + Meliponitae tend to disappear before them. In both races the fraternal + idea has undergone equal and magnificent development, save in one point + alone, wherein it achieves no further advance among the Meliponitae than + among the limited offspring of the humble-bees. In the mechanical + organisation of distributed labour, in the precise economy of effort; + briefly, in the architecture of the city, they display manifest + inferiority. As to this I need only refer to what I said in section 42 of + this book, while adding that, whereas in the hives of our Apitae all the + cells are equally available for the rearing of the brood and the storage + of provisions, and endure as long as the city itself, they serve only one + of these purposes among the Meliponitae, and the cells employed as cradles + for the nymphs are destroyed after these have been hatched.* + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + *It is not certain that the principle of unique royalty, or + maternity, is strictly observed among the Meliponitae. + Blanchard remarks very justly, that as they possess no sting + and are consequently less readily able than the mothers of + our own bees to kill each other, several queens will + probably live together in the same hive. But certainty on + this point has hitherto been unattainable owing to the great + resemblance that exists between queens and workers, as also + to the impossibility of rearing the Meliponitae in our + climate. +</pre> + <p> + It is in our domestic bees, therefore, that the idea, of whose movements + we have given a cursory and incomplete picture, attains its most perfect + form. Are these movements definitely, and for all time, arrested in each + one of these species, and does the connecting-line exist in our + imagination alone? Let us not be too eager to establish a system in this + ill-explored region. Let our conclusions be only provisional, and + preferentially such as convey the utmost hope, for, were a choice forced + upon us, occasional gleams would appear to declare that the inferences we + are most desirous to draw will prove to be truest. Besides, let us not + forget that our ignorance still is profound. We are only learning to open + our eyes. A thousand experiments that could be made have as yet not even + been tried. If the Prosopes, for instance, were imprisoned, and forced to + cohabit with their kind, would they, in course of time, overstep the iron + barrier of total solitude, and be satisfied to live the common life of the + Dasypodae, or to put forth the fraternal effort of the Panurgi? And if we + imposed abnormal conditions upon the Panurgi, would these, in their turn, + progress from a general corridor to general cells? If the mothers of the + humble-bees were compelled to hibernate together, would they arrive at a + mutual understanding, a mutual division of labour? Have combs of + foundation-wax been offered to the Meliponitae? Would they accept them, + would they make use of them, would they conform their habits to this + unwonted architecture? Questions, these, that we put to Very tiny + creatures; and yet they contain the great word of our greatest secrets. We + cannot answer them, for our experience dates but from yesterday. Starting + with Reaumur, about a hundred and fifty years have elapsed since the + habits of wild bees first received attention. Reaumur was acquainted with + only a few of them; we have since then observed a few more; but hundreds, + thousands perhaps, have hitherto been noticed only by hasty and ignorant + travellers. The habits of those that are known to us have undergone no + change since the author of the "Memoirs" published his valuable work; and + the humble-bees, all powdered with gold, and vibrant as the sun's + delectable murmur, that in the year 1730 gorged themselves with honey in + the gardens of Charenton, were absolutely identical with those that + to-morrow, when April returns, will be humming in the woods of Vincennes, + but a few yards away. From Reaumur's day to our own, however, is but as + the twinkling of an eye; and many lives of men, placed end to end, form + but a second in the history of Nature's thought. + </p> + <p> + {109} + </p> + <p> + Although the idea that our eyes have followed attains its supreme + expression in our domestic bees, it must not be inferred therefrom that + the hive reveals no faults. There is one masterpiece, the hexagonal cell, + that touches absolute perfection,—a perfection that all the geniuses + in the world, were they to meet in conclave, could in no way enhance. No + living creature, not even man, has achieved, in the centre of his sphere, + what the bee has achieved in her own; and were some one from another world + to descend and ask of the earth the most perfect creation of the logic of + life, we should needs have to offer the humble comb of honey. + </p> + <p> + But the level of this perfection is not maintained throughout. We have + already dealt with a few faults and shortcomings, evident sometimes and + sometimes mysterious, such as the ruinous superabundance and idleness of + the males, parthenogenesis, the perils of the nuptial flight, excessive + swarming, the absence of pity, and the almost monstrous sacrifice of the + individual to society. To these must be added a strange inclination to + store enormous masses of pollen, far in excess of their needs; for the + pollen, soon turning rancid, and hardening, encumbers the surface of the + comb; and further, the long sterile interregnum between the date of the + first swarm and the impregnation of the second queen, etc., etc. + </p> + <p> + Of these faults the gravest, the only one which in our climates is + invariably fatal, is the repeated swarming. But here we must bear in mind + that the natural selection of the domestic bee has for thousands of years + been thwarted by man. From the Egyptian of the time of Pharaoh to the + peasant of our own day, the bee-keeper has always acted in opposition to + the desires and advantages of the race. The most prosperous hives are + those which throw only one swarm after the beginning of summer. They have + fulfilled their maternal duties, assured the maintenance of the stock and + the necessary renewal of queens; they have guaranteed the future of the + swarm, which, being precocious and ample in numbers, has time to erect + solid and well-stored dwellings before the arrival of autumn. If left to + themselves, it is clear that these hives and their offshoots would have + been the only ones to survive the rigours of winter, which would almost + invariably have destroyed colonies animated by different instincts; and + the law of restricted swarming would therefore by slow degrees have + established itself in our northern races. But it is precisely these + prudent, opulent, acclimatised hives that man has always destroyed in + order to possess himself of their treasure. He has permitted only—he + does so to this day in ordinary practice—the feeblest colonies to + survive; degenerate stock, secondary or tertiary swarms, which have just + barely sufficient food to subsist through the winter, or whose miserable + store he will supplement perhaps with a few droppings of honey. The result + is, probably, that the race has grown feebler, that the tendency to + excessive swarming has been hereditarily developed, and that to-day almost + all our bees, particularly the black ones, swarm too often. For some years + now the new methods of "movable" apiculture have gone some way towards + correcting this dangerous habit; and when we reflect how rapidly + artificial selection acts on most of our domestic animals, such as oxen, + dogs, pigeons, sheep and horses, it is permissible to believe that we + shall before long have a race of bees that will entirely renounce natural + swarming and devote all their activity to the collection of honey and + pollen. + </p> + <p> + {110} + </p> + <p> + But for the other faults: might not an intelligence that possessed a + clearer consciousness of the aim of common life emancipate itself from + them? Much might be said concerning these faults, which emanate now from + what is unknown to us in the hive, now from swarming and its resultant + errors, for which we are partly to blame. But let every man judge for + himself, and, having seen what has gone before, let him grant or deny + intelligence to the bees, as he may think proper. I am not eager to defend + them. It seems to me that in many circumstances they give proof of + understanding, but my curiosity would not be less were all that they do + done blindly. It is interesting to watch a brain possessed of + extraordinary resources within itself wherewith it may combat cold and + hunger, death, time, space, and solitude, all the enemies of matter that + is springing to life; but should a creature succeed in maintaining its + little profound and complicated existence without overstepping the + boundaries of instinct, without doing anything but what is ordinary, that + would be very interesting too, and very extraordinary. Restore the + ordinary and the marvellous to their veritable place in the bosom of + nature, and their values shift; one equals the other. We find that their + names are usurped; and that it is not they, but the things we cannot + understand or explain that should arrest our attention, refresh our + activity, and give a new and juster form to our thoughts and feelings and + words. There is wisdom in attaching oneself to nought beside. + </p> + <p> + {111} + </p> + <p> + And further, our intellect is not the proper tribunal before which to + summon the bees, and pass their faults in review. Do we not find, among + ourselves, that consciousness and intellect long will dwell in the midst + of errors and faults without perceiving them, longer still without + effecting a remedy? If a being exist whom his destiny calls upon most + specially, almost organically, to live and to organise common life in + accordance with pure reason, that being is man. And yet see what he makes + of it, compare the mistakes of the hive with those of our own society. How + should we marvel, for instance, were we bees observing men, as we noted + the unjust, illogical distribution of work among a race of creatures that + in other directions appear to manifest eminent reason! We should find the + earth's surface, unique source of all common life, insufficiently, + painfully cultivated by two or three tenths of the whole population; we + should find another tenth absolutely idle, usurping the larger share of + the products of this first labour; and the remaining seven-tenths + condemned to a life of perpetual half-hunger, ceaselessly exhausting + themselves in strange and sterile efforts whereby they never shall profit, + but only shall render more complex and more inexplicable still the life of + the idle. We should conclude that the reason and moral sense of these + beings must belong to a world entirely different from our own, and that + they must obey principles hopelessly beyond our comprehension. But let us + carry this review of our faults no further. They are always present in our + thoughts, though their presence achieves but little. From century to + century only will one of them for a moment shake off its slumber, and send + forth a bewildered cry; stretch the aching arm that supported its head, + shift its position, and then lie down and fall asleep once more, until a + new pain, born of the dreary fatigue of repose, awaken it afresh. + </p> + <p> + {112} + </p> + <p> + The evolution of the Apiens, or at least of the Apitae, being admitted, or + regarded as more probable than that they should have remained stationary, + let us now consider the general, constant direction that this evolution + takes. It seems to follow the same roads as with ourselves. It tends + palpably to lessen the struggle, insecurity, and wretchedness of the race, + to augment authority and comfort, and stimulate favourable chances. To + this end it will unhesitatingly sacrifice the individual, bestowing + general strength and happiness in exchange for the illusory and mournful + independence of solitude. It is as though Nature were of the opinion with + which Thucydides credits Pericles: viz., that individuals are happier in + the bosom of a prosperous city, even though they suffer themselves, than + when individually prospering in the midst of a languishing state. It + protects the hardworking slave in the powerful city, while those who have + no duties, whose association is only precarious, are abandoned to the + nameless, formless enemies who dwell in the minutes of time, in the + movements of the universe, and in the recesses of space. This is not the + moment to discuss the scheme of nature, or to ask ourselves whether it + would be well for man to follow it; but it is certain that wherever the + infinite mass allows us to seize the appearance of an idea, the appearance + takes this road whereof we know not the end. Let it be enough that we note + the persistent care with which nature preserves, and fixes in the evolving + race, all that has been won from the hostile inertia of matter. She + records each happy effort, and contrives we know not what special and + benevolent laws to counteract the inevitable recoil. This progress, whose + existence among the most intelligent species can scarcely be denied, has + perhaps no aim beyond its initial impetus, and knows not whither it goes. + But at least, in a world where nothing save a few facts of this kind + indicates a precise will, it is significant enough that we should see + certain creatures rising thus, slowly and continuously; and should the + bees have revealed to us only this mysterious spiral of light in the + overpowering darkness, that were enough to induce us not to regret the + time we have given to their little gestures and humble habits, which seem + so far away and are yet so nearly akin to our grand passions and arrogant + destinies. + </p> + <p> + {113} + </p> + <p> + It may be that these things are all vain; and that our own spiral of + light, no less than that of the bees, has been kindled for no other + purpose save that of amusing the darkness. So, too, is it possible that + some stupendous incident may suddenly surge from without, from another + world, from a new phenomenon, and either inform this effort with + definitive meaning, or definitively destroy it. But we must proceed on our + way as though nothing abnormal could ever befall us. Did we know that + to-morrow some revelation, a message, for instance, from a more ancient, + more luminous planet than ours, were to root up our nature, to suppress + the laws, the passions, and radical truths of our being, our wisest plan + still would be to devote the whole of to-day to the study of these + passions, these laws, and these truths, which must blend and accord in our + mind; and to remain faithful to the destiny imposed on us, which is to + subdue, and to some extent raise within and around us the obscure forces + of life. + </p> + <p> + None of these, perhaps, will survive the new revelation; but the soul of + those who shall up to the end have fulfilled the mission that is + pre-eminently the mission of man, must inevitably be in the front rank of + all to welcome this revelation; and should they learn therefrom that + indifference, or resignation to the unknown, is the veritable duty, they + will be better equipped than the others for the comprehension of this + final resignation and indifference, better able to turn these to account. + </p> + <p> + {114} + </p> + <p> + But such speculations may well be avoided. Let not the possibility of + general annihilation blur our perception of the task before us; above all, + let us not count on the miraculous aid of chance. Hitherto, the promises + of our imagination notwithstanding, we have always been left to ourselves, + to our own resources. It is to our humblest efforts that every useful, + enduring achievement of this earth is due. It is open to us, if we choose, + to await the better or worse that may follow some alien accident, but on + condition that such expectation shall not hinder our human task. Here + again do the bees, as Nature always, provide a most excellent lesson. In + the hive there has truly been prodigious intervention. The bees are in the + hands of a power capable of annihilating or modifying their race, of + transforming their destinies; the bees' thraldom is far more definite than + our own. Therefore none the less do they perform their profound and + primitive duty. And, among them, it is precisely those whose obedience to + duty is most complete who are able most fully to profit by the + supernatural intervention that to-day has raised the destiny of their + species. And indeed, to discover the unconquerable duty of a being is less + difficult than one imagines. It is ever to be read in the distinguishing + organs, whereto the others are all subordinate. And just as it is written + in the tongue, the stomach, and mouth of the bee that it must make honey, + so is it written in our eyes, our ears, our nerves, our marrow, in every + lobe of our head, that we must make cerebral substance; nor is there need + that we should divine the purpose this substance shall serve. The bees + know not whether they will eat the honey they harvest, as we know not who + it is shall reap the profit of the cerebral substance we shall have + formed, or of the intelligent fluid that issues therefrom and spreads over + the universe, perishing when our life ceases or persisting after our + death. As they go from flower to flower collecting more honey than + themselves and their offspring can need, let us go from reality to reality + seeking food for the incomprehensible flame, and thus, certain of having + fulfilled our organic duty, preparing ourselves for whatever befall. Let + us nourish this flame on our feelings and passions, on all that we see and + think, that we hear and touch, on its own essence, which is the idea it + derives from the discoveries, experience and observation that result from + its every movement. A time then will come when all things will turn so + naturally to good in a spirit that has given itself to the loyal desire of + this simple human duty, that the very suspicion of the possible + aimlessness of its exhausting effort will only render the duty the + clearer, will only add more purity, power, disinterestedness, and freedom + to the ardour wherewith it still seeks. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_APPE" id="link2H_APPE"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + APPENDIX + </h2> + <p> + TO give a complete bibliography of the bee were outside the scope of this + book; we shall be satisfied, therefore, merely to indicate the more + interesting works:— + </p> + <p> + 1. The Historical Development of Apiarian Science: + </p> + <p> + (a) The ancient writers: Aristotle, "History of Animals" (Trans. Bart. St. + Hilaire); T. Varro, "De Agricultura," L. III. xvi.; Pliny, "Hist. Nat.," + L. xi.; Columella, "De Re Rustica;" "Palladius, "De Re Rustica," L. I. + xxxvii., etc. + </p> + <p> + (b) The moderns: Swammerdam, "Biblia Naturae," 1737; Maraldi, + "Observations sur les Abeilles," 1712; Reaumur, "Memoires pour servir a + l'Histoire des Insectes," 1740; Ch. Bonnet, "OEuvres d'Histoire + Naturelle," 1779-1783; A. G. Schirach, "Physikalische Untersuchung der + bisher unbekannten aber nachher entdeckten Erzeugung der Bienen-mutter," + 1767; J. Hunter, "On Bees" (Philosophical Transactions, 1732); J. A. + Janscha, "Hinterlassene Vollstandige Lehre von der Bienenzucht," 1773; + Francois Huber, "Nouvelles Observations sur les Abeilles," 1794, etc. + </p> + <p> + 2. Practical Apiculture: + </p> + <p> + Dzierzon, "Theorie und Praxis des neuen Bienenfreundes;" Langstroth, "The + Honeybee"(translated into French by Ch. Dadant: "L'Abeille et la Ruche," + which corrects and completes the original); Georges de Layens and Bonnier, + "Cours Complet d'Apiculture;" Frank Cheshire, "Bees and Bee-keeping" (vol. + ii.—Practical); Dr. E. Bevan, "The Honey-bee;" T. W. Cowan, "The + British Bee-keeper's Guidebook;" A. Root, "The A B C of Bee-Culture;" + Henry Alien, "The Bee-keeper's Handy-book;" L'Abbe Collin, "Guide du + Proprietaire des Abeilles;" Ch. Dadant, "Petit Cours d'Apiculture + Pratique;" Ed. Bertrand, "Conduite du Rucher;" Weber, "Manuel pratique + d'Apiulture;" Hamet, "Cours Complet d'Api-culture;" De Bauvoys, "Guide de + l'Apiculteur;" Pollmann, "Die Biene und ihre Zucht;" Jeker, Kramer, and + Theiler, "Der Schweizerische Bienenvater;" S. Simmins, "A Modern Bee + Farm;" F. W. Vogel, "Die Honigbiene und die Vermehrung der Bienvolker;" + Baron A. Von Berlepsch, "Die Biene und ihre Frucht," etc. + </p> + <p> + 3. General Monographs: + </p> + <p> + F. Cheshire, "Bees and Bee-keeping" (vol. i.—Scientific); T. W. + Cowan, "The Honey-bee;" J. Perez, "Les Abeilles;" Girard, "Manuel + d'Apiculture" (Les Abeilles, Organes et Fonctions); Schuckard, "British + Bees;" Kirby and Spence, "Introduction to Entomology;" Girdwoyn, "Anatomie + et Physiologic de l'Abeille;" F. Cheshire, "Diagrams on the Anatomy of the + Honeybee;" Gunderach, "Die Naturgeschichte der Honigbiene;" L. Buchner, + "Geistes-leben der Thiere;" O. Butschli, "Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der + Biene;" J. D. Haviland, "The Social Instincts of Bees, their Origin and + Natural Selection." + </p> + <p> + 4. Special Monographs (Organs, Functions, Undertakings, etc.): + </p> + <p> + F. Dujardin, "Memoires sur le Systeme nerveux des Insectes;" Dumas and + Milne Edwards, "Sur la Production de la Cire des Abeilles;" E. Blanchard, + "Recherches anatomiques sur le Systeme nerveux des Insectes;" L. R. D. + Brougham, "Observations, Demonstrations, and Experiences upon the + Structure of the Cells of Bees;" P. Cameron, "On Parthenogenesis in the + Hymenoptera" (Transactions Natural Society of Glasgow, 1888); Erichson, + "De Fabrica et Usu Antennarum in Insectis;" B. T. Lowne, "On the Simple + and Compound Eyes of Insects "(Philosophical Transactions, 1879); G. K. + Waterhouse, "On the Formation of the Cells of Bees and Wasps;" Dr. C. T. + E. von Siebold, "On a True Parthenogenesis in Moths and Bees;" F. Leydig, + "Das Auge der Gliederthiere;" Pastor Schonfeld, "Bienen-Zeitung," 1854—1883; + "Illustrierte Bienen-Zeitung," 1885-1890; Assmuss, "Die Parasiten der + Honig-biene." + </p> + <p> + 5. Notes on Melliferous Hymenoptera: + </p> + <p> + E. Blanchard, "Metamorphoses, Moeurs et Instincts des Insectes;" Vid: + "Histoire des Insectes;" Darwin, "Origin of Species;" Fabre, "Souvenirs + Entomologiques" (3d series); Romanes, "Mental Evolution in Animals;" id., + "Animal Intelligence;" Lepeletier et Fargeau, "Histoire Naturelle des + Hymenopteres;" V. Mayet, "Memoire sur les Moeurs et sur les Metamorphoses + d'une Nouvelle Espece de la Famille des Vesicants" (Ann. Soc. Entom. de + France, 1875); H. Muller, "Ein Beitrag zur Lebensgeschichte der Dasypoda + Hirtipes;" E. Hoffer, "Biologische Beobachtungen an Hummeln und + Schmarotzerhummeln;" Jesse, "Gleanings in Natural History;" Sir John + Lubbock, "Ants, Bees, and Wasps;" id., "The Senses, Instincts, and + Intelligence of Animals;" Walkenaer, "Les Haclites;" Westwood, + "Introduction to the Study of Insects;" V. Rendu, "De l'Intelligence des + Betes;" Espinas, "Animal Communities," etc. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Life of the Bee, by Maurice Maeterlinck + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF THE BEE *** + +***** This file should be named 4511-h.htm or 4511-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/5/1/4511/ + +Produced by Steve Solomon and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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