THE WORKER BEE
On Plate V. is shown an illustration of the worker bee, which is the
smallest inhabitant of the hive, but, nevertheless, does the greatest
amount of work. We have already seen that there are many thousands of
workers in a hive, and that each one has certain duties assigned to
her. All are busy, and they work as though the future of the whole hive
depended on their labours--as indeed it does. Each worker seems to
be trying to outdo the others, in the endeavour to see how much work
she can crowd into her little life. Laziness is unknown, and should a
bee become so badly injured from any cause as not to be able to work,
she is put to death, for the government of the bee-city has plenty of
mouths to fill, without any useless ones. To us this may seem cruel,
but we must admit that it is economical.
The duties of the workers are numerous. There are the water carriers,
to supply the hive with water; the nurse bees, to look after the young
ones; the foragers, who gather nectar and pollen. Then there are the
builders, architects, undertakers, scavengers, chemists, and soldiers.
Lastly there are the house bees and the ventilating bees.
Each bee is allocated to one or another of these trades, and each one
seems to know exactly how to do the work, and always seems to be doing
it! There is no quarrelling as to who shall gather pollen, or who shall
guard the city, for all is arranged by some mysterious law.