than wit, they dance a little glide back and forth, and fan as if they thought they were really accomplishing something.
The young worker usually takes her first flight when she has had her wings for about a week; she runs out on the threshold of the hive on some pleasant afternoon, and may be easily recognised, as she is callowness incarnate. She runs around a little, giving the impression of holding on with all her six feet as if scared, and then she lifts herself gingerly to see whether she truly can use her wings; then she circles around in great joy and learns to know well the place where her hive stands. About a week later she goes out into the wide world to seek her fortune and is likely to come back with a little load of pollen on her legs. When she comes back thus laden she buzzes around before alighting, and then rushes into the hive excited and delighted with her achievement, and as Mr. Root says so graphically, "tries her best to show off." Soon after, she becomes a staid worker and plays her part in the economy of the hive by bringing in honey, pollen, and propolis, secreting wax if need be, ready to defend her colony at the cost of her life, and so courageous that she as readily attacks a man as a mouse. Later it may fall to her lot to become executioner of her brother drones, or to devote herself to the queen and help lead out the swarm; or, by some mysterious election of the hive, she may be sent as a scout to find a proper home for her queen and her colony after they have swarmed. She is at the height of her powers and
