"Third--and to me, the most important--the bees possess a remarkable
combination of community life and specialization. Of course, when
you come to analyze these two points, you see that they really
belong to one another. The bees we know, for instance, are either
queens, whose only function is to fertilize the eggs; or workers,
who are unsexed females, and whose sole occupations are the
collecting of honey, the building of hives, and the care of the
young.
"Now," speaking carefully, "apparently these Sanusian bees have
developed something that is not unknown to certain forms of earth's
insect life. I mean, a soldier type. A kind of bee which specializes
on fighting!"
Van Emmon was listening closely, yet he had got another idea:
"Perhaps this soldier type is simply the plain worker bee, all gone
to sting! It may be that these bees have given up labor altogether!"
"Still," muttered Smith, under his breath, "all this doesn't solve
the real problem. Why aren't the HUMANS supreme?" For once he became
emphatic.
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