Evening star., 1949-08-22
This and That


Two casualties have resulted from the
work Of the hornets in the living room
One specimen died and lay fiat on his
back after q days crawling on the screen.
Immediately another hornet detached
himself from the nest and examined the
dead. s...s~..... rs aA.
We thought for time he was going to
devo,r him. 50 necessarily did his legs and
feelers play over the corpse.
The inspector, however. soon left. and
there the dead wasp still lies, fiat on his
back, his little eyes staring into infinity.
Whether this death was a sort Of banish-
ment and punishment for some infraction
of the laws Of the hive, 1t is impossible to
say.
Perhaps the offender violated some edict
of the Great Voice. the Uncle Joe of the
aggregation, whom instinct tells them
Knows All, Sees All, Hears AL.
Maybe this hornet Uncle Joe saw too
much.
dead. dat on his back on the window sill.
We cannot be sure that this was the
specimen that came staggering in one after
noon with great grub in its case.
The case was pea green, transparent and
it was all the hornet could do to carry it.
There are two entrances to the cell block,
situated in the corner of the window. One
is at the top, left. and the other at the top,
right. Just above the cells.
Half these cells, or IL in number, at the
bottom. are capped with white wax. while
the others evidently are filled with food.
probably stung spiders
The hornet with the grub case went back
and forth across the screen, dragging his
prize.
Or was it a prize?
No sooner had he laboriously approached
the nest, than q black and red fellow de.
tached himself from the crawling cell block,
alive with seven others, and darted at the
newcomer and his burden.
The grub case fell to the window sill.
The attacked hornet flew across the two
inch space between the window pane and
the screen.
He did not battle the attacker, and the
latter Immediately went back to the cell
block.
The one that had brought the grub did
not return to it. It lay as it fell, of to one
side at the other end.
Nothing these creatures do, except at the
cell block. seems to have any reason to it.
One would pronounce them dumb, almost
witless; but the fact that hornets have ex-
listed for thousands Of years speaks other
wise.
The grub case darkened over night, and
the tnclosed grub was easier seen.
AT waking up period, at dawn, the cells
are quiet. with two wasps at the top, and
the rest OF the hornets clustered over the
capped cells, in defensive position.
This Is their only wisdom, evidently.
Notnlng else counts. They can be as non
intelligent as they wish about everything
else. even the bringing in Of food. This one
thing they must do according to immutabIe
decree.
few days later there was another dead
hornet
Was this. too. penalty for some infrac-
ton OF laws known only to wasps?
Or was this individual simply oldp
Two or three months in the life of wasp
Is equivalent to SO to so years in the life Of
human being.
Perhaps this specimen had died as the
result Of his labors. and now lay there on
his back, his chitin or plastic outer cover
ing keeping him fresh looking, like an
Egyptian mummy.
Life went On In and over the cell blocks
as usual The hornets incessantly ran their
feelers over the capped cells. Time, the
mystery Of the ages. had not run out for
them. There was still time TO reveal the
contents Of the cells. 10 seek dying place
Ii the autumn. There u always time enough
left for the thing that must b dons.