The life of bees. Maurice Maeterlinck

The life of bees, "an aerial, optimistic and exterior world", is studied by the poet with the science and patience of an entomologist and with precision and ingenuity, the writer observes life inside and outside the hive, and studies its desires, observe its ways and consider its mysteries. The life of that kingdom of the swarm is always presided over by a queen that Maeterlinck studies with respect and courtesy: her customs, her treatment of bees, her faithful custody by workers and soldiers, her luxury, her tyrannical preeminence, her nuptial flights and even his death are described with singular meticulousness and criteria. It shows us surprising secrets of that regulated and perfect world, and makes reading dramatic and even gruesome, as well as understandable. The life of these "almost human creatures possessed by the feeling of duty" is shown to us in all its complexity through the magical filter of this prodigious book.