Many different species of ants are known, all interesting for their singular ways of living. The foraging or slave-making ants of Africa go to war against other ants. Such foraging trips are carried on with remarkable discipline, and the warriors may be seen returning, a triumphant army, bearing the eggs and larvæ of the enemy, which they nurse and bring up as slaves. These slave makers are large and powerful Ecitons, the dominant race of the ants.
Fig. 247.—Honey ants.
Among the slave-making ants the owners often become so dependent upon the slaves that they are almost helpless, and would starve were it not for these dependents. The so-called honey ants of Texas exhibit some remarkable traits in the manner of their lives (Fig. 247). These ants, which I have observed in the Garden of the Gods, Colorado, select certain individuals as storehouses and supply them with honey until the abdomen is expanded to many times its size, resembling a bottle. The ants when filled are placed in a compartment made for the purpose, and there hung to the wall, animated honey jars, which are taken down and made to give up their sweets as occasion demands. These honey balls are considered a delicacy in Mexico, and are served as dessert.
Among the ants, those of Texas known as the agricultural ants are remarkable for their intelligence. They are farmers, laying out places which they cultivate with a certain plant, which is especially to their taste, just as farmers plant corn.
XXIX. THE BEES AND WASPS
In almost every flower bed in the garden we shall find the bees, examples of tireless energy, storing up honey for their young in such vast quantities that the surplus forms a valuable food supply for man as well. The nests of bees are systematically robbed of their stores, and for this purpose the insects are supplied with artificial nests or hives, in which they deposit their honey, entirely for the benefit of mankind. Here we see a singular limitation placed upon intelligence. The intelligence of bees is wonderful and amazing. Many of their acts and works suggest those of human beings, yet when the time comes for thinking after the fashion of men, the bees are lacking. They go on storing honey in artificial hives without being able to bridge the mental chasm and perceive that they are being robbed and made to work as virtual slaves. Hence we assume that the intelligence of bees is not on the same plane as that of human beings. They appear to be acting upon a strong instinct which impels them to perform acts which seem intelligent.
