A science fiction novel by prominent American author Frank Herbert, telling the story of an incredible and successful experiment in transforming humans into ants. Near a provincial American town, an enormous underground city has been built β a true hive β inhabited by strange people. Several hundred years ago they took insect colonies as the model for their society. The inhabitants of the hive are divided into sexless and mindless workers, breeding females, and "operatives" who shield the Hive in the "wild" outside world.