The apple tree answered:
“No; you have come too early. My blossoms are still buds and so I have nothing for you. Go to the cherry tree.”
He flew to the cherry tree and said, “Dear cherry tree, have you any honey for a hungry bee?”
The cherry tree answered:
“Come again to-morrow; to-day my blossoms are shut up, but when they are open you are welcome to them.”
Then he flew to a bed of tulips nearby. They had large, beautiful flowers, but there was neither sweetness nor perfume in them and he could not find any honey.
Tired and hungry, the poor bee turned to seek his home, when a tiny dark blue flower, beside a hedge, caught his eye.
It was a violet that was all ready for the bee’s coming. The violet opened its cup of sweetness. The bee drank his fill, and carried some honey to the hive.
—Selected and Adapted