“Pray, father, do some pity take,

And I will no more verses make.”

Sensibility.—A lady, who made pretensions to the most refined feelings, went to her butcher to remonstrate with him on his cruel practices. “How,” said she, “can you be so barbarous as to put little lambs to death?” “Why not, madam,” said the butcher, “you would not eat them alive, would you?”

1.Bees making wax.4.Drone.7.Death’s-head moth.
2.Working bee.5.Humble bee.8.Honey guide.
3.Queen bee.6.Mason bee.9.Honey ratel.

Bees.

There are several kinds of bees; the most interesting species of which is the honey bee. Small and insignificant as this little creature might appear to be, it is one of the most wonderful animals in the world. Many of them live in a wild state and make their hives in hollow trees. In America, and other countries, there are persons who devote themselves to finding these hives for the sake of the honey. One of the most common methods adopted is to place some bee-bread, in order to tempt the bees, on a flat board or tile, and draw a circle round it with white paint. The bee always settles upon the edge of anything flat, so she must travel through the paint to reach the bee-bread. When she flies away, the white on her body enables the observer to trace her flight, and her course is marked down with a pocket compass. The same thing is done at another spot, some distance from the first, and by comparing the direction of the two lines, the situation of the nest is easily found, as it must be at the point, where, if continued, the lines would meet. In Africa, the bee hunter is aided by a little bird called the honey guide. In the same country the honey ratel will sit and hold one of his paws before his eyes, about the time of sunset, in order to get a distinct view of the objects of his pursuit; and when he sees any bees flying, he knows that at that hour they are returning home, and so he follows them.

The domestic bees afford a good opportunity for studying the habits of this wonderful race of insects. Three kinds of bees are discovered in the hive; the drone, the queen bee, and working bee. The drones are the fathers of the young bees, and live an idle life. They are larger than the rest, and make a louder hum in flying. The queen is the mother of the young bees, and governs the hive. The subjects are much attached to her.

If she dies, the whole community is thrown into the greatest agitation, and those which first find out what is the matter, run about the hive in a furious manner, touching every companion they meet with their little horns or feelers, which are called antennæ. These in their turn run about in the same manner, and inform others of the sad event, till the whole hive is in confusion. This agitation lasts four or five hours, after which the bees begin to take measures for repairing their loss. Nothing can be more extraordinary than the way in which they proceed. They build several cells, which are much larger than the common ones, and of a different form. Having removed one of the worker worms into each of these, they feed it with a particular kind of food, and in a few days it grows larger, and at length comes out a queen. One of these becomes the sovereign of the hive.