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THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



taken there was a nice colony of bees, 

 and all the combs were intact except 

 the one next to the hive, which had 

 been melted down. 



These bees, as soon as the hive be- 

 came scorching hot, must have gone 

 into the business of v^entilating with the 



to keep down the internal temperature 

 of the colony, even though the outside 

 of the hive was afire. It will be noticed 

 that the entrance is % by the width of 

 the hive, and that would afiford ample 

 ventilation. If it had been contracted 

 down to the usual space, in all probabil- 



TIIE BEES THAT KEPT THE INSIDE OF THE HH'E COOL IN SPITE OF THE FIRE. 



knowledge that the flames of hades 

 were after them. The men who fought 

 heroically to keep down the big lumber 

 fire could not have worked harder, and 

 every bee must have gone into the busi- 

 ness of fanning, blowing a current of 

 cold air into the hive and the warm air 

 out. It surely was a life-and-death 

 struggle. 



We have heard of instances where 

 colonies left out in the hot sun have 

 had their combs melted down ; but evi- 

 dently they had a restricted entrance.. 

 or too many bees in the fields, to keep 

 up the necessary ventilation. 



Why the hive here shown did not 

 burn up entirely will remain an unsolv- 

 ed mystery, unless we admit that a 

 good colony can do more in ventilating 

 than we usually give it credit for. It is 

 possible and even probable that some 

 ,|rj^eman, seeing the plight of the hive, 

 Hashed a pail of water on it and thus 

 saved for us a relic that is exceedingly 

 valuable in showing the power of bees 



ity the combs would have melted down 

 and the bees been destroyed. — Glean- 

 ings in Bee Culture. 



Griffith Taylor, who was one of the 

 scientific staff of Captain Scott's final 

 polar trip, calls attention to the fact 

 that microscopic life swarms in the 

 south polar seas "to an infinitely great- 

 er extent than in the warmer waters 

 of the tropics, "so that" there is almost 

 as much protoplasm per acre of ocean 

 as there is in a well-cultivated crop on 

 land.,, — (Science, Dec 15, 1916. p. 

 860) 



Wild Azalea. 



When dogwood, like the drifted snow, 

 Makes all the woodlands white, 



Tis then the wild azalia bloom 

 First bursts upon the sight. 



Aglow, like Diana from her bath, 



All rosy she is seen: 

 First Maid of Honor she becomes 



To Cornel Woodland Queen. 



— Emma Peircc. 



