PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 173 



in a more ample field ; but tlie spectacles you will be- 

 hold during our excursion will repay, I promise you, 

 any delay or trouble it may occasion. 



When I consider the proceedings of these little crea- 

 tures, both in the hive and out of it, they are so nume- 

 rous and multifarious, that I scarcely know where to be- 

 gin. You have already, howevei", heai'd much of their 

 internal labours, in the care and nurture of the young ; 

 the construction of their combs*; and their proceedings 

 with respect to their queens and their paramours. It 

 will therefore change the scene a little, if we accompany 

 them in their excursions to collect the various substances 

 of which they have need''. On these occasions the prin- 

 cipal object of the bees is to furnish themselves with 

 three different materials : — the nectar of flowers, from 

 which they elaborate honey and wax ; the pollen or fer- 



» Vol. 1.376— and 487— 



t" The following beautiful lines by Professor Smyth are extremely 

 applicable to this part of a bee's labours : 



" Thou cheerful Bee ! come, freely come. 

 And travel round my woodbine bower ! 

 Delight me with thy wandering hum, 



And rouse me from my musing hour; 

 Oh ! try no more those tedious fields. 

 Come taste the sweets my garden yields : 

 The treasures of each blooming mine, 

 The bud, the blossom, — all are thine. 



" And careless of this noon-tide heat, 

 I'll follow as thy ramble guides ; 

 To watch thee pause and chafe thy feet, 



And sweep them o'er thy downy sides : 

 Then in a flower's bell nestling lie. 

 And all thy envied ardor ply 1 

 Then o'er the stem, tho' fair it grow, 

 With touch rejecting, glance, and go. 



" O Nature 



