46 IRambles witb IRature Students 



This habit of the bee is alluded to in Deut 

 i. 44, 'The Amorites, which dwelt in that mountain, 

 came out against you, and chased you, as bees do/ 



As we think of the life-history of the queen wasp, 

 and how, as soon as she wakes from her winter's 

 sleep, she sets about forming a nest, laying her eggs, 

 and when the young are hatched feeding and 

 watching over them with patient mother-love, and 

 all this entirely by herself, guided only by the 

 wonderful instinct with which she has been endowed 

 by the Creator, I think we can but admire the 

 qualities she possesses. And further, when we see the 

 marvellous industry of a colony of wasps how they 

 also carry out the various useful purposes for which 

 they were created, clearing away dead wood, reducing 

 the hosts of flics, and eating many substances that 

 would otherwise tend to pollute the air we shall, 

 I hope, henceforth look with different eyes upon 

 the persecuted wasp, and instead of showing a 

 foolish dread of its presence, learn to watch its 

 curious ways, and recognise that it is faithfully 

 doing, in its humble sphere, the work that has been 

 assigned to it. 



