HONEY-SEEKING 



The Bees' Day 



The bees' short day is over now long before the 

 birds'. They begin to come from the hive at about 

 eleven in the morning, and by three are all back 

 up in the wondrous cluster amid the golden combs. 

 They may find a little honey in the winter jessamine, 

 but the Portugal laurels are the chief allurement in 

 shrubbery and garden, and the honey even here can 

 hardly be worth seeking. One theory about the 

 coming forth of the hive bees on a bright winter 

 day is that they have the desire or will for exercise ; 

 that they take their short flights for the joy of 

 the flying and of the delicious sun. But is it not 

 likelier that their supreme purpose is honey-seeking ? 

 And do they remember, when they issue from the 

 hive in January or February, some of their sources 

 of supply of last autumn ? I notice some of my 

 bees, after the usual sweeping circle or two over 

 the hive, fly ofF towards a farm garden a mile away ; 

 others make towards the village ; some roam no 

 farther than the Portugal laurel near their hive. 

 Some that dare the January or February day may 

 never return. If a heavy cloud come over the sun, 

 or a white mist suddenly sweep over the land, the 

 bee, a mile from home, however she hasten back, is 

 in danger to perish. Perhaps she falls in the grass 

 under the very hive, and is chilled to death within 

 a foot or so of the cluster within. 



But death comes not always swift and merciful 

 when the bee is stricken by the cold. I noticed 



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