82 AN IDYL OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



Btinct is to fall to and fill themselves ; this done, their 

 next thought is to carry it home, so they rise up 

 slowly through the branches of the trees till they 

 have attained an altitude that enables them to survey 

 the scene, when they seem to say, " Why, this is 

 home," and down they come again; beholding the 

 wreck and ruins once more they still think there is 

 some mistake, and get up a second or a third time 

 and then drop back pitifully as before. It is the 

 most pathetic sight of all, the surviving and bewil- 

 dered bees struggling to save a few drops of their 

 wasted treasures. 



Presently if there is another swarm in the woods 

 robber-bees appear. You may know them by their 

 saucy, chiding, devil-may-care hum. It is an ill wind 

 that blows nobody good, and they make the most of 

 the misfortune of their neighbors ; and thereby pave 

 the way for their own ruin. The hunter marks their 

 course and the next day looks them up. On this oc- 

 casion the day was hot and the honey very fragrant, 

 and a line of bees was soon established S. S. W. 

 Though there was much refuse honey in the old 

 stub, and though little golden rills trickled down the 

 hill from it, and the near branches and saplings were 

 besmeared with it where we wiped our murderous 

 hands, yet not a drop was wasted. It was a feast to 

 which not only honey-bees came, but bumble-bees, 

 wasps, hornets, flies, ants. The bumble-bees, which 

 at this season are hungry vagrants with no fixed 

 place of abode, would gorge themselves, then creep 



