, Old Mother Nature 139 



pointed with the results. In the first place, even if we killed 

 off all of the insects in the United States, we would soon find 

 billions of insect immigrants entering this country from Can- 

 ada and Mexico. But, of even greater importance is the 

 fact that we could not kill all the insects. Some species are 

 quite resistant to DDT and would survive the attack; and 

 even among those species that are readily killed, a few in- 

 dividuals are bound to escape. And even if 99 % of the in- 

 sects of a certain species were killed, it would not take long 

 for the remaining 1 % to re-establish the species on a large 

 scale. 



The Busy Bee 



From the movies, the radio, the newspapers, and the 

 pulp magazines, our children learn the facts of life at an 

 early age. To an older generation, the sweet little story of 

 the busy bees carrying pollen from the papa flowers to the 

 mamma flowers was the approved method of introducing a 

 child to the mysteries of sex. Actually, however, the child 

 who listened patiently to this roundabout explanation un- 

 doubtedly learned much more from certain words scrawled 

 upon the sidewalks and walls of outdoor toilets. 



And how often have we been told to follow the ex- 

 ample of the bee and keep busy all the time? That's bad 

 advice! The bee may keep busy buzzing around all day, 

 but he doesn't accomplish much for his efforts; and in that 

 respect he isn't much different from the supposedly more in- 

 telligent human beings. But all this is beside the point. 



Although a bee's sting is a very unpleasant experience, 

 we must admit that bees are useful inseas. We are all 

 familiar with the produa of the honeybee, and we wouldn't 



