THE PASTORAL BEES. 



THE honey-bee goes forth from the hive in spring 

 like the dove from Noah's ark, and it is not till 

 after many days that she brings back the olive leaf, 

 which in this case is a pellet of golden pollen upon 

 each hip, usually obtained from the alder or swamp 

 willow. In a country where maple sugar is made 

 the bees get their first taste of sweet from the sap 

 as it flows from the spiles, or as it dries and is con- 

 densed upon the sides of the buckets. They will 

 sometimes, in their eagerness, come about the boil- 

 ing place and be overwhelmed by the steam and the 

 smoke. But bees appear to be more eager for bread 

 in the spring than for honey; their supply of this 

 article, perhaps, does not keep as well as their stores 

 of the latter ; hence fresh bread, in the shape of new 

 pollen, is diligently sought for. My bees get their 

 first supplies from the catkins of the willows. How 

 quickly they find them out. If but one catkin opens 

 anywhere within range a bee is on hand that very 

 hour to rifle it, and it is a most pleasing experience 

 to stand near the hive some mild April day and see 



