78 AN IDYL OF THE HONEY-BEE. 



out the bees with a dipper, and taken the whole 

 home with me in pretty good condition, with scarcely 

 any opposition on the part of the bees. In reach- 

 ing your hand into the cavity to detach and remove 

 the comb you are pretty sure to get stung, for when 

 you touch the " business end " of a bee, it will sting 

 even though its head be off. But the bee carries the 

 antidote to its own poison. The best remedy for bee 

 sting is honey, and when your hands are besmeared 

 with honey, as they are sure to be on such occasions, 

 the wound is scarcely more painful than the prick of 

 a piri. Assault your bee-tree, then, boldly with your 

 ax, and you will find that when the honey is exposed 

 every bee has surrendered and the whole swarm is 

 cowering in helpless bewilderment and terror. Our 

 tree yields only a few pounds of honey, not enough 

 to have lasted the swarm till January, but no matter : 

 we have the less burden to carry. 



In the afternoon we go nearly half a mile farther 

 along the ridge to a corn-field that lies immediately 

 in front of the highest point of the mountain. The 

 view is superb ; the ripe autumn landscape rolls away 

 to the east, cut through by the great placid river ; in 

 the extreme north the wall of the Catskills stands out 

 clear and strong, while in the south the mountains 

 of the Highlands bound the view. The day is warm 

 and the bees are very busy there in that neglected 

 corner of the field, rich in asters, flea-bane, and 

 golden-rod. The corn has been cut, and upon a stout 

 but a few rods from the woods, which here drop 



