THE LIFE OF A BEE 



having wasted a few minutes, and I resolved then and 

 there that the next time I should be first. 



Another thing I noticed, we were flying very low, 

 so near the earth we almost brushed the tops of the 

 bushes. I asked Crip the reason. 



''The wind," he answered, in better humor than 

 could have been expected. "Don't you feel that 

 heavy head current ? If you should go up it would be 

 a hard fight home with these loads. You see, there are 

 currents and currents," he went on, "and you must 

 use your wits. Take the current that blows your way. 

 Profit by whatever nature bestows." 



Almost at once I saw the yard with its white hives, 

 like dots, and the Master with the Little One and the 

 dog that seemed always with them. The next moment 

 Crip and I were dropping down to our hive. I was 

 overjoyed when I fell upon the alighting-board, and 

 could not restrain my exuberance of feeling. So I 

 bowed my head humbly as best I might with the 

 load I carried, uttering a hymn of thanksgiving the 

 very hymn, Crip told me, that every worker for a 

 million years had uttered on returning to his hive with 

 his first load of honey. I cannot explain, but some 

 mysterious force seized me, compelling me to bow my 

 head and to sing. I should have done it had it cost 

 my life. Such is the law of the hive, just as there is 

 the law of the jungle. I did not know why I was so 

 happy , but something bubbled over in me, and the 

 very intoxication of it finally sent me running madly 

 to deposit my load in a waiting cell, and once more to 

 take wing for the field of the flowers of the sun. 



