THE LIFE OF A BEE 



rest, but I seemed to wander as in a dream. All the 

 while the desire possessed me to fly farther and farther 

 away. Had I, too, lived out my period of usefulness? 

 But Crip said that I had not, and I acted in this faith. 



On my next excursion into the fields I felt a tremor 

 in the air such as I remembered from another time, 

 when the storm had broken. Black clouds, too, 

 loomed on the horizon and little snake-like flames 

 crawled in and out among them. This time I was not 

 so eager to secure a load, and made off with all pos- 

 sible speed. Scarcely had I reached home when the 

 rain began to fall in sheets and the thunder rattled 

 frightfully. In a little while it was over; the sky was 

 clear, but a dreadful wind from the north blew like a 

 hurricane and it grew cold. By the next day it was 

 so cold that we formed a cluster about the brood in order 

 to keep it warm. We, too, were cold, and not a bee 

 ventured from the hive. 



Three days passed ere it was warm enough for us 

 to look outside; and when I saw the world again, 

 truly I was shocked. Everything was black and bare. 



"The frost has fallen, not a flower remains alive," 

 mournfully exclaimed one of the nurses. 



This was surely the winter of which I had heard so 

 much. Happily, the Master came to our assistance by 

 closing the door of our house, leaving but the smallest 

 hole for our passage. This helped greatly in the matter 

 of our keeping warm when the northers swooped upon us. 



The season now alternated between moderately 

 warm days and biting weeks of cold. On all days fit 

 for flight, we sailed into the air for exercise and for 

 the care of our bodies. 



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