e Journal 



46th Year 



CHICAGO, ILL., AUG. 30, 1906 



No. 35 



ABOUT A BEE 



(Nature Study for Young People) 

 BY EUGENE SECOR 



Here's a bee, my children, see? 

 Gath'ring sweets for you and me. 

 On Sir Dandy Lion's crown 

 She is yellow, that was brown ; 

 Yellow with the golden dust 

 Lent to her in solemn trust; 

 Blossoms bart'ring gold for gold 

 Thro' this dusty trader bold. 

 Dandy Lion seeks a bride, 

 Sends his off'rings far and wide 

 By his trusty friend, the bee, 

 And with honey pays the fee. 



II 



See her double pairs of wings ! 

 And they are such perfect things- 

 Airships are as poky snails 

 Where she spreads her gauzy sails; 

 While they're getting underway, 

 Miles she'll go and call it play. 



Ill 



Hairy legs are good for bees, 



Therefore she has six of these. 



She has baskets on her knees 



T' carry bread for baby bees. 



She has hook6 upon her toes — 



Uses them to climb, and knows 



How to make a ladder where 



Others need a boost or stair. 



By these hooks bees hang like strings, 



Clasping others' legs or wings. 



IV 



See her suck the honey up 

 From Sir Dandy Lion's cup ! 

 Could you see her hollow tongue 

 You'd imagine she is young. 

 Sucking "lemo" thro' a straw- 

 Finest drink you ever saw i 

 Yes, but her's is ready-made, 

 And beats any lemonade; 

 Sugar'd just to suit her taste — 

 Is it strange that she makes haste ! 

 She'll go home and tell the rest 

 That she's Dandy Lion's guest; 

 That he fills the golden cup 



Ev'ry time she drinks it up. 

 If you had a tongue like that 

 Would you not throw up your hat i 



Notice those two prongs in front — 

 They're put there so she won't bunt 

 'Gainst her ma some moonless night 

 When the stars are out of sight; 

 She just feels her way along 

 Thro' the dark and midst the throng. 

 Feelers take the place of hands, 

 When she meets her dearest friends, 

 Reaches out as if to say, 

 " Howdy do? Art well to-day?" 

 Some wise men think they're her ears — 

 (Feels the sound instead of hears) . 

 These same wise men say she smells 

 All the fragrant lily-bells, 

 All the clover fields in bloom, 

 And the linden's choice perfume. 

 Thro' these horn-like antennse — 

 Useful, aren't they, to the bee? 



VI 



But, you say, she has a sting 

 That is not a pleasant thing. 

 Yes, but roses, too, have briers, 

 And too many fond desires 

 Have a stinger at the end ; 

 Sometimes we, too, sting a friend: 

 Shall we, then, demand of her 

 All the virtues when we err? 

 Stingers are for self-defense 

 'Gainst attempts of violence. 

 We, too, may defend our homes 

 'Gainst whatever evil comes. 

 She, like us, will sometimes use it. 

 Sometimes in her heat abuse it. 

 Never saying, " Please excuse it," 

 But she seldom fails to lose it. 

 We may sting, and sting again. 

 Tho' our friends are dead with pain. 

 Stingers, children, are all right 

 When they don't appear in sight. 

 — Northwestern I 

 Forest City, Iowa. 



W 



