AN IDYL OF THE HONEY-BEE 



a peculiar bitter flavor, imparted to it, I was con- 

 vinced, by rainwater sucked from the decayed and 

 spongy hemlock-tree in which the swarm was found. 

 In cutting into the tree, the north side of it was 

 found to be saturated with water like a spring, 

 which ran out in big drops, and had a bitter flavor. 

 The bees had thus found a spring or a cistern in 

 their own house. 



Bees are exposed to many hardships and many 

 dangers. Winds and storms prove as disastrous to 

 them as to other navigators. Black spiders lie in 

 wait for them as do brigands for travelers. One 

 day, as I was looking for a bee amid some golden- 

 rod, I spied one partly concealed under a leaf. Its 

 baskets were full of pollen, and it did not move. 

 On lifting up the leaf I discovered that a hairy 

 spider was ambushed there and had the bee by the 

 throat. The vampire was evidently afraid of the 

 bee's sting, and was holding it by the throat till 

 quite sure of its death. Virgil speaks of the painted 

 lizard, perhaps a species of salamander, as an enemy 

 of the honey-bee. We have no lizard that destroys 

 the bee; but our tree-toad, ambushed among the 

 apple and cherry blossoms, snaps them up whole- 

 sale. Quick as lightning that subtle but clammy 

 tongue darts forth, and the unsuspecting bee is 

 gone. Virgil also accuses the titmouse and the 

 woodpecker of preying upon the bees, and our 

 kingbird has been charged with the like crime, 

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