AN IDYL OF THE HONEY-BEE 77 



It is quite certain he had never been bee-hunting 

 If he had we should have had a fifth Georgic. Yet 

 he seems to have known that bees sometimes escaped 

 to the woods : — 



" Nor bees are lodged in hives alone, but found 

 In chambers of their own beneath the ground: 

 Their vaulted roofs are hung in pumices, 

 And in the rotten trunks of hollow trees." 



Wild honey is as near like tame as wild bees are 

 like their brothers in the hive. The only difference 

 is, that wild honey is flavored with your adventure, 

 which makes it a little more delectable than the 

 domestic article. 



