THE BEES 83 



do the spiders know how to divide up their wheel 

 into just so many spokes? We cannot tell, we cannot 

 even guess, for these are secrets between these little 

 creatures and God, who gave them their gifts. 



Now the (jueen bee wishes to lay some eggs in 

 those beautiful waxen houses, and you cannot think 

 how those Httle workers hurry about and scramble 

 over one another to build them fast enough to suit 

 her. And when she comes to see how they are pro- 

 gressing, how do you suppose she comes, this queen 

 bee, who is the mother of the hive? Walking over 

 the others as the workers do? Oh, no! She comes 

 with a steady, stately step, surrounded by a circle 

 of attendants whose duty it is to watch her, fan 

 her with their wings, stroke her with their antennae, 

 feed her carefully and always face her. When she 

 comes, all the other bees, no matter how hard they 

 are at work, draw back and leave an open path for 

 this queen and her circle of attendants. Isn't that 

 just like a story of a real queen out of your story 

 books? 



Just as your mother looks to see that the crib is 

 all comfortable and nice before she lays baby brother 

 or sister down in it, so this queen bee pokes her little 

 head into each waxen cell to see that it is right before 

 she lays her egg in it. Of course we would expect 

 our mothers to be careful about their dear babies, 

 but who would have thought that just an ordinary 

 little mother bee would be so careful of the place 

 where her baby was to live? 



So the queen bee goes about from one cell to an- 

 other and lays so many eggs that the little builders 



