262 THE ROLL OF THE SEASONS 



hank, and heard their angry murmur so close under 

 the ear as to make us jump, thinking there was no 

 earth between us and their thousand stings. That was 

 a month ago. Now the all-blacks are as degenerate 

 as any other bee, and scarcely use the old nest at all. 

 Perhaps the queen bees of next year are simply 

 spending a very lazy honeymoon. 



What a far livelier affair is the ants' wedding-party, 

 of which there is a small late one going on to-day ! It 

 is high holiday in the ant-hill when the winged ones 

 go away. All the common ants in the place (and 

 there are always plenty of them about) run up and 

 down, hurrying the brides in the right direction, and 

 mounting before them, with them, and behind them 

 to the high vantage whence they are to fly. Off they 

 go, dusky beauties a little veiled with their large> 

 transparent wings which will be stripped off after this 

 one flight. Every one gets to hear of the wedding, 

 including such undesirable guests as the starlings, who 

 catch up the principal actors in mid-air and thank 

 heaven for a good meal. There is also a spice of 

 hilarity about the going away of the wasps. The old 

 home wears a noticeable air of decay, it is true, for the 

 fruit season is far advanced when the event takes 

 place. Nevertheless, there are other people about 

 besides princes and princesses when the bridal couples 

 go forth. The inquisitive stranger has to deal with an 

 angry official or two if he comes too near. Two by 

 two, the flower of the yellow-banded race come forth 

 from the nest in which there are no longer any babies, 

 and where there is, therefore, no longer any commercial 

 activity. We can imagine that the ascent of each 

 pair into the mild but palpitating sunshine is accom- 



