252 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



perpetuity ; to be entitled to a never-fading- wreath of 

 budding honey flowers, from sweetly breathing fields, all 

 murmuring with bees ; to be privileged to use, during his 

 natural life, 'night tapers from their waxen thighs,' (best 

 wax candles, two to the pound !) ; to have an annual 

 offering, from every bee-master, of ten pounds each of 

 very best virgin honey ; and to a body guard, for protec- 

 tion against ah 1 foes, of thrice ten thousand workers, all 

 armed and equipped as Nature's law directs. Who shall 

 have these high honors ?" 



It seems almost incredible that such puny animals as 

 mice should venture to invade a hive of bees ; and yet 

 they often slip in when cold compels the bees to retreat 

 from the entrance. Having once gained admission, they 

 build a warm nest in their comfortable abode, eat up the 

 honey and such bees as are too much chilled to offer re- 

 sistance, and fill the premises with such a stench, that the 

 bees, on the arrival of warm weather, often abandon 

 their polluted home. On the approach of cold weather, 

 the entrances of the hives should be so contracted that a 

 mouse cannot get in.* 



That various kinds of birds are fond of bees, every 

 Apiarian knows to his cost. The King-bird (Tyrannus 

 musicapa), which devours them by scores, is said when 

 he can have a choice to eat only the drones ; but as he 

 catches bees on the blossoms which are never frequented 

 by these fat and lazy gentlemen the industrious workers 

 must often fall a prey to his fatal snap. There is good 

 reason to suspect that this gourmand can distinguish 

 between an empty bee in search of food, and one which, 

 returning laden to its fragrant home, is in excellent condi- 

 tion to glide already sweetened down his voracious maw. 



* If, as the weather grows cold, the bees are allowed to use only the upper 

 entrance (p. 250), it will be almost impossible for mice to effect a lodgment 



