THE "bag o' the bee." 119 



have ever been surpassed, he thus concludes the 



verse : — 



" Sweet the hum' 



Of bees, the voice of girls, the song of birds, 

 The lisp of children, and their earliest words." 



Shakspeare's knowledge of bees does not seem to 

 have been limited to the three kinds which consti- 

 tute the "buzzing pleased multitude" found in our 

 bee-hives ; he has noticed those which are soUtary in 

 their habits, as well as those which are social. Thus 

 we find in " All's Well that Ends Well," " red-tailed 

 humble-bee," a kind which nidificates among heaps 

 of stones. The humble-bee is introduced on another 

 occasion, when Bottom, in the " Midsummer Night's 

 .Dream," is giving orders to his fairy attendants. 

 The playful and sportive fancy which reigns in 

 these commands is inimitable ; and the diminutive 

 stature of Cobweb is well indicated by the fear that 

 he should be " overflown with a honey bag." Haz- 

 litt was so well pleased with the passage, that in his 

 " Characters of Shakspeare's Plays," he quotes the 

 commencement of it, and remarks, with a note of 

 admiration, " What an exact knowledge of Natural 

 Historj'- is here shown ; " although every boy who 

 has spent his summer holidays in the country, is 

 well acquainted with the "bag o' the bee." This 

 bag is, in fact, the first stomach of the insect. Into 



