56 Buz. 



tell the truth, she was getting a little afraid of the 

 drone, who seemed to have lost all command over 

 himself ; and she was so excited about the swarm- 

 ing that his words affected her less than they would 

 otherwise have done ; at the same time, it was 

 exceedingly disagreeable to be so misjudged. 

 " Though I brought it on myself," she thought ; " and 

 it shows what a mistake it is to keep on asking ques- 

 tions when you see a person's out of temper. I'll 

 never do it again, I'll be stung if I do ! " 



Saying this, she ran round the corner of a comb 

 in a great hurry, to see where the queen was, and 

 what might be going on, and knocked up against a 

 bee coming just as hastily in the other direction. 

 It was Hum ! — positively Hum ! Only imagine her 

 being excited about any thing but work ! Buz was 

 quite amused. 



" Then you mean to swarm too, I suppose," she 

 said. 



" Well, no," answered Hum ; " I think not. I 

 couldn't very well, you know." 



" I'm sure I dont know," said Buz. 



" I've got into such a groove here, don't you see, 

 that I'm almost afraid I couldn't bear to leave it. 

 I know where every thing is now, and exactly where 

 to go; and besides, I've got a " Here Hum 



