88 B212. 



" Nothing would ever have induced her to do 

 such a thing," replied the other; "but" — and 

 here she spoke very impressively — " she has disap- 

 peared ! " 



"Disappeared!" echoed Buz. "Oh, how? Do 

 tell me more about it." 



" If you want to know the particulars, ask one of 

 those who joined the swarm : I didn't." 



Buz lost no time in following her advice. 



" I'll tell you all I know," said the bee she ques- 

 tioned, " but I can't quite understand it myself. 

 Our poor queen settled on a branch of a small apple 

 tree, and we all clung round her of course ; and there 

 we hung in a big bunch — in such a big bunch, that 

 I really thought the branch we were on would come 

 off. After a short time, something gave such a jerk 

 that we all fell off into something, and it was very 

 uncomfortable. Most of us kept crawling about, 

 not liking to leave the queen ; but some flew up, 

 to see what was the matter." 



" I should have been one of those," put in 

 Buz. 



" Well, so was I, my dear ; and I found that the 

 thing that had done it was the man we always see 

 about the garden, and the thing he had shaken us 

 into was a kind of box like this." 



