FEEDING. 339 



upon food in which, without core, it could easily be drown- 

 ed ; and hence it alights most cautiously, on the edge of 

 any vessel containing liquid food, and warily helps itself : 

 while the poor bee, without any caution, plunges right in 

 and speedily perishes. The sad fate of their unfortunate 

 companions, does not in the least, deter others who ap- 

 proach the tempting lure : but they madly alight on the 

 bodies of the dying and the dead, to share the same miser- 

 able end ! No one can understand the full extent of their 

 infatuation, until after seeing a confectioner's shop, as- 

 sailed by thousands and tens of thousands of hungry bees. 

 I have seen thousands strained out from the syrups in which 

 they had perished ; thousands more alighting even upon the 

 boiling sweets ; the floors covered, and windows darkened 

 with bees, some crawling, others flying, and others still, 

 so completely daubed as to be able neither to crawl nor fly ; 

 not one bee in ten able to carry home its ill-gotten spoils, 

 and yet the air filled with new hosts of thoughtless comers. 



It will be for the interest of all engaged in the manufac- 

 ture of candy and syrups, to fit gauze wire windows and 

 doors to their premises, and thus save themselves from con- 

 stant loss and annoyance : for if only one bee in a hundred 

 escapes with his load, the confectioner will be subjected in 

 the course of the season to serious loss. I once furnished 

 such an establishment, after the bees had commenced their 

 depredations, with such protection ; and when they found 

 themselves excluded, they lit on the wire by thousands, 

 and fairly squealed with vexation and disappointment, as 

 they tried to force a passage through the meshes. At last 

 as they were daring enough to descend the chimney, reeking 

 with sweet odors, even although the most who attenipted it, 

 fell with scorched wings into the fire, it became necessary 

 to put wire gauze over the top of the chimney also ! 



