22 DIFFERENT KINDS OF BEES. 



bees to come to their full growth. Before the winter 

 comes, and the banks become sodden with wet and 

 snow, and the nests are thus destroyed, the young 

 quqens, or mother bees, leave their summer homes, 

 and hide up for the cold months in some dry nook, 

 or crevice of a tree, and only come out again, to begin 

 work and to make their nests, when another year has 

 come round, and the weather is fine and warm. 



Now you have doubtless been taught that every- 

 thing that God has made is for some wise purpose, 

 and does some good, although in many cases we may 

 not know what it is. And the more we observe all 

 the habits of animals and insects, the more we shall 

 see evidence of this great truth, ' Nothing without 

 purpose.' 



I mention this here because we see it remark- 

 ably the case with the humble bees. They have 

 always been favourites — considered pretty harmless 

 insects ; but it is only quite lately that, by close 

 observation, it has been discovered that they are of 

 the greatest use, and do a most important work in 

 our fields. I cannot now fully explain it all ; but, to 

 give you some idea of this discovery and its value, I 

 may say that just because their tongue is a little 

 longer than the tongue of other bees, they are so very 

 useful amongst certain flowers (especially the red 

 clover) in our fields, that a great deal of trouble has 

 been taken, and a great deal of money spent, in order 

 to send some of them all the way across the sea to the 

 other side of the world — to Australia and New Zealand, 

 where they were not found before. It is very difficult 

 and expensive to send them so far ; but they are so 



