MORE ABOUT WHAT THE BEES DO. 101 



hive, eating a great deal of the food which is wanted 

 for winter supply. The workers, therefore, now get 

 rid of them, — drive them out of the hive, and leave 



them to starve. 



' With terror wild, 

 The father flies his unrelenting child. 

 Far from the shelter of their native comb, 

 From flow'r to flow'r the trembling outcasts roam. 

 To wasps and feather'd foes an easy prey, 

 Or pine, 'mid useless sweets, the ling'ring hours away.' 



Evans. 



If the drones resist, the workers may be seen to 

 seize them in, the most determined manner, and with- 

 out scruple to bite and gnaw their wings at the root, 

 or wound them elsewhere ; so that, when cast out, 

 they cannot return, but are left helpless on the ground 

 and soon perish from cold or wet. Resistance is 

 useless for — 



' All, with united force, combine to drive 

 The lazy drones from the laborious hive.' 



Virgil. 



And is there cruelty in all this ? Shall we blame 

 the bees who thus destroy their companions whom 

 they have reared with tender care .■" These are ques- 

 tions which we can hardly help, asking ; but, when we 

 consider what striking proofs of wisdom we have on 

 all sides, and how every creature of God is marvel- 

 lously made and wonderfully provided for, and that 

 nothing is done without good and sufficient reason, 

 we cannot doubt but that there is good cause for the 

 manner of death of the poor drone, as there is also for 

 his apparent idleness. 



