436 HOMES WITHOUT HAXDS. 



If it be stored in pots, however well they may be sealed, it 

 always crystallises, and in that state is injurious to digestion. 

 Moreover, it is so extensively adulterated, that a pot of really 

 pure honey is not readily obtained. 



Besides the honey, " bee-bread" is placed in the cells. This is 

 a compound of honey and the pollen of flowers, and is chiefly 

 used as food for the young grubs. We may often see the Bees 

 hastening home with a load of yellow pollen on each of the 

 hinder pair of legs, and this pollen is destined to be made into 

 bee-bread. 



Such, then, is a brief outline of the wonderful social habita- 

 tion which is made by the Hive Bee. 



We now come to an insect which is as well known by name as 

 the bee, though not so familiar to our eyes. This is the common 

 HoENET (Vespa crabro), which is tolerably plentiful in many 

 parts of England, but seems to be almost absent from others. 



The nest of the Hornet is much like that of the wasp, except 

 that it is proportionately larger, and is almost invariably built 

 in hollow trees, deserted outhouses, and places of a similar 

 description. Whenever the Hornet takes up its residence in an 

 inhabited house, as is sometimes the case, the inmates are sure to 

 be in arms against the insect, and with good reason. Tlie 

 Hornet is much larger than the wasp, and its sting is propor- 

 tionately venomous. It is popularly said that three Hornets can 

 kill a man ; and although in such a case the sufferer must previ- 

 ously have been in bad health, the poisonous properties of the 

 Hornet are sufficiently virulent to render such a saying popular. 



Moreover, the Hornet is an irascible insect, and given to 

 assault those whom it fancies are approaching its nest with evil 

 intentions. It is not pleasant to be chased by wasps, but to be 

 chased by Hornets is still less agreeable, as I can personally 

 testify. They are so persevering in their attacks that they will 

 follow a man for a wonderfully long distance, and if they be 

 struck away over and over again, they will return to the charge 

 as soon as they recover from the shock. There is a deep 

 ominous menace in their hum, which speaks volumes to those 

 who have some acquaintance with the language of insects; and 

 no one who has once been chased by these insects will willingly 

 run the same risk again. 



