THE WORKING BEES. 29 



CHAPTER III. 



THE "WORKING BEES. 



The common ■working bees are twenty-one days in their 

 cells, and live nine months. Probably nine-tenths of 

 them die, from some cause or another, before they have 

 reached their aUoted span ; but at the end of nine months 

 or thereabouts, after their birth, all perish. The -working 

 bees are considerably smaller than either queens or drones. 

 They do aU the work and drudgery of the hive, and do 

 it with a wiLLingness and activity that beggar description. 

 They manufacture the wax, build the combs, gather 

 honey by day, and store it away by night. It is hard to 

 believe that they never sleep, though we have never seen 

 one either sleepy or asleep, in summer or winter. 



Put a swarm into an empty hive ; in less than an hour 

 the working bees commence to clean it out. Speedily 

 the foundaltion of a great and wonderful city is laid. 

 Great Bee ! some one has said, that steps forth to lay 

 the first stone of a city that can never be excelled for 

 architectural beauty and order — a city of wax, in which 

 may -be bom yearly 300,000 beings — brave loyal citizens! 



For industry, ingenuity, and courage the working bees 

 stand very high. 



THE INDUSTRY OP BEES. 



How few bee-keepers know the worth of their own 

 stock — the value of their own servants ! No writer can 



