Miss Apiss Tongue. 39 



It is very unwise for Madam Bombus to do 

 such a thing, as well as very unkind ; for by 

 going in at the front door she would pre- 

 serve the lives of the flowers that feed her. 



When she goes about slitting open necta- 

 ries, she injures not only herself but all her 

 fellow-bees ; for bees carry pollen from 

 flower to flower, as you very well know, 

 and this pollen is necessary to the forming 

 of the seeds. When the bees go into a 

 flower as they ought, they carry some of 

 the pollen that has rubbed off against their 

 hairy bodies to the next flower they visit, 

 which is just what the flowers need. But 

 when they break open the nectaries from 

 the outside, they do not get dusted with 

 pollen, and do not carry it to other flowers. 

 No pollen, no seeds; no seeds, no more 

 plants; so now you understand why the 

 bees make such a mistake when they cut 

 nectaries open. 



The honey-bees seldom do this, not be- 

 cause they are better than the bumble-bees, 



