86 The Bee People. 



home — but not in a straight line. She 

 makes a long curve to the right, and then 

 to the left, to the right again, then to the 

 left, and so on. 



1 do not know why she does this, but 

 no doubt there is a- good reason for it. 

 Perhaps it makes it harder for bee-eating 

 birds to catch her. It certainly is not easy 

 to follow her flight with the eye, until one 

 has practised enough to become accustomed 

 to it. 



When Miss Apis reaches home, she finds 

 a large family. 



There are her sisters, to begin with. She 

 generally has many thousands of sisters 

 just like herself, and they are all named 

 Apis Mellifica. 



This might be confusing if they called 

 each other by name; that is, by the name 

 we have given them. But, of course, they 

 do not do that 



I do not know what they call each other, 

 but I do know that they are as much 



