CHAPTER XIV 

 BENEFICIAL INSECTS 



The Honeybee 



We may begin by asking tiie class some bright morning 

 in May : What did you see the bees doing, on your way 

 to school ? What flowers were they on ? Did you see 

 their hip pockets full of pollen ? What do you suppose 

 they do with that ? Where do they find the honey ? 

 These with a hundred others are just the questions with 

 which to begin the study of the honeybee's life and work. 



Have in different vials a house fly, bluebottle, wasp, 

 hornet, ant, bumblebee, a honeybee, if possible with pollen 

 on its thighs, and any other insects that may look some- 

 what like a honeybee. Pass them around and find out 

 how many can tell a honeybee from every other insect. 

 Do not let anybody tell until all have had a good chance to 

 see. Ask each child to borrow somebody's watch between 

 this lesson and the next and to follow a bee for five 

 minutes, and be prepared to tell exactly what it did. 

 How many blossoms did it visit ? What kind were they? 

 Were they all the same kind, or did it go from one kind 

 to another .' From their observations, what can they say 

 as to the flowers the bees like best ? Could they see 

 how a bee fills its pollen baskets .' For lower grades and 

 the kindergarten, a pound section of honey may furnish 



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