THE CROC 
Crocus vernus. 
ili inf yt 
ty 
HIE season when the crocuses are in 
their full splendour is pretty sure 
to give us a glorious burst of sun- 
shine for a day, or even a week, 
and then the flowers expand to 
their utmost, and surprise us with 
their splendour. They seem to 
surprise the honey-bees no less, 
for the music they make as they 
brush up the pollen is just that of 
a crowd of working people rendered 
half delirious by the discovery of 
a gold-mine. And, indeed, it is a 
e¢old-mine to them, or, better still, 
a bread-mine, for the pollen be- 
comes “ bee-bread ”” when carried 
into the hive, and constitutes the 
first food of the callow-worm hidden 
in its cellular cot, and feeding itself 
up to the point when it will emerge 
as a perfect bee and joi the general congregation. Bee- 
keepers cannot have too many crocuses, because at the time 
they flower the bees are more or less distressed and cannot 
travel far, and it is of immense value to them to find 
