THX BEE. 



sheath, there Is expressed from the poison-bag a drop of the 

 flnid which is conducted in a groove to the end of the sheath, 

 and from thence into the wound. If it is an insect that is so 

 attacked, death speedily follows. If it is a human being that 

 excites the bee's anger, it may employ its sting and inflict con- 

 siderable pain, but its hfe is the penalty ; it almost invariably 

 happens that the sting is left behind, and without its sting the 

 bee can live but a very few hours. 



Yarious remedies have been suggested for bee-stings ; one of 

 the most curious being that of an old beo-master and author of 

 a treatise on bee-management, named Sydserff, — to ewre one 

 bee-wound hy the strnig of another hee. At least a dozen of the 

 good man's instances might be quoted from his own treatise in 

 support of this singular doctrine, but the sense of the whole is 

 thus summarized in a single paragraph : — 



" Trom hence I take the opportunity of observing that if I 

 am stung by a bee in the face, I generally swell almost blind ; 

 if on the back of the hand, the swelling ascends to the tops of 

 my fingers ; but if I am stung by two bees near the same plaoe^ 

 the swelling is not so much ; and if I am stung by ten or more 

 bees, the swelling is very little or none at all. I would not of 

 choice be stung by them if it can be avoided ; but after I have 

 been stung once, I have no objection against being stung twice ; 

 and after I have been stung twice or three times, I do not mind 

 if I am stung fifty or a hundred times." Even among his im' 

 mediate friends and helpers, however, Mr. Sydserff failed to 

 make many conversions to his newly -discovered mode, and, 

 writing of a fellow bee-manager, he says, " But though in many 

 respects he is a man of uncommon boldness, and wiU climb a 

 tree of any height and put his hand in the hole of the tree 

 among the bees the same as into a bird's nest; yet sooner 

 than take my advice, and make use of my infallible, speedy 

 medicine, he will be content to be swollen almost blind, and go 

 blinking like an owl for a week together." 



The best-known remedy for a bee-sting is first to puU out 

 the little barb, and then to press over the wound the pipe of a 

 small key: whatever may be left of the sting may be thus 

 squeezed out along with the poison that was injected with it. 

 Whatever pain that remains may be assuaged by the applica- 

 tion of a little new honey. 



THE HUMBLE-BEE. 



With the exception of the hive-bee, the humble-bee is th« 



