380 Next to the Ground 



telligence and the strictest attention. He 

 never haggled in settlements, and allowed 

 liberally for the poisoned flies which died too 

 far ofF to be counted. He only smiled when 

 old man Shack said, " the Majer he wus jest, 

 a-baitin' them thar p'ison inseckses ter come 

 in droves ter the terbaker patch an' eat the 

 crap plumb ter the stalk." The Major could 

 afFord to smile when he found himself getting 

 through the August glut without the bother 

 and expense of hiring extra hands. 



Unless the poisoned blooms had been cut 

 and buried, the bees might have got at them, 

 with very bad results in poisoned honey. 

 Bees can suck poison almost with impunity. 

 They produce both wax and honey from the 

 sweets they suck. Throughout the summer, 

 bees feed largely upon pollen mixed with 

 a very little honey. The mixture is the 

 " bee-bread," with which the brood-comb of 

 a hive is filled. 



A swarm has but one mother — the queen, 

 who lays all the eggs. The drone-fathers do 

 no work, creeping listlessly about, and feed- 

 ing on stored honey until after the eggs are 

 laid. Then the working bees, all rudimen- 

 tary females, fall upon the drones, sting them 

 to death, and drag them outside the hive. 

 Thus it appears that the little busy bee is 

 not a pattern of filial excellence, any more 



