62 CURIOUS HOMES AND THEIR TENANTS. 



the door is a mere flap of dried leaves and sticks, 

 fastened in place with cobwebs, have the upper edge 

 more or less irregular, and covered with all sorts of 

 projections, so that no well-marked line on the ground 

 betrays its presence when closed. 



BEES AND WASPS AS MINERS. 



UNDERGROUND NURSERIES. 



The old-fashioned stanza beginning 



How doth the little busy bee 



Improve each shining hour, 

 And gather honey all the day 



From every opening flower ! 



published when verses for children were by no means 

 as common as they now are, and more familiar to the 

 grandparents and great-grandparents of the young 

 folks of to-day than they are likely ever to be to the 

 present or to any future generation, may be excellent 

 poetry of its kind, but it is misleading as to fact. The 

 little busy bee does not work all day, nor every day, 

 nor does she choose, as a rule, flowers not yet opened 

 from which to gather her honey. Again, although 

 the bee is the trade-mark of labor, the sign and sym- 

 bol of diligence, and the badge of industry, it is 

 from the name of the male insect that we obtain a 

 word that best of all describes an idle, useless fellow. 

 But it is also true, though not generally known, that 

 there are whole tribes of bees, both male and female, 



