74 The Honey-Makers 



To watch a bee at its toilet is as edifying as it is amus- 

 ing. One does not need to arrive at a certain hour nor 

 wait at all for the performance to begin. 



It is only necessary to catch your bee — and let it free 

 on the window — and it will at once commence upon its 

 elaborate and endless toilet. If it is sulty, or perchance 

 considers itself clean enough for the present company, it 

 can at once be brought to another mind by breathing upon 

 it, when it will fall into a very justifiable rage and after 

 venting its feelings in strong bee language will fall vehe- 

 mently to work freeing every part of its diminutive person 

 from the obnoxious exhalations. Or, dust it ever so lightly 

 with a bit of fine flour. 



No matter how dusty it is, or how badly stuck up from 

 having been cruelly smeared with honey or syrup, it will 

 cause itself to shine like a new bee in a few minutes, unless 

 its spiracles have been smeared over and closed, when it will 

 perish from suffocation. 



First of all, its front legs will clean its precious antennae. 



Since the antenna bear the principal sensory organs it 

 is very important that they be kept perfectly clean at all 

 times, and this is accomplished by an almost ceaseless 

 applying of comb and brush to these wonderful organs. 



It is the duty of the front legs to clean the antennae and 

 they are always ready — and nearly always doing it. In 

 the midst of honey-gathering after every dip into a 

 pollen-dusted flower the bee stops for a second to clean 

 the dust from its feelers. This can be done very quickly, 

 though a thorough cleaning takes more time, and a bee 

 may often be seen apparently resting from its labor on a 

 clover-head. But it is not resting — it is cleaning its 

 antennae. Whenever a bee appears to be resting in the 

 midst of its work you may be pretty sure it is doing nothing 

 of the sort but on the contrary is as busy as a bee can be 



