The Sting 107 



before you can get free you have received a copiously pois- 

 oned sting, as fine a one as ever was administered by a 

 living bee. 



There is something almost uncanny in the way this un- 

 connected thing moves about and wreaks its vengeance. 



It " continues on life," as the " Arabian Nights " would 

 say, apparently for the sole purpose of hurting somebody. 



It will not attempt to enter a hard object, but the 

 touch of your finger seems to arouse its old passion, and 

 rallying its dying forces it " gives it to you " once again. 



These " posthumous works of the bee," as they have 

 been called, surpass alL other posthumous works in the 

 vividness of impressions they create. 



While bee-poison is volatile and easily soluble in water, 

 it is preserved by honey, and one occasionally has the 

 unique, if not pleasant experience of a sting in the mouth 

 from having partaken of honey in which a bee had been 

 accidentally incarcerated and its sting left behind. 



In spite of her very effective weapon, the skilful bee- 

 keeper can handle my lady, the bee, bare handed and with 

 perfect safety, human intelligence having circumvented the 

 wise little bee, no doubt persuading her it is for her own good 

 that man manipulates her hives and carries off her honey. 



AVho can blame the bees for using their weapons when 

 occasion requires? No other insect has such treasure to 

 defend, no other possesses a hoard of sweets so abundant 

 and so greatly desired by other creatures. Their stings 

 are their one means of self-defence, and no wonder they 

 understand and profit by them. 



While an occasional bee-sting is a matter of no conse- 

 quence to most people, to be stung many times at once 

 may be a very serious affair. 



Thorley tells an affecting tale of a man who undertook 

 to remove a swarm of bees from a tree. 



