XVIII 



NATURAL ENEMIES 



It is but natural to suppose that bees have a great 

 many difficulties, besides those attendant on 

 climate and the struggle for daily bread. The 

 possession by them of such a formidable object 

 as a sting can only be accounted for on the 

 supposition that they require one. It would open 

 up a very wide field of discussion if we inquired 

 whether the bees' honey- storing habit rendered it 

 necessary for them to have a sting, or whether the 

 honey could never have been stored if they did 

 not possess one. Wasps, as we know, have stings, 

 and so have bumble-bees, yet they never store 

 honey to the extent that bees do. On the other 

 hand, wasps are predacious, and in their attacks 

 on flies and similar small fry no doubt sometimes 

 catch a tartar, when their sting comes in useful. 



But, however we may look at it, the mere fact 

 that bees store honey, a substance perhaps more 

 widely appreciated amongst living creatures than 

 any other single foodstuff, makes it quite certain 

 that they will have enemies. 



These enemies are drawn from every order of 



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