NATURAL HISTORY Of THE HONEY BEE. 75 



gave them a small piece of brood comb, containing worker 

 eggs and worms. What followed the introduction of this 

 brood comb, took place much quicker than it can be described. 

 The bees which first touched it, raised a peculiar note, and in 

 a moment, the comb was covered with a dense mass ; their 

 restless motions and mournful noises ceased, and a cheerful 

 hum at once proclaimed their delight ! Despair gave place 

 to hope, as they recognized in this small piece of comb, the 

 means of their deliverance. Imagine a large building filled 

 with thousands of persons, tearing their hair, beating their 

 breasts, and by piteous cries, as well as frantic gestures, 

 giving vent to their despair ; if some one should enter this 

 house of mourning, and by a single word, cause all these 

 demonstrations of agony to give place to smiles and con- 

 gratulations, the change would not be more instantaneous 

 and wonderful, than that produced when the bees received 

 the brood comb ! 



The Orientals call the honey bee, Deborah, " She that 

 speaketh." Would that this little insect might speak, and 

 in words more eloquent than any of man's device, to those 

 who allow themselves to reject the doctrines of revealed re- 

 ligion, because, as they assert, they are, on their face so ut- 

 terly improbable, that they labor under an a priori objection 

 quite strong enough to be fatal to their credibility. Do not 

 nearly all the steps in the development of a Queen from a 

 worker-egg, labor under precisely the same objection ? and 

 have they not, for this very reason, always been regarded by 

 great numbers of bee keepers, as unworthy of belief.' If 

 the favorite argument of infidels will not stand the test when 

 applied to the wonders of the bee-hive, can it be regarded as 

 entitled to any serious weight, when employed in framing 

 objections against religious truths, and arrogantly taking to 

 task the infinite Jehovah, for what He has been pleased to 



