THE BEE. 91 



you will now see the necessity that exists for that 

 beautiful apparatus, described elsewhere (PL V. fig. 5, 

 and PI. VI. fig. 4), by means of which the bee is 

 enabled to lock together its fore and hind wings, in 

 order to render them impervious to the atmosphere. 



What a lesson of prudence does the little Bee teach 

 those who themselves dwell, or permit others to do 

 so, in close, confined habitations, into which the free 

 air of heaven cannot gain admittance; who sit in 

 apartments, or move about iu saloons with windows 

 and doors closed, and the gas and fire blazing at their 

 full height, without a single aperture in the apart- 

 ment by which a little fresh oxygen may be admitted 

 to renew the exhausted and vitiated atmosphere ! 



Instinct indeed ! Is it not a pity but what some 

 of us might barter a little of our boasted reason 

 against this inferior nature of the humble Bee ? 



Not only do the workers keep the hive cool and of 

 an equal temperature, but, without requiring a " Nui- 

 sance Removal Act " or a Board of Health to direct 

 their operations, they are careful not to deposit refuse 

 of any kind whatever in the hive ; nor do they allow 

 any to remain that has been accidentally left there. 

 If some creature should have found its way into the 

 hive, and, as is often the case, have fallen a victim to 

 their stings, they at once proceed (without the foster- 

 ing care of a Burial Board) to encase it in propolis, as 

 we already mentioned in treating of that substance, 

 so that no effluvia may arise from the carcase. 



The workers are said to be adepts in the construe- 



