The Life of the Bee 
most to hold back their leaves, as a man 
holds his breath before something very 
tender but very grave. The bees give 
their honey and sweet-smelling wax to 
the man who attends them; but more 
precious gift still is their summoning him 
to the gladness of June, to the joy of the 
beautiful months; for events in which 
bees take part happen only when skies 
are pure, at the winsome hours of the 
year when flowers keep holiday. They 
are the soul of the summer, the clock 
whose dial records the moments of 
plenty; they are the untiring wing on 
which delicate perfumes float; the guide 
of the quivering light-ray, the song of the 
slumberous, languid air; and their flight 
is the token, the sure and melodious note, 
of all the myriad fragile joys that are born 
in the heat and dwell in the sunshine. 
They teach us to tune our ear to the 
softest, most intimate whisper of these 
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