58 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 



alone. Going out into an English lane or meadow 

 to watch the bees at work, the first conviction 

 borne in upon an observer is that the bees are 

 darting about from flower to flower without other 

 thought than to load up from any and every 

 capable blossom that stands in their way. But 

 closer scrutiny reveals a curious plan and order in 

 this, as in everything else that the honey-bee 

 undertakes. Tracing an individual bee in her 

 progress along the flowery verge of the lane, 

 you will soon see that she visits only one species 

 of blossom. If she starts on hawthorn, it will be 

 hawthorn all the way. If her load of willowherb- 

 nectar or pollen is not yet a full one, she will 

 overpass a score of tansy-knots or waving jungles 

 of meadow-sweet, just as inviting and resourceful, 

 apparently, to reach the one scanty patch of purple 

 at the end of the lane. 



Why she should be at such pains to keep the 

 pollen separate as she gathers it, only to get it in- 

 extricably mingled with every other kind in the 

 storehouse at home, is a problem that none but a 

 bee can solve. But all the honey-bee's reasons 

 and motives in life are made up of a curious blend 

 of cold-drawn sense and sentiment ; and it may be 

 inferred that need and fancy have an equal influ- 

 ence in guiding her in this, as in everything else 

 she does, from her cradle-cell to her grave. Not 

 altogether without seriousness, it may be hazarded 

 that quite as probable a reason for her way of 



