86 
THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 
In reply to these arguments, being invited to go to his 
vines, and see the depredators in the very act, the result 
justified my anticipations. Though many bees were seen 
banqueting on grapes, not one was doing any mischief to 
the sound fruit. Grapes which were bruised on the vines, 
or lying on the ground, and the moist stems, from which 
grapes had recently been plucked, were covered with 
bees; while other bees were observed to alight upon 
bunches, which, when found by careful inspection to be 
sound, they left with evident disappointment. 
Wasps and hornets, which secrete no wax, being furnish¬ 
ed with strong, saw-like jaws, for cutting the woody fibre 
with which they build their combs, can easily penetrate 
the skin of the toughest fruits. While the bees, therefore, 
appeared to be comparatively innocent, multitudes of these 
depredators were seen helping themselves to the best of 
the grapes. Occasionally, a bee would presume to alight 
upon a bunch where one of these pests was operating for 
his own benefit, when the latter would turn and “ show 
fight,” much after the fashion of a snarling dog, molested 
by another of his species, while daintily discussing his 
own private bone. 
After the mischief has been begun by other insects, or 
wherever a crack , or a spot of decay is seen, the honey¬ 
bee hastens to help itself, on the principle of “ gathering 
up the fragments, that nothing may be lost.” In this 
way, they undoubtedly do some mischief; but before war 
is declared against them, let every fruit-grower inquire ifj 
on the whole, they are not far more useful than injurious. 
As bees carry on their bodies the pollen, or fertilizing 
substance, they aid most powerfully in the impregnation 
of plants, while prying into the blossoms in search of 
honey or bee-bread. In genial seasons, fruit will often set 
abundantly, even if no bees are kept in its vicinity; but 
