74 
THE HONEY-MAKERS. 
Alighting on a flower, the cheerful hum of her 
wings ceases, she unfolds her tongue, which, for 
safe keeping, had been rolled up under her head, 
and stretching to her full length laps up the honey 
with apparent greediness, and fills her bottle with 
the rich nectar. As we see her drinking the sweet 
juices of the flower, we should wrong the busy 
worker if we supposed she was selfish in her la- 
bor, and was simply gratifying her “sweet-tooth” 
with no thought for others. As soon as she 
reaches her home, like a loyal subject, she offers 
to the queen a portion of the contents of her bottle, 
pure as when she drank it from the flowers. Re- 
serving a trifling portion for herself, she goes to 
one of the cells, where are kept the household 
supplies, and empties her bottle, and starts again 
to replenish her store ; or, sometimes she finds a 
group of laborers employed in building or in re- 
pairing some portion of the city, hungry, thirsty, 
and tired with their toil, and gives to them of her 
abundance. 
It should be remembered that honey is not made 
by the bee, as is often supposed, but is gathered 
from the flowers in its pure state. 
