not swim. Will they give up the trip? 
No, they begin to hunt. They find small 
grains of sand and toss them into the 
water. The grains pile up. Soon there 
is a perfectly dry bridge, and across this 
they march. 
At last they reach a cluster of beautiful 
flowers. Up the stems they climb, out 
upon the leaves. Feelers wave excitedly. 
There on the leaves are a number of 
little green insects, even smaller than 
the ants. They have long, sharp, hollow 
beaks, which they push into the leaves 
of the plant to suck out the juices. In 
their bodies this turns to a sweet syrup, 
called honeydew. 
At once the ants begin to stroke the 
little green insects, and as they do this, 
out come tiny drops of honeydew. The 
green insects are really ant cows, and 
the ants who milk them are dairy maids! 
Every time a drop of honeydew oozes 
out, a tongue-like thing shoots from an 
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