2G0 HYMENOPTERA. 
sugar ; but what succeeds best is wheat, 
boiled in sugar and Avater ; this is very 
nourishing, and does not injure the bees 
by sticking to their hairy bodies. 
Lucy. You saidj mamma, that the 
queens have stings, but that they seldom 
use them : have all the other bees stings ? 
Mother, The drone, or male bees, 
have no stings, and are therefore quite 
harmless ; and though the Avorking bees 
are armed with stings, they do not often 
exert them without provocation. Most 
people give way to very unfounded fears 
both of wasps and bees, but particularly 
of the latter, which, except at swarming 
time, never sting, unless greatly irri- 
tated. 
Lucy, Is it true that the bee always 
leaves its sting in the wound ? 
Mother. The sting of the bee is most 
beautifully contrived. Within a strong 
sheath are placed two small stings, which 
resemble an arrow, divided along the 
middle ; that is, the two sides which 
