HONEY BKE. 263 
Lucy. You said that hornets killed 
them, to suck their honey bags; what 
other enemies have they? 
Mother. Among birds, the swallow 
and tomtit devour a vast number ; and the 
sparrow not only eats them whole, but 
has been seen carrying to its nest a bee 
in each claw, and another ia its beak. 
Both wasps and hornets tear them in 
pieces for the sake of their honey bags. 
Frogs and toads also eat them, when they 
can catch them ; but they can do but 
little harm, from their want of agility. 
The field mouse, and a little caterpillar, 
make the greatest havoc among the poor 
bees. 
Lucy. But why do they not sting the 
mouse to death ; a number of bees could 
do it in a minute ? 
Mother. The mouse is too wise to 
attack the bees in the day time ; but 
when the nights are grown cold, and the 
bees~ are become torpid, it creeps into 
the hive, and destroys them by thousands, 
just eating off the head and corslet. 
Their most dangerous enemy is the ca- 
