Governess: Like all other things which are kept in order, it will last for many years. The next one which we will speak of is the honey-bee, with which, I think, you are too well acquainted to need description; they are divided, as you know, into three classes: queen-bees, drone-bees, and working-bees. Pupil Is not the name of this bee derived from the Latin word Mellifico, to make honey? Governess: Yes, decidedly. You see, in this instance, the necessity of an acquaintance with Latin, before you study the various sciences. : Pupil Certainly, it is necessary; but, oh! dear, those horrid declensions-how difficult I found them! How much I should like a glass bee-hive; it must be so amusing to see the bees make their combs of wax to hold their honey. Governess: It is more so to see the order there is among them, each knowing its own. office. One gathers the honey, another the wax; one shapes the wax, another puts it together; some stop up the holes and clefts, to keep out the cold; some close up the entrance to prevent other insects coming in. Pupil: How may you know which is the queen-bee? Governess: By her body being longer, and her wings much shorter; her body is yellower underneath, and her back much darker. Pupil I hope they are loyal to their sovereign? Governess: More so, I am ready to think, than many of Queen Victoria's subjects, as every observant mind must notice from the discontented spirit which so frequently arises in the minds of the lower classes; but may God protect her whom he has, in a peculiar manner, chosen to govern England: and may He bless her in her domestic circle, as well as in her foreign transactions! Pupil: How do the bees show their sorrow when their queen dies? Governess: They cease working; fly about in confusion at unseasonable hours-a fault, I am sorry to say, too many of our fellow creatures commit, by turning nights into days. I wish to add, that the bees show their loyalty to such a degree, that, if not supplied with another sovereign, they pine and die. Pupil: Not like the English towards their sovereign, Charles the First, whom they beheaded, and were governed by a private individual in the person of Cromwell. What kind of bee is the one which is called the drone? Governess: It is larger, its head is round, its eyes full, and its tongue short. : Pupil I cannot think how the other bees can allow the idle ones to live with them? Governess They do not the whole of the year, as about the end of August the working bees fall on them, and sting them to death. Pupil I think their stinging them to death too severe a punishment; though I know we cannot displease you more than being idle, as you say Satan always delights in seeing one of God's creatures idle, and always embraces that opportunity, as being the one in which they are most likely to yield to temptation. Governess: When you read the biography of our eminent men, you will find the greater part of them industrious in their youth. The famous Robert Hall was so anxious to improve himself, that he would take books from his father's library before he started from home in a morning for school, that he might read them in the intervals between school hours. What was the result? He grew up admired by every one for his talents. Doctor Watts was also very industrious when a boy. Pupil I have heard that at Grantham, in Lincolnshire, there is a living sign-a Hive and Bees. Governess: That is, indeed, a rarity. I now wish you to understand, that the bees divide themselves into companies; one roves the field in search of materials; another lays out the partition of the cells; the third smooths off and finishes the work; and the fourth brings food for the rest, Pupil: I suppose, then, that our men of business have done as the bees, by forming themselves into companies? There are the Wood Pavement Company; the Coal Company; the Steam Packet Company; the Conveyance Company; and the Railway Company; nay, many more of which we know very little. Governess: Unity is strength; and many may help one, where one cannot assist many. Pupil Perhaps you will explain to me what is meant by the swarming of bees. : Governess By an increase of the bees, the hive, of course, becomes too small: to remedy this a part of them assemble together, called a swarm, and, conducted by a young queen, leave the hive in search of a new halitation: their retreat is generally the branch of a tree; and, if not removed into a hive, will begin collecting wax, and forming their combs. Pupil: I should very much like to hear you detail the nature and habits of the ant, as I know it is very industrious. Governess: The ant is of numerous species: |