it? what is it made of?" He was told that rags and old clothes might be made into paper, when he and a number more who were around instantly offered every rag they had on them, if they could have hymn-books in exchange. You who have seen a paper-mill will know this could not be so easily managed; but very shortly after arrived a large grant of paper from the Tract Society. The missionaries had a printing-press, and soon they were busy preparing hymn-books and a small magazine.

One more story we must tell, which we trust some of our young readers will remember and follow.

A missionary at Cuddalore, in India, was giving away tracts, when a little boy, about eight years old, came and asked for one. At first he refused, for tracts were precious things; but the child begged so hard, Mr. G. gave him one, called "The Way to Heavenly Bliss." About a fortnight after, the little fellow came again with the same request. "But have you read the other ?" 66 "Yes," said the child; and, standing before the missionary and several heathens who were gathered round, he repeated the whole tract from beginning to end. This was like the little Basuto boy, "putting his books into his head." Where are yours, dear children? only on your shelves? Ah, if so, we shall almost be tempted to wish they were far away, where they would be to the little heathen children as food to the hungry. Remember this truth, "Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."

The Queen of the Hive.

THE HIVE AND ITS WONDERS.

No. 2.

THE QUEEN, OR MOTHER OF THE HIVE-
THE DRONES-THE WORKERS.

THE honey-bee never lives alone; but always in a family, or society. None but the wild bees are obliged to take care of themselves, and provide a place for their own dwelling; for very convenient hives are built for the domestic bees, where they find shelter and a comfortable home. Many persons make hives of straw, boards, or glass: the city of the bees is built within the hive. Here we must look for their cunning work-the streets, the houses, the palaces, which they contrive.

The family or society in each hive is always composed of three classes of bees: the queen, the drones, and the workers. The queen is the mother, as well as the sovereign, of the hive. In shape, she is more slender than the other bees, her body is much longer and tapers gradually to a point. Her legs are longer than

theirs, but her wings are much shorter, reaching but little more than half the length of her body. She is armed with a bent or curved sting, but she does not often use it. The colour of her back is dark brown, but the under part of her body is lighter, more of a bright orange colour.

The queen bee does no work, and she is treated with the greatest respect and attention by all the other bees. Although the hive is dark, they always know their queen. If she is killed, or by any accident they are deprived of her, they appear to be entirely without comfort. They leave their work, and seem to lose all interest in their labours for a time.

A Drone Bee.

The drones are the largest of the bee family; they are nearly twice as large as the workers. Their bodies are thick and clumsy, and covered with hairs much more closely than the other bees. The head of the drone is large; so are its eyes; and its wings are very large, and quite as long as its body. The drones have no sting. They make a loud buzzing noise in flying. It is not a new thing to find that those

who make the most noise are not always the most useful.

The workers are the smallest bees of the hive. They are "busy bees" indeed, doing the work for all the rest. They collect the honey and pollen (or fine powder found on a part of all flowers); they build the waxen cells, take care of the young, and defend the hive, so far as they are able, from enemies of every kind.

A Worker Bee.

The worker bee has a long, slender trunk or tube, with which it gathers the honey from the flowers; and its hinder legs are furnished with brushes and baskets, to collect the pollen and carry it safely to the hive. No other bee has these baskets but the worker bee. Its sting is so sharp and strong, that it will pierce through a thick leather glove. It consists of three parts a sheath and two very small darts. Each of these darts is edged with little crooked points, which cannot be seen without a magnifying glass; these, sticking in the flesh, make the wound more painful. But the wound would scarcely be felt, if it were not for the poison which the bee puts into it; first, the sharp-pointed sheath enters the flesh, and next the little darts, through which the poison

quickly passes. The sting generally remains fast in the flesh, is drawn out of the body of the insect, and causes its death. The poor bee, then, is angry when she stings, but it is to her own hurt; she never stings again. A hasty temper is sure to cause sorrow.

Every bee has six legs and four wings. Their eyes are on the upper surface of the head; and every bee has a pair of long horns, called antennæ, rising from each side of the head. These antennæ, or feelers, are probably the seat of the sense of touch in the bee, and perhaps of smell; but this we do not know.

The office of the queen bee is to lay eggs in the cells prepared by the workers for that purpose. These cells differ in size or shape, as they are intended to contain eggs that are to become drones, or those that are to become workers. The royal cell, or that of the queen, is quite different from either. It is something like a pear in shape; the upper, or largest, part fastened to the edges or sides of the comb; the smaller end, where the mouth or entrance to the cell is placed, always hanging downwards.

The queen begins to lay the eggs early in the spring, a single one only in each cell. The number laid is increased as the weather becomes warmer. The eggs remain for full three days, and then a little worm is hatched in the bottom of each cell. These worms, or larvæ as they are called, open wide their mouths for food, and their wants are attended to by a part of the workers, (called nurse bees,) who feed them with a mixture of bee-bread, honey, and water, which they make into a kind of jelly. When the worm is nearly grown. its food is