"Not to myself alone,'

The heavy-laden bee doth murmuring hum,— 'Not to myself alone, from flower to flower I rove the wood, the garden, and the bower, And to the hive at evening weary come;

For man, for man, the luscious food I pile
With busy care,

Content if this repay my ceaseless toil-
A scanty share.”

CHAPTER X.

STING OF THE BEE-ANGER OF BEES-ATTACK OF MISSIONARIES BY WILD-BEES.

To defend it from its enemies of every kind, and to protect its home, the bee is provided by its Creator with its powerful sting. The honey is a treasure which invites so many robbers, that its sting is given it as a necessary protection.

Yet, the honey-bee rarely uses her sting against any one, unless she is molested, or at a distance from her own home. When flying abroad in the fields and gardens, from flower to flower, she attacks no living being. How seldom are children stung, the cows, feeding quietly, or any other creature, except when near the hive. Surely, then, for its own defence, and the defence of its property, this little insect seems intrusted with so terrible a weapon.

The bees will attack animals most fiercely, if they consider their hive in danger. Horses, left loose in the field, have sometimes strayed into the enclosure, or upon the lawn, too near the bee hives, and by accident have pushed a hive from its place: if it should be upset, death almost certainly follows to the unfortunate animals. On on occasion of this kind, the enraged bees rushed forth in such numbers, and with so much fury upon the horses, that two of them died in a short time from the effects of the stings.

The bears who inhabit forests, and vast prairies, are very fond of the wild-bees' honey, but they are much afraid of the owners of the sweets. If the bees discover them near their homes, they chase them at once, and the huge bears turn cowards and run away as fast as possible.

Those who keep bees have to be prudent in undertaking to meddle with the hives, or in disturbing the bees in their arrangements. A young lady who was fond of the care of the little creatures, and who had no fear, as they had never molested her, attempted one day to assist in raising a hive from the bench on

which it stood, but, becoming alarmed, let go her hold too soon, and it fell upon the board, no doubt crushing some of the bees. A crowd of the angry creatures poured at once from the hive, and, though she retreated with all speed towards the house, they followed faster than she could run, and she received a number of stings upon her head and face, from which she suffered most severely. The bees, when angry, are most dangerous assailants.

When the bee is angry, she makes a shrill, loud noise, which those who are acquainted with her well understand. It is very different from her usual low, gentle hum, when returning from the fields laden with her honey, and is a note of timely warning to offenders.

The bees are very much influenced by kind and gentle treatment; as, on the contrary, they are annoyed and irritated by teazing and bad treatment. Those persons who have always shown kindness to them, they will permit to examine their hive, remove them, and work among them, at their pleasure.

Yet it is certain that they do show a dislike to

some persons who approach them which seems to be without cause, while they never trouble others of the same family, but allow them to work as they please about the hive. Thus, of two brothers in the same house, while one was allowed to stand by them, to look at every part of their work and to gather in the new swarms, with perfect security, the other could scarcely enter the garden where the hives stood, without danger of an attack from the partial and prejudiced bees.

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A gentleman in the country had a very tiff dog, and to this animal his bees had a particular dislike; they would even follow him into the house, and it was sometimes necessary to close the doors and windows to protect him from them; for the dog, though brave on other occasions, did not dare to face these little creatures when angry.

Of all the senses of the bee, their smell is thought to be most acute. It is most likely that by this means they distinguish one bee from another, and, it may be, different persons each from the other. They have sometimes wars among themselves. A single