The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1863-07-27
The Disseminated Bee.

to ta1 with their wings, that they might list.
en- the dronos murmured with a hoarse voice
the bees ran in and out in great confusion
the work all stopped, and destruction seemed
to reign in this ~honeyed kingdom. What wqs
the matter? After a great deal of noise and
clamor it was discovered that the bees had
brought a criminal before their queen to know
what should he done with her. The queen
turned round slowly and najestically as
queens should DO, and tb n inquired.
What is the matter ? Why have you
brought that young bee before me ?"
please your majesty, she wont w0rk !"
Won't work a! A bee won't work
No, your majesty, and she is not only
idle, but is all the time complaining and find.
ing fault with everybody and everything, and
thuS she makes the whole hive unhappy ="
q" Hebe, is this SO? What have you to
say ?"
Please your majesty" whined poor Hebe,
1" I'm the most unfortunate ofall your subject.
The fact is, I'm not handsome! My face is
small, and one Of my eyes seems to squint;
and though I'm an Italian bee, yet my dress
is not rich gold, but has a dim leadeu look.
and my feet are large, and my arms are hairy,
and my ears are too large. In short, I'm so
plain that nobody ever notices me, and | have
no admirers, and actually overheard a gentle.
man say. How homely Hebe grows !! Those
who are handsome and have admirers can az
ford to work, but for me, there is nothing but
chagrin and modification -
Foolish one =" cried the queen. Now
hear your sentence! You will, | hope, have
long life, even nine moons long You have
already wasted four long bright days. [ con.
denim you to rise at early dawn, to 60 out at
once and wash your face and hands in the dew
that gathers in the clematis. Then you are
to 90 from flower to flower and bring in hon
ey sufficient to feed ten young bees. 1t will
take you out twenty-five journeys every day,
and require the honey of one hundred flowers
each journey"
90 dear y cried Hebe, " to think of suck
ing twenty-five hundred flowers every day! -
"Hes, and you must nurse ten young bees
all the time, and thus mature one every day
on an average, and you must do this during
three moons. This is my sentence, and you
are not to appear before me till at the end of
t hat period"
The queen turned away, and the sister bees
led poor Hebe to the door of the hive, and
pushed her out. At first she was bewildered
and cast down. But the sun shone bright,
and the birds sang, and the air was filled with
her sisters coming and going, flying and sing
ing. 50 she spread her wings, and away she
flew. Away, away she went over fences and
trees, till she found a tree Of white clover.
Then she came down, and to her amazement
found it easy to work. In a short time she
had drawn from her hundred clover-heads, and
then straight back to the hive. In she came
singing, and began to feed her young charge.
And then OFT again--morning, noon, and night
she was coming and going. Her young bees
loved her, and sang with her, and went on in
company as fast as grown. Sometimes she
bathed in the dews of the eglantine or the
sweet jessamine; sometimes she swung on the
raspberry-blossom, sometimes mounted upon
the linden, or the locust full of white flowers,
and sometimes on the crest ola lofty tulip-tree,
or rushed into the woods fragrant with the
honeysuckle. But every day she grew happier.
Her songs were now cheerful and loud. She
laughed at her former dread of work and
what was curious, just in proportion as she
worked she grew handsome! The bands that
e%ncircled her body became wide and bright
like polished gold, her wings shone like leaves
OF silver. Her eye grew bright, and lost its
squlnt, it it really ever had any. Her feet,
kept clear by the morning dew, were in beau
tlful proportion. In short, there was not a hap.