Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1879-08-18
Ionth's Column.
~ From the New York Observer.
ABOUT BEES. {7eY 49,
How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour.
And gather honey all the day

- improve each shining hour, iflI
a,eaH 81. And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower.
know you have seen them-thosc
wonderful little Notwithstanding hon.
ey from the flowers, but perhaps you did
not know quite how they managed mat
tiers.
If you have noticed bees very closely.
you may have seen that they are not all
alike in size. The drones, the idle ones
who never work at all, are the largest,
and make great buzzing, like many
idle people. They have no stings, SO
that they cannot defend themselves
against their enemies. These idle ones
would be glad to live in the hive all
winter and eatup the honey, but the
working bees know better than to let
them do that, and as soon as summer is
over they are all driven out of the hive,
and perish outside, or are stung to death
by their indignant comrades within.
The workers are smaller, are provided
with sharp stings, and are very busy lit
tie bodies. They are divided into two
kinds. the nurses and the wax-workers.
The former are the weakest and smallest,
and attend to the lighter work Thew
keep the hive clean, help to finish the
cells which the others have commenced,
feed the grubs and gather honey. The
wax-workers collect materials for con-
structing the cells, and do the most bur-
densome part of the building; see that
there is plenty of provision in the hive !;
prepare wax defend the hive from enc
mics; SO that they have very little time
to be idle. and are probably great deal
happier than the drones who eat up the
workers honey.
But, beside the drones and the work
ers, there is very important parsonage
in the hive, called the queen, who re-
quires great amount of attention from
her subjects. The welfare of the hive
depends upon the life and prosperity of
the queen, and every worker is ready to
feed and defend her at the sacrifice of its
own life. She is longer than the other
bees, and has very short wings, by which
she may easily be known; beside, she
moves with more dignity than her fol.
lowers, and is very politely treated by
every one. She leads a very idle life,
yet is provided with powerful sting,
that she may defend herself, and so has
the same advantage, in this respect. as
the workers. So important is the queen
that if she dies, or is killed, the whole
hive is in confusion, and if another queer
cannot be produced, the swarm dwindlei
and dies. -e-~'-
You may wonder that such little crea
lures can carry SO much material and d.
so much work, but if you examine then
carefully you will find they have boil
hands and baskets, and are fitted, by /;
wise and kind Creator, for the very worl
they have to do. The workers have 81,
legs, and the hind pair is provided witt
curious little baskets or pockets, bristlinI
with many hairs around the edges t
prevent any material deposited within
them from falling out during the bee
,, flight. Here is placed all the necessar
material for use in the hive, which i
! carried home safely. At the end of tn
!, legs are little hooks by which they ca
hold themselves securely wherever the
: may wish to be, and they are also c
such a shape that they may be used
' grapple or handle, and answer the plac
' of hands. The two pair of front leg
: are furnished with numbers of littl,
: hairs, which answer to brush the pole
u from their legs and bodies, and are us'
+ full little brushes, for you know the po
len used as food in the hive is caugl
: from the hearts of the flowers on ii
II bodies of the bees, and so carried hon
/ or deposited in the little pockets. whic
e seem to be the safest and best way. III
y honey could not be carried in the lit
d pockets, as they would be unfit for 9TH
u purposes SO the workers are each pr
y vided with a membrane, or bag. in IL
=. under part of the body, where the hone
II drawn from the flowers is deposited, al
re from whence it is put into the cells pr
ID pared for it in the hive.
81 The very first thing the bees do
u taking possession of new hive is to c
D. ment it all round with a resinous su
80 stance, called propolis, taken from t
Il buds of trees, with which every chill
~ is filled, and the top of the hive W,
- coated, that they may the easier fast
- ., the combs to it. They then divide in
- little companies, and drawing SIN;
y pieces of wax from their bodies by mea
u of their little hooked hands, shape the
AZ into tiny balls with their mandibles, a
secure them to the top of the hive.
they 60 on drawing wax from tn,
of bodies, kneading it and attaching it
to that which they put on before, and
Oh pressure form it into the six-sided eel
IS, which are wonderful buildings for su
st. insects to make. But if you think t