The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1879-10-16
Tho Bumble Bee.

Children did you ever stop to consider
the immense power possessed by bum
ble-beeP An insect weighing no more
than the eighth of an ounce is capable
of raising" man weighing 900 pounds
from bench in the public park, and
then having lots of lifting material left.
Just stop and think of it! The stinger
of a bee is not near as large as the finest
needle, but such is the force behind it
that it can be driven through heavy
pants cloth and into the flesh about six
teen feet. If man could WELD crow
bar in comparison he could drive it
through seven saw-mills at one blow.
Nature could not give the bee teeth and
claws without spelling his beauty, and
to compensate she gave him this stinger
rs weapon of attack and defence. If
the bee had no weapon, ants, beetles and
bugs would cuff him around as they
pleased, but as it is he is boss of the
walk, and won't take word from any
of them. ''
The bumble-bee is not naturally of n
quarrelsome disposition, but he can't be
sat down on over half an hour without
feeling as if some one was doing him q
great wrong. If left to himself he will
crawl up your coat-sleeve, look around,
and crawl down and 60 about his busi-
ness, but if welcomed with blow be-
tween the eyes he is going to be re-
venged if il breaks leg. Heinvariably
closes his eyes when he stings, and you
have only to look bee square in the
face to discover when he is fooling
around and when he means fourteen per
cent. per arnum.
The hay field is favorite resort of
the bumble-bee, but you can find him
ai,,,a e+ ole
Having no pair of long hind legs, he can
not build his nest in n marsh, like the
frog, and having no beak in which to
carry straws he cannot nest in tree like
bird. He therefore takes to the grass,
and under the roots of an old stump, or
amidst a pile of old rails, he rears his
gentle young and gives them printed in
structions as to the difference between
stinging six-inch stovepipe and runa-
way boys. The knowledge of old bees
| is wonderful. They know where the
school-house is. They know when
school is out. They can sail miles
away from home. get in their work on
farmers son wedding out corn, and re-
turn home without missing fence cor
ner or in need of an afternoon nap. AS
a rule they are early risers. Barefooted
boys driving up the COWS at daylight
will find the humble bee out of bed and
quite ready to begin the arduous labors
of the day. Along about sundowr he
quits work, counts noses to see if the
family are all in and then slows himself
away for a night of calm and peaceful re-
pose.
The legs of n bumble-bee are very
crooked. This seems too bad at first,
but you will soon discover that nature
was level-headed. His legs were thus
shaped to enable him to hang to the
brim of boys straw hat. Were his
.egs straight he could not walk a fence
rail in a high wind, nor could he turn
around alter reaching the top of a null
| like waste of material, but such is not
the case. They furnish an extra cover
| ing over his ribs to keep the frosty all
off, and they serve to stifen his spinal
column in his flights through the air.
| A bumble-bee can fly ut the rate o.
twenty miles an hour, if he wants to-
but there is no cause for him to fly any
faster than boy can run. He some
times lives to be three years old, and il
sometimes stricken down before he ha:
travelled at all. His life is precarious
one. He may run deacon out of hay
field to-day, and be the big bee of thu
nest, and tomorrow q country schoo
ma'am may knock his head of with hel
umbrella. Nothing in natural histor,
weighs more for his size than the bee
and nothing in science works easier
without cog-wheels or rubber rollers
than his stinger. It is always ready
never out of repair, and satisfaction Ct,
the bee) is guaranteed in every case
Detroit Free Press.