The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1879-11-07
NATURAL HISTORY POPULARIzED.
The Habits Of Bulnble-bees.
From the Detroit Free Press.l

| NATURAL AAOAVnx 1VK UAAhAAEDs
The Habits Of Bumble-bees.
From the Detroit Free Press.l
Children, did you ever stop to con-
slider the immense power possessed
by bumble-bee? An insect weighing
no more than the eighth of an ounce is
capable of "raising" q man weighing
22O pounds from a bench in the public
park, and then have lots of lifting ma
terial left. just stop and think Of it I!
The singer of 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, backed by merinO
drawers, and into the flesh about six
teen feet. If man could WELD a crow
bar in comparison he could drive it
through seven saw-mills and whisky
distillery at one blow. Nature could not
give the bee teeth and claws without
spelling his beauty, and, in compensa-
ton, she gave him this singer as q
weapon of attack and defense. If the
bee had no weapon, ants, beetles and
bugs could cuff him around as they
pleased, but, as it is, he is boss of the
walk, and won't take q word from any
of them.
The bumble-bee is not naturally of a
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 go about his bust
ness, but if welcomed with blow be-
tween the eyes he is going to be re-
venged if it breaks leg. He invaria-
bly, 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 annum.
The bayfield, is a favOrite resort of
the bumble-bee, but you can find him
almost anywhere else if you try hard.
Having no pair of long hind legs, he
can not build his nest in a marsh like a
frog, and having no beak in which to
carry straws, he can not 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 instructions as to the difference
between stinginga six-inch stOvepipe and
runaway 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 q
farmers son wedding out corn, and re-
turn home without missing fence cor
ner or in need of an afternoon nap. AS
rule they are early risers. Barefooted
boys driving up the COWS at daylight
will find the bumble-bee out of bed and
quite ready to begin the arduous labors
of the day. Along about shutdown he
quits work, counts noses to see if the
family are all in and then slows himself
away for night of calm and peaceful
repose.
The legs of a bumble-bee are very
crooked. This seems too bad at first
sight, but you will soon discover that
nature was level-headed. His legs were
thus shaped to enable him to hang to
the brim of a boys straw hat.
Were his legs straight he could not walk
fence rail in high wind, nor could he
turn around after reaching the top of
mullen stock. The stripes on a bee
look like waste of material, but such is
not the case. They furnish an extra
covering over his ribs to keep the frosty
air off, and they serve to stiffen his
spinal column in his flights through the
air.
A bumble-bee can fly at the rate of 20
miles an hour, if he wants to, but there
is no cause for him to fly any faster
than boy can run. He sometimes lives
to be three years old, and is sometimes
stricken down before he has travelled at
all. His life is precarious one. He
may run a deacon out of bayfield, to-
day, and be the big bee of the nest, and
tomorrow a country schOol-ma' am may
knock his head off with her umbrella.
Nothing in natural history weighs more
for his size than the bee, and nothing in
science works easier without cog-wheels
or rubber rollers than his singer. 1t is
always ready, never out of repair, and
satisfaction Ito the bee) is guaranteed in
every case. ...-....