Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1879-11-01
THE FEL!CsANA SENTINEL.
SCIENCE FOR THE LITTLE FOLKS.

weighing Nv bOi Wv 49,"
of an ounce is capable Of raising
man weighing two thousand and
twenty pounds from bench in the
public park, and then having lots
of lifting material left. Just you
think of it! The singer Of a bee Is
not near az large as the finest
needle, bat such is the force be-
hind it that it can be driven
through heavy pants cloth backed
ny meriuo drawers, aud into the
ne:h about sixteen feet. If man
could WELD a crowbar in compari.
son he could drive it tn: ough seven
saw mills and whiskey distillery
at one blow. Nature could not
give the bco teeth and claws with
out spelling his beauty, and to com
pensate che gave him this singer
as a weapon of attack and defence.
If the bee had no weapon, ants,
beetles and bugs would cuff him
around as they pleased; as it is, nc
is boss CT the walk. and won't take
aword from any Of them.
The bumble bee is rot naturally
of a quarrelsome disposition, but he
can't be set down on over half an
hour without feeling as if some one
was doing him great wrong. II
left 10 himself he will crawl up your
coat sleeve, look around, and crawl
down and go about his business
but if welcomed with a blow be-
tween his eyes he is going to be
revenged if it breaks a leg. He
invariably closes one eye when he
stinss, and you have only to look a
bee square in the face to discover
" hen he is fooling around and when
he means fourteen per cent. per
annum.
The hay field is lavorite resort
of the humble bee, but you can
find tiHl almost anywhere else II
you try hard. Having no pair OF
long hind legs, he cannot build his
nest in marsh, like tho frog, and
having no beak in which to carry
s1raws he cannot nest in tree like
a bird. He therefore takes to the
grass, a nd under the roots of an old
stump, or amidst old rails, he rears
his gentle young and gives them
printed instructions as to the differ
ence between singing six~inch
stove-pipo and runaway boys. The
knowledge Of the old bees is Won
derful. They know when school is
out. They can sail miles away
from homo, get in their work on a
farmers son wedding out corn, and
return home without missing fence
corner OF in need or an afternoon
nap.
AS rule they s"e early rlsers'
Barefooted boys driving Up COWS a,
daylight will find the humble bee
out of bed and quite ready to be-
gin the arduous labor 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 peacefl
repose.
The legs Of humble bee art
very crooked. This seems 100 BAG
a! first sight, but you will soon dis
cover that nature was level-hcad
ed. His legs were thus shaped e
enable him to hang to the brim Q
a boys straw hat. Were his leg
straight he could not walk a fenc'
rail in high wind, nor could he turf
around after reaching the top of ;
mullen stalk. They furnish an cx
ira COZ ering over his ribs to kee!
the frosty air off, and they serve t.
stiffen bis spinal column in his 1lgh
through TIE air.
A humble bee can fly at the rat
of twenty miles on hour, if h
wants to; but there is no cause 70
him to fly any faster than a DO,
can run. He some times lives &
be three years old, and is some