New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1880-03-17
A Chapter on the Bundle. Bee.

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" man weighing
two hundred and twenty pounds from a
bench in the public park, and then hav-
ing lots of lifting material left. Just
stop and think Of it! The singer 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 backed by merino drawers,
and into the flesh about sixteen feet. If
man could WELD crow-bar in COM
parison 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 to compensate she gave
him this singer as a weapon of attack
and defense. 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 bulnble-bee is not naturally of q
quarrelsome disposition; but he can't
DC sat down on over half an hour with
out feeling as if some one was doing
him great wrong. If left to himself
he will crawl up your coat-sleeve, look
around, and crawl down and 20 about
his business, but if welcomed with a
blow between the eyes he is going to be
revenged if it breaks a leg. He inva-
riably closes his eyes when he stings,
and you have only to look bee square
in the face to discover when he is fool
ing around and when he means fourteen
per cent, per annum.
The bayfield, is 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
cannot build his nest in q marsh, like
the frog, and having no beak in which
TO carry straws he cannot nest in tree
like . bird. He therefore takes to tho
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 singing 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
a farmers son wedding out corn, and
return home without missing fence
corner or in need OF an afternoon nan.
AS rule they are early risers. Bare
footed boys driving MP the COWS at dav.
light will find the bumble-bee out of
bed and quite ready to begin the ardu-
Gus 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 q 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 q high wind, nor could he
turn around after reaching the top of
The stripes on bee
!ook Ike q waste Of material, but such
IS not the case. They furnish an extra
covering over his ribs to keep the frosty
air oft, and they serve to stiffen his
spinal column in his flights through the
cir.
A buinble-bee can fly at the rate Of
twenty miles an hour, if he wants to.
but there is no cause for him to fly any
faster than q boy can run. He some
times lives to be three years old, and is
metimes strick Ken down before he has
travelled at all. His life IS q precarious
one. He may run deacon ont Of q
bayfield, to-day, and be the big bee Of
the nest, and tomorrow q country
school ma am may knock his head of
with her umbrella. Nothing ii 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. Il IS always
ready, never out ofrepair, and satisfac-
ton Ito the bee) IS guaranteed ii every
case. Detroit Frss lkess.