The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-07-17
BOYS AND BUMBLEBEES.

A person who has never been boy in
the country finds great difficulty in uu-
derstanding just where the fun comes in
when party of boys undertake to fight
out bumblebees' nest. With the limit
| ed knowledge OF boys and bumblebees
that city people possess, they are apt to
think that the fun is all on the side Of
the bees, and that the boys are moved to
attack the nest by generous intention
to amuse its occupants. That this view
is reasonable one, although not exactly
correct, will be seen when the method
and consequences Of an attack upon a
bumblebees' nest are described.
The boys who are fortunate enough to
have discovered bees nest assemble in
the neighborhood, armed with paddles
whitfield out of shingles, or branches OF
brushwood The attack is made with
some caution, and it is always doubtful
point whether the position nearest to the
nest is the post of honor, or whether that
desirable station is not somewhere IN the
rear of the attacking party.
1t does not take much to arouse the
sturdy inhabitants of the nest to active
hostilities, nor do they confne themselves
closely to defensive tactics. BY no
means. Each individual bee seems ami
mated by determination to give those
boys all the fun that can be obtained
from the enterprise, and the air is soon
alive with the battle cries of the two con-
tending parties, which to al outside
spectator sound like "Buzz! buzz! buell.
on one side, and sob! oh! obi" ON
the other. Soon the boy party takes to
flight, and the bee party gives chase; and
notwithstanding the rapid motions of
paddles and branches, most OF the insects
succeed in locating claim" on the
faces or necks of the enemy.
There is one way to escape being
stung, but it requires SO much nerve that
most boys prefer to take their chances in
the hand to.hand f yht rather than try
this hazardous strategy. The plan is to
lie still, as if dead. The bumblebee is
generous foe and does not care to insult
dead enemy. Sol a boy will lie perfect
ly still he may escape. But as the bee is
generous, SO also is he suspicious. There
are legends in the hives and nests of hui
man bipeds who have suddenly died
upon the field of battle, and as suddenly
risen and walked off when the enemy
had retired. Accordingly the bumblebee
wanders cautiously over the face, ears,
head and neck of the apparently lifeless
foe, seeking evidence that life Is not yet
extinct, probes the corners Of the eyes
with feeler, or tickles the tender skin of
the nose with hind leg. Possibly he
discovers new fields of sensation beneath
wilted collar, and explores that region.
The boy who can stand this sort of ex-
animation would be hero in dentists
chair, perhaps; but as there are few who
can brave that ordeal without hinching,
SO there are few who succeed in passing
the bumblebee's examination when "play-
ing dead"
After all, perhaps the city person is
right, and the bees have all the fun and
the boys all the suffering; 50, as the lat
ter are not required by the dictates of
fine feeling or the laws OF good society
to amuse bumblebees at their own ex-
pense, we think they would be wise if
they let bees nests alone during the pres
emit summer.-Harper's Young People.