Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-07-28
Il Rdpid Retreat.

cocks, each one eager TO be nrst on the spot.
What capital sport it will be; the day is
hot, and the bees will be very active and
not all in the nest, so that they will have
to keep sharp lookout for those that are
coming in loaded up and not get their
flank turned.
If their purpose was merely to rob the
nest of its nectarous store, and did not de-
sire spirited combat, they would have to
wait until evening or some morning when
the dew lays heavy on the grass, and every
blade is diamond tipped; then the bees are
not yet on wing, or on some cool day when
they are benumbed with cold and not so
active; but that Is cowardly. A fair fight
and no quarter, say We all, yelled the boys
in a chorus.
THE OPENING ATTACK.
Arming themselves with a bunch of
strong weeds or slender rods In each hand,
the battle begins, one boy at either side of
the nest, and as fast as they make their
appearance they are stunned or killed
outright by the blows that are
other boy stands guard TO keep off the in
corners. But look out they don't get the
start of you; whale it to them till your
arms ache and the perspiration streams from
every pore. Look outi there is one behind
you. Too late. Before he could turn and
switch him to the ground he had lit on the
back of the boys neck and drove his stiletto
to the hilt. With a howl of pain he is
brushed off and trsmpled under loot. But
all this time the buzzing fellows were pour
ing out Of the nest, and every other one was
getting on the wing. Now the excitement
was at fever heat, and it took the combined
efforts of two boys whose muscles would not
flag to drive them of, while the other lad
kept thrashilg them at a I. eat deal livelier
rate of speed than if he was failing buck
wheat. Finally one of the boys is attacked
furiously by squad that he is unable to
cope with, and IS they begin to drive it into
him, now on this side and then on that, his
cries for reinforcement are loud but OF no
avail, as each boy now has as much as he
could possibly manage.
AN IGNOMINIoUs RETREAT.
His nerves began to waver, and in spite
of his efforts to brace himself up he found
his knees weakening, and finally his cow
ardly legs put of with him as fast as they
could go, while his arms kept up a con-
tinuous motion, whirling the brush over his
head, giving him the ludicrous appearance
of an old-fashioned windmill being carried
away by a cyclone. Upon reaching a wind
row he gathered up an armful of hay, and,
covering his head and hands, lay down
until the red-hot varmints had all left him,
thinking he was laid out for good. The at
tack is renewed when he gets his courage
screwed up again, and the bees who had de-
Tended their home with gallantry were at
last wiped out and their nest robbed of its
precious store.
The honey of the humble bee is very
sweet and finely favored, as it is procured
from blossoms which the hive bee can
not reach, especially red clover. This gives
it different flavor, and think far superior,
but this may be accounted for by boyish i'm
pressions which are sometimes reverted to
as the good old times when was young, or
by the adage that "stolen fruit is sweetest. :"
THE BUNDLE BEE.
No insect is more widely diffused, as it
ranges from the limits of floral vegetation to
the equator. They live in much smaller So
cieties than the hive bee and are less pro-
life. In size the workers are the smallest,
the males larger and the females
largest of all; their nest is a wide cavity in
the earth, the bottom covered with leaves
and moss and the sides and top lined with
wax. The entrance is sometimes a simple
hole, but is often covered up by circuitous
path under the moss or rotten bark around
an old stump. The Larvae live together
until about to change into nymphs when
they spin a silken cocoon, in which they
are placed head downward and from which
it is said they come out in four or five days
in May or June. The males and
neuters die of, in the fall, but
the females live in torpid state
until spring without food, when each
starts new colony, which never consists of
more than go. and they do not occupy the
same nest in successive years. Many species
abound in America. The lapidary is usu-
ally found in stony places. They collect
honey with great industry, are more numer-
Gus than other kinds, and also better fight
ers. Their
MOST VALUABLE SERVICE
to man is the fertilization Of plants by carry
Sng pollen from one flower to another. 1t is
3 we'll known fact that no red clover seed
could be raised in Australia until humble
bees were imported. They. are of variety
Of oolors, but mostly . lustrous black, and