Year: 1879

Children, did you ever stop to consider
the immense power possessed by bum
ble-bee I? An insect weighing no more
than the eighth of an ounce is capable Of
raising" man weighing 22O pounds
from bench in the public park, and then
have 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. II man could
WELD crowbar 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, i'm com.
pensation, she gave him this singer as a
weapon of attack and defense. II 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 a 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 rs 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 90 about his bust
ness, but ifwelcomed with blow between
the eyes he is going to be revenged if it
breaks leg. He invariably 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 ceut 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 marsh like the frog, and, having
no beak i'm which to carry straws, he can
not nest i'm tree like bird. He, there
fore, takes to the grass, and under the
roots of an old stump, or amidst pile of
old rails, he rears his gentle Young and
gives them printed instructions as to the
difference between singing six-inch stove
pipe and runaway boys.


The knowledge of old bees is wonder
full. 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 farmers son wedding out
corn, and return home without missing a
fence corner or in need of an afternoon
nap As rule they are early risers.
Barefooted boys driving up the cows at
daylight will find the humble bee out of
bed and quite ready to begin the arduous
labors of the day. Along about sundown
he quits work, counts noses to see if the
family are all in and then slows himself
away for night of calm and peaceful re-
pose.


The legs of bumble-bee are very
crooked. This seems too bad at first
sight, but you will soon discover that ma
ture was level-headed. His legs were
thus shaped to enable him to hang to the
brim of Il boys straw hat. Were his Rgs
straight he could not walk a fence rail. in
high wind, nor could he turn around
after reaching the top of a MULLEN stock.
The stripes on a bee look like Il waste of
material, but such is not the case. They
furnish an extra covering over the ribs to
keep the frosty air off, and they serve to
stifien his spinal column in his flights
through the air.


A bumble-bee can fly at the rate of
tweny 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 was precarious one. He
may run deacon out of hay field to-day
and be the big bee of the nest, and to-
morrow n country school ma'am may
knock his head off with her umbrella


Nothing in natural history weighs more
for his size than u bee. and nothing in sci
ence works easier without eog-wheels or
rubber rollers than his singer. 1t is al
ways ready. never out of repair, and sat


staction Ito the bee) is garanteed in every
case Detroit Free Press.