drones, and the workers.

The queen is the mother as well as the sovereign of the hive. In shape she is more slender than the other bees. Her body is much longer, and tapers gradually to a point. Her legs are longer than theirs, but her wings are much shorter.

THE QUEEN OF THE HIVE.

She is armed with a bent or curved sting, but she does not often use it, except in her wars with other queens.

The queen-bee does no work, and she is treated with the greatest respect and attention by all the other bees. Although the hive is dark, they always know their queen. If she is killed, or by any accident they are deprived of her, they appear to be entirely without comfort. They leave their work, and seem to lose all interest in their labours for a time.

The drones are the largest of the bee family, and their bodies are thick and clumsy. They are nearly twice as large as the workers.

The drones have no sting, and, of course, they may be handled without danger.

The proportion of drones in each hive is about one for every twenty of the other bees, but sometimes the proportion varies.

The workers are the smallest bees of the hive. They are the labourers, the industrious part of the family. They collect the honey and pollen, they build the waxen cells, take care of the young, and defend the hive, so far as they are able, from enemies of every kind.

The worker-bee has a long, slender trunk or proboscis, with which it gathers the honey from the flowers; and its hinder legs are furnished with brushes and baskets to collect the pollen, and carry it safely to the hive. No other bee has these baskets but the worker-bee. The sting of the worker is so sharp and long that it will pierce through a thick leather glove. It consists of three parts a sheath and two very small darts. Each of these darts is edged with little crooked points, which sticking in the flesh makes the sting more painful. But the wound would scarcely be felt, if it were not for the poison which the bee puts into

it; first the sharp-pointed sheath enters the flesh, and next the little darts, through which the poison quickly passes. The smallest quantity is sufficient to cause great pain. The sting generally remains fast in the flesh, and is drawn out of the body of the insect, causing its death. The poor bee, then, angry when she stings, but it is to her own hurt. Every bee has six legs and four wings. Its body is composed of three distinct parts, and, except the head, is divided into rings or sections.

is

Their eyes are on the upper surface of the head; and every bee has a pair of long horns, called antennæ, rising from each side of the head. These antennæ, or feelers, are probably the seat of the sense of touch in the bee, and also, perhaps, of smell. They appear to distinguish a stranger-bee at once by touching it with them.

CELLS.

The office of the queen-bee is to lay eggs in the cells prepared by the workers for that purpose.

These remain for three days, and then a little worm is hatched in the bottom of each cell. They are fed in the cells for five or six days and then they are sealed up in the cell; while hidden there it grows till it becomes a perfect bee, when it bursts the cell and enters a new life. The queens pass through all these changes in sixteen days; the workers in twenty days; and the drones in twenty-four days. Hive and its Wonders.

QUESTIONS:-1. How does the honey-bee live? 2. What do you mean by that? 3. What kind of bees require to take care of themselves? 4. What are bee-hives made of? 5. Where is the city of the bee? 6. What do we find there? 7. Of how many classes is a family of bees composed? 8. Name them. 9. Describe the shape and appearance of the queen. 10. What kind of sting has she, and when does she use it? 11. What is her position among the other bees? 12. If she is killed, what has been noticed about the rest in the hive? 13. How does the drone differ in size from the rest? 14. Describe the appearance of a drone. 15. What is very remarkable about the drone? 16. How many drones are in a hive in proportion to other bees? 17. What do you know about the worker-bee? 18. Tell distinctly all the work they do in the hive. 19. How does this kind of bee gather the honey? 20. What has this bee that the other classes of bees have not? 21. Describe the sting of the worker-bee. 22. How many legs has every bee? 23. How many wings? 24. Where are the eyes of the bee placed? 25. What are the long horns of the bee called? 26. What does that big word mean? 27. What is the chief office of the queen-bee?

cun'-ning mag'-ni-fy-ing so-ci'-e-ty ven'-om-ous

at-trac'-tive, winning, allur- | fa-mil'-iar, domestic, homely.

ing.

fa'-vour-ite, much beloved.

con-fine-ment, being shut up, hand'-some, pretty, elegant.

prison.

cu'-ri-ous-ly, strangely.

do'-cile, easily taught.

e-steem'-ed, much prized.

Eu-ro-pe'-an, belonging to
Europe.

in-ter-wov'-en, woven or twisted together.

ma-te'-ri-als, substances.

plain'-tive, expressing sorrow.

THE finches are among the best-known kinds of birds. They are found throughout Europe and also in America. The most common birds of the finch family are the canary, the chaffinch, and the European and American goldfinches.