itself. An American writer says, "we have seen twenty or thirty bees devour a peach in half-an hour; that is, they carried the juices of it to their cells."

Why is it improbable that bees are affected by the hiving-pan, or a tin-kettle?

Because their sense of hearing is very obtuse. Huber says, that "thunder, or the report of a gun, has little or no effect upon them. Sounds are, however, made by the flapping of the wings and other movements of the body, which are distinctly heard and understood by bees. Their sense of smelling is, doubtless, acute."

Why do bees build their cells of a six-sided form? Because it is one of the only three figures by which a space can be filled with cells, without leaving any space between them; and is the most convenient and the strongest, except the circle, by which some room would be lost. By the six-sided form, therefore, the bees save both space and materials.

Why do the walls of bee-combs appear double and treble?

Because the larvæ are not content with the cells as a covering during the pupa state, but they line their sides and bottom, and cover their mouth with silk, thus making a complete cocoon. These, after the insect has been perfected, are left in the cell, and when it contains another larva, a second lining is prepared. Each lining at the bottom, in the bee, covers the excrement, which the animal had produced in its larva state. John Hunter, by whom the above appearance was observed, has counted twenty different linings in one cell.

Why are certain bees called carpenters and masons? Because the former work in wood, as the latter do in bricks, &c.

The mason builds its nest with wonderful art and strength, of the sand and mortar of old walls exposed to the sun.

Within this are chambers lined with leaves, and containing one egg, which, becoming a maggot, lives on the store provided by the mother, changes to a chrysalis, and comes forth a perfect insect in the following spring.

Why are others called upholsterers?

Because they construct their abodes by cutting off portions of the leaves or bark of plants, and uniting them with silk, &c. Even the most elaborate skill of art and luxury cannot excel the embellishments of the cells of these bees. The rose-leaf-cutters are of this species.

Why are others called tapestry-bees?

Because their exclusive business is to adorn the chambers with tapestries of the leaves of flowers, as the poppy, which affords a splendid scarlet hanging equal to the most superb damask.

Why are carder-bees so called?

Because they card or prepare moss as wool for their

nests.

Why do bees rest in clusters or festoons?

Because four or five cling to a part of the hive, and extend their hind-legs, whence others suspend themselves by their fore-feet, and so on for other lines.

Why is it whimsical to save bees when their honey is taken?

Because they must be fed; and if saved, they will die of old age before the next fall; and though young ones will supply the place of the dead, this is nothing like a good swarm put up during the summer.

This is Mr. Cobbett's opinion. If saving the bees be whimsical, it is harmless; and it is better to be whimsical than cruel.

Why is it important to unite hives of bees for keeping ? Because it has been ascertained that when two or three distinct hives are united in autumn, they consume

together scarcely more honey during the winter than each of them would have consumed singly, if left separate.-Bee Preserver, translated from the German.

Why is it evident that all the operations of a swarm of bees are dictated by previous concert and the most systematic arrangement?

Because of their precaution in reconnoitring the situation where they intend to establish their new colony or swarm from the parent hive. The bees do not go out in a considerable body, but they succeed each other in going and returning, until the whole of the swarm have apparently made good the survey, after which the whole body depart in a mass. If, by any chance, a large portion of a swarm take their departure without the queen-bee, they never proceed to take up their ulterior quarters without her majesty's presence.

These interesting facts were lately observed and communicated to the Royal Society, by Mr. T. A. Knight, president of the Horticultural Society.

Why should all bee-stocks be examined before the approach of winter?

Because the gnats or maggots form a chrysalis so strong in the hive, that the bees cannot displace them, and in the spring they creep out of their little sepulchres, and spin a thin web before them, as they march up into the hive among the combs; the bees, endeavouring to dislodge them, are entangled in the web, and there die; and thus, for the want of a little trouble, many stocks are destroyed.

Why should the thatch cap on a beehive be changed often?

Because the straw soon begins to get rotten; then insects breed in it, its smell is bad, and its effect on the bees is dangerous.

Why do bees, when they swarm, fly towards trees? Because they like the pure air of the higher regions better than the air enclosed in hives, which receive

the exhalations of the earth, and in which contagious diseases make great ravages. Thus, in Livonia, bees are cultivated in forests, and are never known to swarm towards the gardens.

Why is the best situation of a bee-house a little to the west of the south?

Because the sun, shining into the mouth of the hive too early, calls the bee abroad before the cold steam is exhaled from the flowers, and the vernal juice turned into honey; but, in the above situation, the sun will reach the front of the house about nine o'clock.

Why are bevering moths so fatal to bees?

Because they lay their eggs at the mouth of the hive, and, with the wind of their wings, fan them within the hive, where the warmth of the bees hatches them to their own ruin.

Why is it disadvantageous to rub the inside of a hive with herbs, &c. previous to the swarm being put in?

Because it gives much unnecessary labour to the bees, as they will be compelled to remove every particle of foreign matter from the hive before they begin to work. The vile practice of making an astounding noise with tin pans, or kettles, when the bees are swarming, is also utterly useless. It may have originated in some ancient superstition, or it may have been the signal to call aid from the fields to assist in the hiving. If harmless, it is unnecessary; and every thing that tends to encumber the managment of bees, should be avoided.-American Work.

Why do weak-minded persons inform bees of any death that takes place in a family?

Because the disastrous consequence to be apprehended from non-compliance with this strange custom, is, that the bees will dwindle and die. The manner of communicating the intelligence to the little community, with due form and ceremony, is this: to take the key of the house, and knock with it three

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times against the hive, telling the inmates, at the same time, that their master or mistress, &c. (as the case may be) is dead! Mr. Loudon says, when in Bedfordshire, lately, we were informed of an old man who sang a psalm the previous year in front of some hives which were not doing well, but which, he said, would thrive in consequence of that ceremony.

ANTS.

Why is the alleged providence of ants more valuable as a moral lesson than for its fidelity to nature?

Because, so far from ants storing up corn for winter provision, no species of them even eat grain, or feed in the winter upon any thing. Again, wood-ants, when within reach of a corn-field, often pick up grains of wheat, barley, or oats, and carry them to the nest as building materials, and not for food, as was believed by the ancients, who also mistook their eggs, larvæ, and pupæ for hoarded grain. Such is the care with which they guard and attend their pupæ, that a working ant has been known to drag ten pupæ into a place of security, after the posterior of its body had been cut off-Blumenbach.

Mr. Carpenter happening once to beat down a number of aphides out of a stunted oak-tree, at the foot of which there was an ant's nest, soon afterwards saw the ants carrying up the aphides, and carefully replacing them upon the leaves of the tree.

Why are the working ants so called?

Because they make, defend, and repair their dwellings, provide their food, watch and attend to the female, and take care of her eggs; they likewise acquire and defend aphides and cocci, which bear to them the same relation that cattle do to man, and which are fed by them with so much care, and the milk of which forms so important a part of their food; they also make predatory excursions to carry off pupa, which they bring up as slaves.-Sir H. Davy.