A Hive of Busy Bees | Page 4

bees
cannot sting; and they will not work--they are lazy fellows. In the fall
they are all killed, so that during the long winter months they cannot eat
the honey which the workers have gathered.
"Bees are busy all the time. On sunny days, they gather honey; and on
cloudy days they make little wax cells in which to store the honey."
"That's why they say, 'busy as a bee,'" said Joyce. "It means 'busy all
the time.' I didn't know there was so much to learn about bees."
"I have been thinking about another kind of bee," said Grandma.
"Do they sting, like the bees in the orchard?" asked Joyce with a little
shiver.
"Their stings are much sharper," answered Grandma, "and the pain lasts
much longer. There is a hive full of these bees, and they are always
very busy. But it is bedtime now. Wait till tomorrow night, and perhaps
I shall tell you about one of them."
Ten minutes later Don fell asleep, wondering what the strange sort of
bee was like, and hoping it would never sting him as the cross bee had
stung Joyce.

Bee Obedient
"I have something to show you," said Grandma after breakfast the next
morning. "Come with me."
"Oh, a little calf!" exclaimed Don a moment later.

"Isn't he cute?" cried Joyce. "See how wobbly his legs are. What's his
name, Grandma?"
"Grandpa says he's not going to bother naming him, when he has two
bright grandchildren here on the farm," answered Grandma, smiling.
"Does he mean that we can name him?" asked Joyce.
"Yes," replied Grandma, "he means just that."
"Oh, Don," cried Joyce, "what shall we call him?"
"I think Bruno is a nice name," said Don.
"So do I; we'll call him Bruno," agreed Joyce.
"I wonder if he would let me pet him," said Don, gently touching the
calf on his small white nose.
The little fellow tossed his head and wobbled over to the other side of
his mother. The children laughed merrily; and they were so interested
in watching the little creature that Grandma had to leave them and go
back to her work.
The hours passed by very quickly and very happily--there were so
many new things to do! Of course Joyce had to write a long letter to
Mother, telling her about the sting of the bee, the new little calf, and
many other interesting things.
Late in the afternoon the children remembered about the cows, and they
thought they would pump the trough full of water ahead of time. It was
such fun that they kept on pumping until the trough overflowed, and
the ground around it was all muddy.
After supper, they let down the bars for the cows to come through. The
cows had just finished drinking, when Don slipped in the mud and fell
backward right into the trough. He kicked and splashed about, trying to
get out; and Joyce got a good drenching when she tried to help him.
Grandpa had to come to the rescue, and fish him out; and then they all

had a good laugh--even Don. The children could not watch the milking
that night, because they had to go to the house and put on dry clothes.
Later in the evening, they reminded Grandma that she had promised to
tell them a story. They drew their chairs close to hers, and she began:
"It was to be a story about a bee, wasn't it? Well, this bee has a sharp
sting, and it goes very deep."
"I hope it will never sting me, then," said Joyce.
"I hope not," said Grandma. "The boy and girl in my story were stung
severely; but it was all their own fault, as you shall see.
"Anna and her brother lived near a pond, and when the cold weather
came it was great fun to skate on the ice. Oftentimes they would slide
across it on their way to school. One morning, as their mother buttoned
their coats, she said, 'Don't go across the ice this morning, children. It
has begun to thaw, and it is dangerous.'
"'No, we won't,' they promised.
"When they reached the pond, Willie said, 'Why, see, Anna, how hard
and thick the ice looks. Come on, let's slide across it.'
"Instantly the bee began to buzz about Anna's ears. 'Bz-z-z-z-z! Don't
do it!' said the bee. 'It's dangerous. You promised Mother.'
"'We'd better not, Willie,' said Anna quickly. 'We promised Mother,
you know.'
"'But Mother'll never know,' said Willie.
"'But you promised,' buzzed the bee again.
"'Mother thought the ice was thawing,' added Willie. 'She won't care,
when she knows it isn't. You may do as you like, Anna; but I'm going
to slide across right now.'

"When Anna saw her brother starting across