the appearance of a shower, and distant thunder is heard. Immediately the bees came rushing in from the fields, in clouds. They cover the entire front of their hives, in their eagerness to gain a shelter from the approaching rain. Again, if the morning is cloudy and dark, with every appearance of rain, and you find the bees leaving their hives for the fields, you may be quite certain that rain is not near, and may expect soon to see the sun break forth and the clouds disperse. If, on the other hand there is an appearance of rain, and the bees are quiet in their hives, it is quite sure to rain in a very short time. How wonderful are the workings of nature. How great the sagacity of the little, busy bee. Who dares say that this wonderful little insect does not possess the power of reasons? But I am digressing from the subject. Bees, in their journeys to collect honey, seldom visit more than one species of flower, plant or shrub, at one excursion; and this is a wise provision of nature, for were it otherwise, and any and all species visited promiscuously, the vegetable world would be thrown into chaos, by the fertilizing dust of one species being imparted to another, through the medium of the bee. Pollen as fast as collected is deposited in little basket-like cavities on the inside of the bee's posterior legs. It is packed in little pellets, varying in size from that of a pin's head to a small pea. In color it is usually yellow, but sometimes green or red. Hundreds of bees may be seen entering the hives with pollen at almost any time in the honey season, particularly in the morning before the dew is off the grass. It is easier for the bees to collect it at this time, as the moisture causes it the more readily to adhere to the cavities of the legs. Honey when collected is deposited in the stomach of the bee, in which it is borne to the hive, and there deposited in cells in the comb. The bee has the power of raising this honey from its stomach, in the same manner that all ruminating animals raise the cud. Some have contended that bees cause an injury to all kinds of fruit, such as apples, peaches, plums, etc., by taking away the substance and sweetness, in the form of honey, which otherwise would be absorbed, and eaten with the fruit. This is a great mistake. The provisions of nature are wise in this respect as in all others. There is the strongest evidence to prove that honey, once secreted in the cups of the tiny blossoms, never returns to the flower or fruit, but evaporates and passes into the air. Who, in passing an apple or peach orchard in full bloom, has not noticed the delicious fragrance; which is undoubtedly honey which has evaporated from the myriads of blossoms. It is very plain to the close observer that nature has placed in the cups of flowers this honey, expressly as food for the honey bee, and that it is in harmony with all her great and wonderful works. CHAPTER XIV.