plump partridges. Not more than ten minutes later the old man brought
down three more. Then he let Jack, who was a good shot, take his gun,
and down came two more.

"Eight partridge," he exclaimed, "and quite enough for us all! We shoot
only what we actually need for food, not a bird more. Oho! somebody else
made a home here. Old Paw Bear has been tearing it out and licking his
chops."

The children leaned forward, looking eagerly. "What was it?" they asked.

"Honey," said the guide. "Paw Bear has a sweet tooth for honey and
berries."

"I should think the bees would sting him," said Jimmie.

"They do try to, but little he cares, with his thick coat of hair. Not a
bit. The bees have another enemy, too, which is always hovering about to
find a chance to get into the busy little house; that is the bee-moth.
If she gets the least opportunity Mother Bee-Moth lays her eggs in the
wax of the honeycomb, for the baby moths are very fond of wax. It's not
an easy matter to get in when the bees are not looking, but she manages
it quite often; and when the little larvas hatch out of the eggs, they
eat the wax and the mischief is done. When Mother Bee-Moth is seen the
bees rush upon her and sting her to death. They have good cause to hate
her, for the wax is precious, hard to make and to mould into the little
cells. It is not pleasant to have some miserable worm eat the roof from
your head. Oftentimes the bees are so discouraged that they decide, as
they talk it over in bee language, that it is easier to build a new home
than to repair the old one. They settle upon an hour of departure, and
off they go."

"But I didn't know," said Betty, "that bees live in their hives; I
thought that they just stored their honey there."

"So did I," said Jimmie.

It was Jack's time to smile, for, a country boy, he had often watched
the hives. "Couldn't you tell us something, sir? Here's a bit of the
cone left."

"Do you want to hear?"

"Oh, I think bees are so interesting!" Betty clapped her hands.

[Illustration: LEAF-CUTTER BEE]

"Did you ever look closely at a bee? Their bodies are covered with
hairs, unlike the hairs found on other insects, for each hair is a tiny
plume. And their mouths, which they have to use for so many different
things, are remarkably made; each part is formed to do a certain kind of
work. First there are the strong biting jaws, then another pair of jaws
joined to the lower lip, which move easily back and fort