08

How Buzzy Saved the Beehive

This story tells you about a wise little bee, named Buzzy. Some very strange things happened in the beehive where Buzzy lived.

Mother and Bob and Nancy were in the yard watching the honey bees.“Tell us a story about bees, Mother,”begged the children.

Mother smiled and said, “I have never told you about a bee named Buzzy, have I? Well, here is the story.

“In every beehive there are three kinds of bees—the queen, the workers, and the drones.The queen bee lays all the eggs. The workers bring the juices from flowers to make the honey. And the drones, who are the lazy bees, do almost nothing but eat and sleep.

“In each beehive there is only one queen, but sometimes a new queen is hatched while the old one is still living.

“Now the old queen is afraid that the bees will like the new queen better than they like her. So almost always she goes away to make a new home. Many of the bees go with her. If too many bees leave at this time, there are not enough left to do the work in the old hive.

“In the beehive in which the hard-working little Buzzy lived, the queen was getting ready for a new home. She was going to leave very soon and take with her a great many workers.

“All the bees were excited. They buzzed and chattered about what was going to happen. Some of the young bees came flying to Buzzy and said,‘Are you going, Buzzy? Are you going?'

“‘Dear me, no!'answered Buzzy, ‘I am much too busy gathering flower juices to think of anything else. You know very well that we can't all go. If we did, there would be no hive here, '

“‘How silly you are,'said one of Buzzy's friends, ‘I am going. It is getting too crowded here for me. The only thing to do is to go with the old queen and start a new home, '

“Just then another bee came flying to Buzzy and said, ‘A new queen has been hatched, and the old queen does not like her. So the old queen will leave tomorrow with a great many workers!'

“The next day was clear and beautiful. It was the only kind of day on which bees ever leave for a new home. In the hive everyone was excited, for each one knew that this was the day. Hundreds and hundreds of bees were buzzing.

“Suddenly all was still. A few workers came to the door and then flew out. They rose in the air and waited for all those who were to go with them. In a short time more than half the hive flew off to find the new home.

“Sadly Buzzy watched her friends leave. Then she went back to her work.

“But things did not go well in the old hive. Something hurt the new queen, and she died. Then one day many of the workers were caught in a bad storm and could not get back home.

“Some of the bees who were left said, ‘We have no queen to lay eggs and hatch out more workers. Now there is no use for us to work.' So they stopped gathering flower juices.

“Poor Buzzy was very sad indeed, but she did not stop working.

“One day, when Buzzy reached the hive, she became very angry, because there were no bees at the door to keep away robbers. For some of the bees in every hive must watch for robber bees, who often try to take the honey.

“Buzzy went into the hive and scolded the lazy bees who should have been watching. But it did no good, and so Buzzy stood at the door herself.

“Suddenly the little bee smelled something strange.‘Robbers,' she thought. In a minute a robber bee flew at her, but Buzzy was such a good fighter that the robber bee had to fly off.

“Soon other bees came and tried to get in. Just as Buzzy was thinking that she could never fight so many robbers, some of her friends in the hive came to help her. The robber bees were all driven away, and Buzzy had saved the hive.

“The next day a new queen was hatched, and all the bees were happy. At once the workers hurried out and began to gather flower juices. The bees at the door were careful not to let in any robber bees.

“The new queen was very beautiful. She laid many hundreds of eggs, which hatched out so many bees that soon the hive was quite strong again. And that is the end of the story,”said Mother.

“How much longer did Buzzy live?” asked Bob.“Only a short time,” answered Mother. “Bees live between five and six weeks in summer, when they gather honey. But they live all winter if they are hatched in the fall.”

“Buzzy lived in the summer, didn't she?” said Nancy. “My, didn't she have an exciting time in her short life?”

1. What three kinds of bees live in a hive?

2. Which kind gathers the honey?

3. What did the old queen do when the new queen was hatched ?

4. What happened when the new queen died?

5. How long do bees live?

6. What is the most exciting part of the story?