and the old bees leave the hive and fill the air with buzzing bees that soon light on the limb of a tree or a post.

The old-fashioned way of hiving a swarm of bees is very simple. The object on which the queen bee and her followers alight is placed in front of an empty hive. Very soon the bees will crawl into the hive.

The modern way, however, is much easier. A queen trap is kept on each hive through the swarming season, which is from May to July. A queen trap is a cage with holes in it just large enough for the worker bees to go through, but too small for the queen. When the bees swarm, the queen is caught in the trap; the trap is put on an empty hive, and the queen allowed to enter her new home. The bees soon miss her and come back. Finding her satisfied with the new hive, they

settle down.

Of course swarming weakens a hive, as it splits it in half. If bees swarm in the first part of the season, they have all summer to gather honey for the winter and bring the colony back to normal size again. But if they swarm in the latter part of the season, they do not have time enough to gather much honey or to form a hive. Hence the old saying:

A swarm of bees in May
Is worth a load of hay.
A swarm of bees in June
Is worth a silver spoon.

A swarm of bees in July
Isn't worth a fly.

-A Pupil.

With your teacher's help, find in the dictionary the

meanings of the following words:

Read the sentences in which the words occur.

Now read each sentence again, using instead of the original word the meaning you have found. Be sure that your new words fit.

Make a list of the words. Learn how to spell them.

Tell about the old-fashioned way of hiving bees.
Tell about the modern way.

Which way is better? Why?

1. Write a paragraph about the old way of hiving a

swarm.

2. Write a paragraph about the modern way of hiving a swarm.

What must every sentence in the paragraph do?

260

A TRUE STORY

AN ODD PLACE TO SWARM

For several years we have kept bees, and we have had a number of unusual experiences with them, especially at the time of swarming.

One day my brother rushed excitedly into the house, saying that one of our strongest hives was swarming. Unless we could hive this queen and her faithful followers quickly in new quarters, we would lose a new colony. It is a well-known fact that, when tin pans are beaten, a swarm is not quite so apt to wander, and usually will light on a tree near by. We hurried for

tin pans, and in a short time the queen thought it best to alight on one of the larger branches of the pine trees in our front yard.

Although my father did not wish to spoil the appearance of the tree, he climbed up and was beginning to saw the limb when he felt something moving on his back. Thinking that he had only imagined it, he continued to saw. Soon, however, his back commenced to feel heavier. Beginning to be annoyed by the mystery, he turned his head. The queen bee had alighted on his coat, and her followers were quickly gathering about her. With the swarm, which was now the size of a water bucket, on his back, father climbed down the tree slowly and carefully, and, as he stretched himself on the grass at the entrance of the hive, the queen and her attendants entered their new home. -A Pupil.

Perhaps some of you know strange stories of bees, ants, spiders, wasps, or other insects.

Tell these stories to your classmates.

261

LEARNING PARTS OF SPEECH

CONJUNCTIONS

1. From my study I see in the lamplight
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice and laughing Allegra
And Edith with golden hair.

2. He whistled and sang and laughed and rolled
On the grass in the soft June air.

3. The day is cold and dark and dreary.

4. The frost spirits work silently but surely.

Who are the children spoken of in the first sentence? How are their names connected? What part of speech is each of these names?

Name the words in the second sentence that tell what the tramp did. How are these words connected? What part of speech is each of these words?

Name the words that describe the noun day in the third sentence. How are these words connected? What part of speech are words which describe nouns? What question do the words silently and surely answer? How are these two words connected? part of speech are words which modify verbs? Words which connect other words are called conjunctions.

What

Conjunctions may connect nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

Find the conjunctions in the following sentences and tell what parts of speech they connect.

1. Northward and seaward

He points with his hands.

2. Down drop the painted leaves,

The world lies stripped and wounded, cold and bare.

3. They sailed and sailed as winds might blow. 4. He spoke calmly but firmly.

5. Glorious flag, red, white, and blue,
Emblem of the brave and true.

6. His clothes were shabby but clean.
7. They reached home tired but happy.
8. Succeed or fail, I mean to try.

9. Tom or Fred will do it for you.

10. He always whistled or sang at his work.

Write other sentences, using and, but, and or to connect two nouns, two verbs, two adjectives, or two adverbs.

262

OTHER WORK OF CONJUNCTIONS

Father had lost his glasses, so Ted and I were looking for them.

We looked on his desk and under the table.

"I have looked everywhere, but I cannot find them, said Ted.

In the first sentence what two statements are made? What word connects these statements?

Read the phrases in the second sentence. What word connects them?

In the third sentence, read the two things Ted said. What word connects his statements?

In these sentences, the conjunctions connect groups of words.

A conjunction is a word that connects words or groups of words.

263

USING CONJUNCTIONS

Here are some of the conjunctions that you use most frequently.