Bee-Master of Warrilow

"Is it true that a bee can only sting once?" I asked him, as he bent again over the crocus beds.

He laughed.

"What would be the good of a sword to a soldier," he said, "if only one blow could be struck with it? It is certainly true that the bee does not usually sting a second time, but that is only because you are too hasty with her. ...But now watch how the thing works naturally."

A bee had settled on his hand as he was speaking. He closed his fingers gently over it, and forced it to sting.

"Now," he continued, quite unconcernedly, "look what really happens..." (from The Bee-Master of Warrilow)

The Bee-Master of Warrilow, steeped from his earliest years in the lore of his bee-keeping forefathers, is a guardian of the English bee-garden life and of the fascinating creature that is the honey bee. (Summary by Steve C)