Next morning, almost before dawn, all were up and in mo-
tion ) the bees had returned to their cells, and I stopped the
passages with clay, leaving only a sufficient aperture for the
tube of my pipe. I then smoked as much as was requisite to stupefy, without killing the little warlike creatures. Not having
a cap with a mask, such as bee-catchers usually wear, nor even
gloves, this precaution was necessary. At first a humming
was heard in the hollow of the tree, and a noise like a gathering
tempest, which... #story #audiobook AcreSoft Story Classic