So that the bees let him alone!
"We know what remarkable things bees are, when it comes to telling
one another what they know. Is there any reason why such an
experience--all natural enough--shouldn't demonstrate to them that
they, by merely threatening a man, could compel him to kill ants for
them?"
Billie was dubious for a moment; then agreed that the man, also,
might notice that the bees failed to sting him as long as he
continued to destroy their other enemies. If so, it was quite
conceivable that, bit by bit, the bees had found other and more
positive ways of securing the aid of men through threatening to
sting. "Even to cultivating flowers for their benefit," she
conceded. "It's quite possible."
Smith had been thinking of something else. "I always understood that
a bee's stinging apparatus is good for only one attack. Doesn't it
always remain behind after stinging?"
"Yes," from the doctor, quietly. "That is true. The sting has tiny
barbs on its tip, and these cause it to remain in the wound.
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