honey and larvae; therefore, wherever there are plenty of field mice, as
in the country, the humble bees are kept down; but in the neighbourhood
of towns, the number of cats which prowl about the fields eat up the
field mice, and of course the more mice they eat up the less there are
to prey upon the larvae of the bees--the cats are therefore the INDIRECT
HELPERS of the bees!* Coming back a step farther we may say that the
old maids are also indirect friends of the humble bees, and indirect
enemies of the field mice, as they keep the cats which eat up the
latter! This is an illustration somewhat beneath the dignity of the
subject, perhaps, but it occurs to me in passing, and with it I will
conclude this lecture.

[footnote] *The humble bees, on the other hand, are direct helpers of
some plants, such as the heartsease and red clover, which are
fertilized by the visits of the bees; and they are indirect helpers of
the numerous insects which are more or less completely supported by the
heartsease and red clover.