Ferocious as a Bee without a wing 1
The Prince of Honey and the Prince of Sting
So plain a flower presents her Disk to thee
The Prince of Honey and the Prince of Sting
So plain a flower presents her Disk to thee
(F.1492/J.0)
[1] as a Bee:: honey-ant, or honey-pot ant. The honey-ant is not a bee, without wing, with a sting, and collecting honey.
[2] Prince of Honey:: some honey-ants, fed by others like a prince, don't need to work. Prince of Sting:: other honey-ants will eat (sting) the honey pod when needed.
[3] plain, flower:: flower is plainer in life, and offers itself to the honey-ant.
THE MYSTERIOUS HONEY ANT. "There is," begins gravely, Don Ignacio, "in the state of Tomaulipos a valley little known, where are found ants of an enormous size, which make honey; and their honey is still sweeter than the honey of the wild bee, which, however, is the sweetest of all. They seem half buried in the earth, while others of the same family feed them while they are making the honey. This honey is formed in a vesicle adhering to the ant, and when the vesicle is full the ant dies." ─ Missionary Adventures in Texas and Mexico (1858)
