It has been thought strange that the seeds thus collected do not sprout and
grow, but for this moisture would be necessary, and the ants keep their
grain as free from it as possible, spreading it out in the sun to dry, and
storing it in granaries, underground like the nurseries, but quite distinct
from them.
If you have ever disturbed one of their nests, you do not need to be
told that ants, as well as bees and wasps, have stings, with a "poison
apparatus" like that of a serpent.
How wonderful are these tiny creatures made by God, who has set them in
their places in His creation, and given them their work to do, and the
instinct which enables them so faithfully to play their part in the great
world, that they are set as a pattern for us to imitate! How true it is
that
"Each shell, each crawling insect holds a rank
Important in the scale of Him who framed
This scale of beings; holds a rank which, lost,
Would break the chain, and leave a gap behind
Which Nature's self would rue."
And what may we learn from the Harvester-ant, who "provideth her meat in
the summer"?
I think I can hear you answer, "A lesson of prudence and foresight."
Surely this is so: "The ants are a people not strong but they prepare their
meat in the summer"; on this account they have their place among the "four
things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise," and
we do well to consider their ways and learn the lesson which they teach us.
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