“I promise NOT to purposely hit someone else's bumblebee with mine.”

“I promise NOT to slam the flower with my bumblebee.”

“I promise not to laugh too much at how silly grown-ups look playing this game”—

words all of us surely can live by.

Actually, the Bumblebee Oath is probably the best preparation for a career in entomology. Lawyers, doctors, and business executives rarely are called upon to engage in professional activities that may leave them open to public ridicule—but it's really hard to keep one's dignity upon being confronted while swinging a butterfly net chasing nearly invisible insects on a blazing hot day illegally parked on a highway overpass. “Well, officer,” you can always say, “sometimes grown-ups look silly playing this game.”