20 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Jan. 1 



But Mr. Pierrey thought 

 otherwise. He was not 

 planning to practice ho 

 meopathic bee-sling med- 

 icine — it was to be alio- 

 t»atliic or nothing at all. 

 So the stinging went mer- 

 rily on, the paiient all the 

 while almost fainting with 

 the added pain Mr. 

 Piercey was fast working 

 his bees to death in this 

 new-fangled occupation 

 he had found for them, 

 for he did not desist until 

 thirty-nine stings were 

 duly planted in his sis- 

 ter s knees. Then she 

 was carried away; but in 

 leaving the apiary a bee 

 of its own free will gave 

 the patient a terrible jab 

 in the neck — perhaps for 

 good luck, or, may be, just 

 10 say that Mrs. Rutten- 

 beck "got it in the neck." 

 Any way, between get 

 ting it in the knee and 

 in the neck she was a very 

 sick woman for a few days. 

 It looked for a time as if 

 the cure were going to be 

 worse than the disease. 



The turning-point came; 

 and after a few more ap- 

 plications of a less num- 

 ber of stings she was able 

 to walk. She found that 

 it was not necessary to 

 take drastic doses of thir- 

 ty-nine stings at a time. 

 In June last she came to 

 Oakland, it was about 

 this time that I became 

 acquainted with her, for a 

 friend of hers came to me 

 to procure good strong healthy bees that 

 could be vouched fur to sting good and 

 plentifully when occasion demanded. I 

 found a colony of Spanish-blacks that had a 

 small percentage of Italian blood. I gather- 

 ed some three dozen of them into a cage 

 and told the gentleman to instruct the pa- 

 tient that the bees should be "well shaken 

 before being taken." The instructions must 

 have been followed, for in a few weeks the 

 lady was able to walk from the electric-car 

 line to my place, something like a third of a 

 mile distant. Since then she has been here 

 a number of times — sometimes to get bees 

 and other times to purchase fruit, for which 

 our place is somewhat famous. On one of 

 these occasions, about noon, which is not 

 the best time to take outdoor pictures, I had 

 her pose for a photograph that the readers 

 of Gleanings might s-!e the picture of a Cal- 

 ifornia woman who attributes her almost en- 

 tire cure from rheumatism to the use of bee- 

 stings. Yes, I wanted the Gleanings folks, 

 too, to see a woman who had nerve to face a 

 thousand bee-stings, and prove her faith in 



A HIVE KEPT IN A WINDOW OF A HOUSE IN A VILLAGE. 

 An alley runs directly beneath this window; and, though horses frequent- 



ly pass, none are stung. 



the cure about which the medical profession 

 are in doubt. 

 Oakland, Cal. 



[An article on this subject was published 

 in Dec. 15th issue, page 784, from Dr. Bon- 

 ney. — Ed.] 



♦ I ^ ■ ♦ ■ 



A COLONY KEPT IN A SECOND-STORY 

 WINDOW IN TOWN. 



BY C. H. WATSON. 



I am a lover of bees; but, unfortunately, I 

 live in the heart of a village. I am sending 

 herewith a photograph showing my colony 

 of fine Italians which I have in the second- 

 floor window on the south side of my home. 

 These bees have been very law-abiding in- 

 deed, not even bothering horses that pass in 

 an alley beneath the window. During the 

 past season this spot has been the very per- 

 sonification of industry. These little friends 

 have visited distant hillsides; and as they 

 have returned laden with sweets of a thou- 



