112 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CLLTURK 



Feb 15 



would not hie away 

 to parts unknown, or 

 would not wither un- 

 der our deadly touch, 

 and shuffle off to 

 the happy hunting- 

 grounds. 1 was so in- 

 discreet as to intimate 

 that we would inspect 

 the bees any way. 

 At this the man burst 

 into a mighty wraih, 

 and, stretching his 

 'six-foot- two' to its 

 full height, he remark- 

 ed, 'I fought three 

 years to save my coun- 

 try, and I shall fight 

 three more to save my 

 bees.' I took this as a 

 signal to begin work, 

 and immediately pried 

 the super from the 

 nearest hive and be- 

 gan removing brood-frames. The soldier 

 was so surprised that he only pouted like a 

 child. On one occasion I had to burn some 

 bees in a certain locality, and a few weeks 

 later I happened to be in the same place, 

 when, to my surprise, I learned that the 

 farmer bee keepers had heard of the awful 

 man who went about as a roaring lion burn- 

 ing peoples' bees; and so, in order to save 

 their honey and wax, they were actually 

 killing their bees and rendering the honey 

 and wax so the "awful man " wouldn't burn 

 them. This happened in a neighborh(iod 

 where no inspection work had been done 

 whatever, and the bees were probably 

 healthy. One man, whose bees were badly 

 diseased, refused to treat them, so we went 

 to destroy them. The owner came at us 

 with a big butcher-knife, whisked it about 

 my face, and informed me that if we kdled 

 his bees we must first kill him. That looked 

 like a rather large undertaking; so we 

 brought the town marshal to watcn the knife 



while we 

 had our 

 backs turn- 

 e d doing 

 the work. 

 So far as I 

 know that 

 knife is still 

 inno ce r t 

 of human 

 blood." 



George 

 S. Demuth 

 was born 

 near Peru, 

 Indiana, 

 reared on a 

 farm, and 

 has kept 

 bees since 

 he was a 

 mere boy. 

 GEO. S. DEMUTH, PERU, IND. Like Other 



Chief Inspector of Apiaries in Indiana, bee cranks 



MR. DEMUTH'S HOME IN PEKU, INDIANA. 

 This home was built with one season's profits from the bees. 



he has eagerly devoured every thing^'he 

 could get hold of on the subject of bee 

 culture, and has spent considerable time and 

 money in experimenting. He is quite thor- 

 ough in microscopic work, and is an expert 

 photographer, which is of much benefit in 

 his present work. He owns and operates 

 three outyards, a total of 200 colonies, all 

 run for comb honey, using an automobile in 

 visiting the different yards. He is the only 

 one whom I have personally known to prac- 

 tice migratory bee-keeping successlullv. By 

 moving a carload of bees to the marshy re- 

 gions tor the fall flow he has secured excel- 

 lent results; but the system had to be discon 

 tinned on account of foul-brood appearing in 

 those regions. Since foul brood is to be 

 eliminated, the practice will likely be taken 

 up again. 



He spends less time now on three yards 

 than he formerly did on one; and while this 

 has been his poorest season, the time requir- 

 ed shows a fair profit. His best season was 

 that of 1908, when he built his beautiful home 

 from the proceeds of his apiaries for that one 

 season. 



During the cold months Mr. Demuth is 

 kept busy inspecting nurseries and nursery 

 stock, and much other work emanating from 

 the oliice of the State Entomologist. The 

 educational work which is being accomplish- 

 ed in favor of the bee industry is bound to 

 have a telling effect. At our State Fair Mr. 

 Douglass exhibited specimens of foul brood 

 in glass cases, showing the disease in its dif- 

 ferent stages; also a half-starved swarm of 

 bees clustered on dead-ripe grapes, and oth- 

 er interesting exhibits of bees which were 

 in charge of Mr. Demuth. The lectures at- 

 tractedlarge crowds. 



Mr. Demuth's lectures before institute 

 meetings, with his lantern-slides, are being 

 spoken of as models of perfection. Prior to 

 his appointment as Chief Inspector of Apia- 

 ries he had been employed as one of the pro- 

 fessors in the city schools of Peru. It was 

 an instance of "the oliice seeking the man," 



