366 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



ON THE INDIAN RIVEK. 



The Indian River is generally mentioned as a 

 synonym of something balmy and tropical. On 

 the morning of the 7th of February, however, 

 there was a keen northwest wind, and things 

 were not so very tropical after all. Friend 

 GiflFord is employed by the government to light 

 and trim the lights that are kept constantly 

 burning for beacon-signals along the Indian 

 River; and you know Uncle Sam's business 

 must be attended to, visitors or no visitors. 

 Friend GifTord had been planning to take me 

 on this trip; but I was pretty nearly sick, and 

 the state of the weather seemed to indicate 

 that the trip would have to be given up. But 

 I changed my mind before he reached the boat- 

 landing and followed after him. Up in the 

 garret of the Giflford home there was a heavy 

 old overcoat that had done service away back 

 in Vermont. After having had about ten 

 years of repose in said ganvt it was brought 

 down on that eventful morning. It was large 

 enough so I could get it on over my own over- 

 coat, and. thus rigged, I began to take almost 

 my first lessons in running a sail-boat under a 

 heavy wind. I enjoyed the trip, however, very 

 much, in spite of the wind and cold. These 

 beacon-lights are to direct the boating craft 

 after dark; and as it is necessary to go several 

 miles to replenish the lamps, they are allowed 

 to burn night and day, the expense of the oil 

 being less than the cost of travel needed to 

 keep them lighted all the time. One not ac- 

 customed to boating might think a steamer 

 could go anywhere. Not so. however. The 

 highways of vessels are laid out almost like the 

 roads overland: and wherever there are dan- 

 gerous points, piles are driven at stated periods, 

 projecting above the water enough so a board 

 may be nailed on, indicating to the pilot of the 

 boat the channel. Sometimes these guiding- 

 posts are within a quarter of a mile of each 

 other or even less; again, they are a mile or 

 even two miles apart, the pilot understanding 

 the signification so that he may avoid the shal- 

 lows. Well, in the night time they use these 

 lamps as a guide to the pilot.Fand they are near 

 enough together so that one or more of them 

 are always in sight. At each lighting-station 

 our little sail-boat had to be securely lashed to 

 the framework of timbers supporting the light. 

 Then friend Giflford climbed aloft with his sub- 

 stantial copper lamps, carrying a great hood 

 made of sail cloth, to cover himself and lamp 

 while he did the trimming and filling, and clean- 

 ed the chimneys, etc. It seemed as if the wind 

 would tear the boat loose sometimes; and, in 

 fact, unless very stout ropes are used, boats 

 often do break away. When the wind was the 

 highest, it was necessary to lower the sail be- 

 fore tying up the boat; and then it had to be 

 hoisted again when we started out amid the 

 boisterous wind. Sometimes it seemed as if we 

 surely would upset. But fri(=nd GifTord had a 

 knack of handling the flapping sail as an expert 

 would handle a vicious colt. Just once the 

 rope got caught, and I thought we were go- 

 ing over sure into the cold briny water, amid 

 the boisterous and almost deafening gusts of 

 wind. But lie was equal to the occasion; and 

 once when the water actually came over into 

 the boat a little, and I began to turn white 

 from the scare, a single glance at his self-pos- 

 sessed smilingcountenance reassured me. Ishall 

 long remember that experience on the water; 



and I enjoyed it greatly, although I did get 

 cold and stiff before we fiuished our day's work. 

 He said it was almost the first unpleasant day 

 for the work he had had for the business in all 

 the years he had held the post. 



The next day, although it was still cold, we 

 started out to see the bee-keepers. We stopped 

 briefly at the home of Mrs. J. D. H. Weir, Tole- 

 do: but the weather was so cold that both the 

 bees and the interesting family of children were 

 kept pretty well indoors. Children seemed to 

 be so scarce in that part of P"'lorida that it re- 

 joiced my heart to get a glimpse of even a tol- 

 erable-sized family. If we don't have any chil- 

 dren we surely can not have any schools; and if 

 we do not have schools, what will become of us? 



We made a brief call at Wood ley, and then 

 pushed on to friend King's, where I reluctantly 

 decided I was too sick to go any further. I 

 have mentioned briefly something of that 

 pleasant visit prolonged to several days when I 

 expected to stay only an hour or two. Friend 

 King is a very quiet, still sort of man; but 

 even if he does not talk much he does a tre- 

 mendous lot of thinking; and, by the way, a 

 big lot of work comes about in his quiet sort of 

 way. Several times I heard him nailing up 

 work before daylight; and when I was up so as 

 to look out of the window, there he was out in 

 the dooryard. working by the light of his lan- 

 tern. He has now several hundred colonies of 

 bees, and has secured some crops of honey al- 

 most equal to those a little further north 

 around New Smyrna. His good wife busies 

 herself with a fine flock of poultry numbering 

 almost a hundred laying hens, while he looks 

 after the bees and makes the hives. 



FLORIDA ANTS, ETC. 



In many parts of Florida they are pestered 

 with a species of large ant. At Daytona I 

 found some of the bee-keepers setting their 

 hives on legs, and planting each leg in a dish of 

 water. But even then leaves blew in on top of 

 the water and made a bridge for the ants to get 

 over. Besides, unless the water was watched 

 it would evaporate from the dishes, and then 

 the ants would get through again. Friend 

 King studied over this matter, and finally went 

 to the woods (all about him), where pine-trees 

 are so plentiful and cheap, and cut down some 

 tall trees. Two of these were placed side by 

 side, and spiked together just far enough apart 

 to hold a hive conveniently; then legs were 

 put on to this lone frame so as to raise it up to 

 a convenient height for working. Then the 

 legs of this huge bench were set in wooden 

 troughs hewed out from these same pine logs. 

 You see, when the wooden trough is filled with 

 water it lasts a good while: and three of these 

 troughs will hold a frame long enough to sup- 

 port, say, a dozen or may be twenty hives of 

 bees, the long frame being supported at each 

 end and once in the middle. After he had got 

 his apiary of several hundred colonies fixed in 

 this way he decided it would be cheaper to cut 

 a ditch clear around hi* apiary, house, and 

 garden, and then fill the ditch with water. The 

 ditch is needed any way. where there are so 

 many forest-trees, to prevent the roots from the 

 forest coming in and using up his expensive 

 fertilizers. After the ditch was finished, how- 

 ever, he found that the water was not actually 

 needed. The soil is so sandy that, when the 

 ants get to the bottom of ttie ditch, they find it 

 impossible to climb up the steep sides, because 

 the sand gives way, especially if the ground is 

 dry, and lets them roll back into the ditch. 

 After he got the ditch all finished he said the 

 ants came from the woods in great bodies, and 

 literally piled up beside it, and stayed there 

 days, evidently mad because they could not get 

 over to the hives and help themselves to the 



