336 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



OOD -MORN- 

 ING, Mr. 

 Secretary ! " 

 "Why, bless 

 you, good - 

 morning, 

 James ! Glad 

 to see you 

 back; but it 

 seems to me 

 you did not 

 spend so 

 much time on that outing as you planned. 

 Camping in the river bottoms and among the 

 tules did not agree with you, I warrant; and 

 you were glad to return to the comfortable 

 ways of city life. Olin is back loo, I suppose ? " 

 "Yes," James replied; "we both returned. 

 The weather, the boating, fishing, gunning, and 

 camping were all delightful. We were enjoy- 

 ing it immensely when, in river parlance, we 

 ran into a snag, and the result you see before 

 you. I am here." 



" Well, James, I have been in a boat several 

 times up the Sacramento, and have found those 

 snags a troublesome factor; but I can not im- 

 agine how a river snag could wreck a row-boat 

 with two wide-awake young fellows like you 

 and Olin Fursman in command. I shall have 

 to call you to an account, and expect an ex- 

 planation.' 



" While our boat was not wrecked, Mr. Hop- 

 son, I agree with you that we ought not to have 

 run into a snag; but you are aware that a great 

 many kinds of snags are in the river. Some 

 stick up so plain that they are easily avoided; 

 others are hidden, and we are liable to run into 

 them before we know it; then there are others 

 that are enticing, and we get into them through 

 curiosity or by a desire to experiment with 

 things we know not how to manage. The snag 

 we ran into was of the latter order, and a land 

 snag at that." 



"Worse and worse, James; but wait a mo- 

 ment. I wish to post this bulletin for our Sun- 

 day meeting on the bill-board outside, and 

 then I vpill listen to your story." 



Mr. Hopson, the acting secretary of the Sac- 

 ramento Y. M. C. A., was a cheerful man, and 

 went about his duties humming a popular gos- 

 pel air. His readiness .to lend a helping hand 

 here, and a word fitly spoken there, was exert- 

 ing a good influence upon the young men who 



daily dropped into the rooms. When his work 

 was completed he sat down besides James 

 Fiske and said, " Now, James, I am ready for 

 that explanation about land snags." 



"As you are aware, Mr. Secretary, Olin Furs- 

 man and I fitted our row-boat with a camping- 

 outfit, and designed to spend four weeks up the 

 river, and here we are back again in less than 

 two weeks; and I do not wonder at your sur- 

 prise. During the first six days, we enjoyed 

 every minute— caught fish, shot ducks and oth- 

 er game, and lived upon the best that land and 

 water could afford. We usually found good 

 camping-places on shore. When we did not, 

 we slept in the boat. We rounded Lone Tree 

 Point Saturday afternoon; and about one mile 

 above, we found a delightful camping-place in 

 a grove of sycamores, and proposed to spend 

 Sunday at this place. We had labored at the 

 oars so much that we looked forward to a day 

 of rest, with no little pleasure; then we had 

 books and papers we had scarcely looked at, and 

 anticipated many hours for reading. There 

 was an old deserted cabin near by, and we dis- 

 covered it had been formerly occupied by a bee- 

 maker." 



"No, James, you mean a bee-tender, or 

 honey-maker," said Mr. Hopson, in a tone of 

 superior knowledge. 



" It had 7>ee to it, sure enough;" said James, 

 " for we discovered an old pile of empty bee- 

 boxes, and three boxes that had bees in them; 

 but we merely made a reconnoiter that evening, 

 and arranged our camp near the cabin, under 

 the sycamore- trees. We were usually tired 

 enough to sleep sound and to have an excellent 

 appetite for our morning repast; and the rule 

 was not an exception in this camp. When we 

 were preparing our breakfast that Sunday 

 morning. Olin suddenly proposed that we have 

 some honey for breakfast. 'This is an old de- 

 serted ranch,' said he, 'which nobody owns, 

 and we might as well have honey on our flap- 

 jacks as not; then we can get enough out of 

 the hives to last us several days. It's a go, 

 Jeems. Hurrah for the honey.' I told Olin we 

 might get more stings than honey, and then 

 there might be an owner who would be vexed 

 at the liberties we were taking with his prop- 

 erty. 



"' Don't believe there has been anyone here 

 in two years,' exclaimed Olin; 'just see the big 

 weeds, the willows, and water-motors that are 



