1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



337 



growing here. Then there are only three old 

 tumble-down boxes that have bees In them. 

 To get the honey is just as easy as rolling off a 

 log. My uncle has told me lots of times how 

 he and the soldiers used to do it, when on the 

 march. Just wrap the hive in a blanket, and 

 plunge the whole business into the river, and in 

 ten minutes we can have some delicious honey. 





"do you feel that honey trinkling down your 

 throat, olin?" 



I almost feel it trinkle down my throat now. 

 Here you are,' said he, as he hunted up a gunny 

 sack and ripped it open so that it would 

 spread well. The problem seemed so simple, 

 and he went about it with such vim, Lhat I put 

 aside my scruples about the right and wrong of 

 the transaction, and we approached the hive 

 that was only a few yards from the river. We 

 tramped the weeds down in the rear of the 

 hive, and spread our improvised blanket. The 

 morning was somewhat foggy, and the bees 

 were not flying very numerous, and these did 

 not seem to realize that enemies were abroad. 



"The hive was carefully placed on the blan- 

 ket. 'So far so good,' said Olin, as he grasped 

 two corners of the blanket and 1 the other two; 

 ' now steady for the river;' the hive was real 

 heavy, and we had taken but a few steps when 

 there was an ominous tearing sound, and the 

 hive went through the old gunny sack to the 

 ground, with a thud. If there was but little 

 apparent life in the hive before, the inhabitants 

 made up for it now. I have heard the expres- 

 sion, there^s millions in it, but never realized it 

 so tangibly as now, for it seemed a million of 

 bees that made a charge upon us, and our re- 

 treat was upon the order of getting away quick. 

 Olin made a dash for the old cabin, some rods 

 away, with a whole cloud of bees for an escort, 

 and his arms gyrating about his head. Seeing 

 an opening, partly hidden by weeds, under a 



pile of old bee-boxes, I plunged into it. The 

 bees charged in force upon the part of my pants 

 that did not get in, and, having on thin cloth- 

 ing, the charge was effective. Each bee was like 

 a bullet, and bound to go clear through me if it 

 could. I made a further desperate lunge, and 

 the pile of boxes was unequal to the upheaval, 

 and they tumbled in every direction, leaving 

 me again without protection. I 

 scrambled through the weeds as 

 best I could to the cabin, where I 

 found Olin under the blankets. 

 ' Blankets for two ! ' I shouted, and 

 I enveloped myself as promptly as 

 possible. The bees that followed 

 us persistently fought us, even in 

 the cabin. It was not a pleasant 

 situation, muffled in blankets, and 

 suffering pain from swelling punc- 

 tures on face, hands, and various 

 portions of the body. We could not 

 endure our imprisonment, and sim- 

 ultaneously made a break for the 

 river, with blankets over our heads. 

 Here we washed and scraped off 

 the stings, and during the process I 

 asked Olin if he felt the honey 

 trinkling down his throat. His 

 nose had a growing protuberance 

 on it; an eye was in a fair way to 

 swell shut, and his lip protruded 

 abnormally. His reply was a dan- 

 gerous look, and I did not press my 

 inquiry. My face was not one whit more pre- 

 possessing than Olin's; and, upon the whole, we 

 were a gruesome-appearing couple." 

 To he oontinued. 



"STRAINED" FOR "EXTRACTED. 



WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOE THE TERM? 



By Elias Fox. 



In regard to the word "strained" honey be- 

 ing used instead of the proper word, "extract- 

 ed," it is my candid opinion that the producers 

 themselves are largely if not wholly to blame. 

 In the first place, it is the ignorance of the con- 

 sumer, and the producers themselves are to 

 blame largely for not educating them as to the 

 difference between "strained" and "extract- 

 ed " honey. Every one knows that, in the days 

 of our forefathers, the only liquid honey pr»- 

 dused was by straining a conglomeration of 

 honey, comb (old and new), bees, brood, and 

 pollen, and the product was called "strained" 

 honey ; and thousands of people to-day who 

 called for strained honey don't know but the 

 extracted honey is produced in the same way. 

 The majority of them never saw or heard of an 

 extractor; and the larger portion of those who 

 have heard of it think it is a machine for has- 

 tening the old method, and the bee-keepers 

 have allowed them to remain in the dark, and 



