382 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



';! ITHER from 

 more stings 

 or a nervous 

 strain, Olin 

 seemed to be 

 suffering 

 more tiaan I, 

 and CO m- 

 plained of a 

 choking sen- 

 sation, and 

 commenc- 

 ed to hic- 

 cough, and kept it up so persistently that I 

 became alarmed. I had read of deaths caused 

 by bee-stings, and didn't know but this was a 

 premonitory sign. The bees had withdrawn 

 their forces, and I was able to get our traps to 

 the boat. We had noticed a cabin across the 

 river, and, after much labor and pain, Olin 

 still hiccoughing, I pushed the boat up to the 

 little wharf. A rough looking old fellow came 

 from the cabin, and, from Olin's hiccoughing 

 and our swelled faces, seemed to take in the 

 situation at once; and before I could get at him 

 with a question he shouted, " Hey, youngsters, 

 yer in a pooty fix, I reckon! ben meddlin' with 

 them no-count bees — ha, ha! yer got the yere- 

 marks, eye-marks, an' nose-marks; never know- 

 ed them bees to fail putting on the marks. 

 Now don't try to 'splain matters, but jest git 

 right down the river to Coloosa or you're gon- 

 ners. Them bees gits their livin' mostly from 

 ratlleweed; and everybody that has any thing 

 tu du with them gits rattled, shore. The owner 

 got rattled hisself, and drownded off Lone Tree 

 Point." 



I had read somewhere that whisky was a sure 

 cure for bad cases of stings, and now shouted 

 to the old fellow, asking him if he had whisky. 

 "Whisky?" said he; "why, young feller, 

 you make my mouth water. Whisky? no, sir; 

 if I should leave a drop in the house the old 

 woman'd drink it. I make it a roole never to 

 leave any. It's a mighty unhealthy place for 

 whisky round this yere place, an' various other 

 things; so yer had better pull right away, 

 youngsters, and get down the river;" and, 

 without further parley, I pulled out into the 

 current. 



It very luckily, perhaps I should say provi- 

 dentially, happened that one of the little steam- 

 ers rounded the point above us, as we had got- 

 ten well into the current, and we were glad to 



hail it and get aboard. While getting on deck 

 we were the targets for numerous comments 

 from the occupants; and one of them shouted, 

 " Make way there, lads, for Punch and Judy." 



I suppose the comical aspect of our faces gave 

 this fellow the cue for the name. 



While Olin was hiccoughing as rapidly as 

 ever I asked again for whisky. They might 

 have had the liquid on board, but the steward 

 came to our rescue and conducted us to the 

 cabin 



"Now," said he. "lads, we prognosticate 

 your case; and what you want is an applica- 

 tion of onions;" and from that moment it was 

 onions externally and onions internally; onions 

 raw, onions boiled, onion poultices, onion syrup. 

 It was " Punch, will you have this?" or, "Judy, 

 will you have that? " There were over twenty 

 young men on board, native sons, all on a 

 pleasure-excursion, and they were so leisurely 

 in their traveling that it was three days before 

 we arrived in Sacramento. Suffice it to say, 

 the native sons treated us royally; and when 

 we landed, Olin hiccoughed only occasionally, 

 and, thanks to the steward and the onions, our 

 swelled features were much reduced. 



Our respective families were interested to 

 learn all of the incidents of our mishap, and we 

 can now laugh with them over the various in- 

 cidents. Olin will not soon hear the last of his 

 honey-for-breakfast scheme, and I shall long 

 remember my Sunday and the snags on the 

 Sacramento. 



" You surely did have a wonderful experi- 

 ence," said Mr. Hopson. " Your proposed quiet 

 Sunday was rudely and cruelly broken; but 

 there was a cause in your own actions. I will 

 defer my comments until next Sunday; then I 

 will give a general talk upon snags, and how to 

 avoid them; and now good-day to you until I 

 see you again." 



At the commencement of Fisk's rehearsal of 

 his river adventure, a young man came in 

 quietly and sat down at one of the reading- 

 tables; and, though his eyes were directed into 

 a magazine, his ears were evidently taking in 

 all that James Fiske was relating; and when 

 the latter was about to take his departure the 

 young man stepped up to him and said, " I beg 

 your pardon for listening to your story. I was 

 much interested, for I am a practical bee-keep- 

 er. My name is Fred Anderson. I am recently 

 from the East, and I wish to find parties who 

 make bee-management their business. Are 



