1896 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



569 



morning found him greatly refreshed. The 

 Ghering and Baell ranches were remote from 

 church privileges; and the men, though not 

 required to do ranch work, spent the day in 

 mending or washing clothing, or in fishing. 



Matt Hogan brought out his fishing-tackle 

 that morning, and invited Fred to share in the 

 pleasures and piscatorial results of the occupa- 

 tion. But Fred declined, and plainly told Matt 

 that he did not believe in that way of spending 

 Sunday. " Besides," said he, " I have promised 

 Mr. Buell that I will drop down to his place 

 to-day." 



"Och! that's all very foine, friend Fred," 

 said Matt, " for a young chap that's just from 

 the East; but, loike the rist of us, yees '11 get 

 over that in a few years. An' it's to Mi.sther 

 BuelTs yee's will go." Then, in a confidential 

 tone, " Is it the young lady does the attractin"? 

 Och, now, Fred, yee's needn't blush; she's a 

 foine lass but for the sthate of her brain. But, 

 Fred, I'd not mind that in the laast. Me own 

 lovely Biddy Malooney has these mintal aber- 

 ashuns on occashuns, as all women do, Fred. 

 But, by the name of the great Saint Pathrick, 

 it's the retarnins to rason that fills me soul 

 wid raptures. She's so baamin' wid her two 

 eyes, so coy, so shwate! Och! it's too blisshful 

 fur me to entertain — ho-o-o-o!" and Matt ran 

 off to his fishing at the top of his speed. 



" Yes," said Fred to himself, " it's the return- 

 ing to reason that would bring raptures to my 

 heart and to the whole Buell family. Ah me! 

 the bitterness of the conditions in this case, 

 where the mental aberration is continuous, is 

 too great to think of;" and Fred unconsciously 

 uttered a subdued sigh, ho — o-o-o, and strolled 

 over to the bluff and the bees. But he had 

 promised to call upon Mr. Buell; and, after 

 seeing that every thing was working harmoni- 

 ously on the bluff, he secured a small boat and 

 floated with the lazy current down the river. 



All seemed to be quiet and fitting to the day 

 around the Buell residence. The doors and 

 windows were closed, which P^ed thought 

 remarkable, seeing it was a warm day. "I 

 guess that's the way they have of spending 

 Sunday," thought Fred, as he stepped lightly 

 to the door and knocked. 



There was a rustle within, and the door was 

 opened just the merest trifle. 



"Oh-e! Fred Anderson, come in quick," said 

 Mrs. Buell, excitedly, and with nervous haste 

 the door was opened a little further, and Fred 

 was hustled in, and the door slammed so sud- 

 denly behind him as to catch his coat-tail. 



If you would like to have any of your friends 

 see a specimen copy of Gleanings, make known 

 the request on a postal, with the address or ad- 

 dresses, and we will, with pleasure, send them. 



SUGGESTION FKOM A COMMISSION MAN ON THE 

 KIND OF SECTIONS AND SHIPPING -CASES 



TO USE. 



As you will remember, we have advocated 

 the use of small sections for honey for some 

 years, and now small sections are the standard 

 size — so much so that any sections weighing 

 overi?! to 1 lb. have to be sold at a discount, and 

 are about out of style entirely. We are advo- 

 cating now the use of a wood-pulp board wrap- 

 per, or cheap carton, for we find the trade calls 

 for honey without glass, but wants some pro- 

 tection from breaking in shipping. These car- 

 tons, or wrappers, can be procured at a low 

 price, or about one-half per pound what honey 

 sells for, thereby affording a profit, as dealers 

 do not object to the weight of these wrappers as 

 they do to glass. 



We look for a good demand for honey; but 

 the days of high prices are gone by; and the 

 bee-keepers' honey that is the most attractive 

 and most desirable will sell first and for best 

 price, always, and the consumer is more fastid- 

 ious every season. 



A word about shipping-cases : Don't use a 

 case holding over 24 combs (single tier), nor less 

 than 20 combs. H. R. Weight. 



Albany, N. Y. 



THE HONEY SEASON IN AUSTRALIA. 



Mr. Root:— Seeing you American bee-editors 

 are such a happy family, visiting and compli- 

 menting one another, and, having a half-hour's 

 leisure time on hand, I have thought perhaps 

 it would not be out of place for myself, as the 

 Australian editor, to have a "drop in," or "chip 

 in" (whichever term is most suitable). So, 

 please imagine the hand-shake, etc., completed, 

 and straight we are into talk. Well, we have 

 had a very bad time during the past twelve 

 months, with our bees. Some eighteen months 

 ago a very intelligent bee-keeper, who had 

 carefully watched the blossoming of the euca- 

 lyptus, told me that the following spring would 

 be a magnificent one, as nearly all the gum- 

 trees (they are not annuals, but some blossom 

 once in two years, some in three or four years) 

 were due to be in bloom all together, and they 

 were then budding for it. Alas, however! the 

 drought, the cruel cold westerly winds, and 

 the resultant bush-fires, dissipated all his an- 

 ticipations, and the past year has been a honey 

 failure right through these colonies. Not only 

 has the honey-flow been a failure, but there 

 have been many losses of bees and so many 

 disheartened bee-keepers, that, should there be 

 a good flow next year, there will not be a third 

 of the bees to gather it. 



