642 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 1, 



dren: for from her remarks she has some love 

 for them." 



"That is just to the purpose," said Mr. Buell. 

 "I shall consider the matter carefully to-mor- 

 row at the funeral; and if I feel warranted in 

 doing so I will call a neighborhood meeting for 

 next Sunday; and should I do so, Fred, I shall 

 need your aid." 



D"Good! good!" exclaimed Fred, with enthu- 

 siasm. "I shall make a supreme effort to be 

 with you. I would go with you to-morrow; 

 but I have so much work that must be done 

 immediately with the bees that I can not spare 

 a minute during working hours." 



Mrs. Buell here reminded the oarsmen that 

 it was nearing sunset, and that they had better 

 be moving toward home. Mr. Buell and Fred 

 accordingly plied the oars, while Alfaretta, for- 



getting the somber words she had been repeat- 

 ing, now gave voice in a more joyful tone to 

 her favorite song, 



" My lover is on the sea." 



At the Buell wharf Fred bade his friends 

 good-night and continued his journey up the 

 river to the Ghering ranch. At break of day 

 on Monday morning Fred was out upon the 

 chalk bluff making calculations as to what 

 should be done and how to do it. The bee- 

 keeper often finds enough work before him- for 

 two or three men to do, and only himself to do 

 it. Fred found himself in that situation; but, 

 not halting between the confusion of various 

 things and doing nothing, he set himself to the 

 work nearest in hand, and, taking the mattock, 

 he proceeded to enlarge the niche or path along 

 the face of the bluff. He worked with energy 

 at this, and in a few hours made it of sufficient 

 width to enable him to carry to and fro the 

 hives and implements needed in transferring. 



The hives that had lain so long in the hot sun 

 at the McBurger ranch needed much renailing; 

 " and now," said Fred aloud, " the crying need 

 is a good stout work-bench." 



" I should say the crying need is for your bees 

 to haf more respect for visitors, and fly the 

 other way ofer," said Mr. Ghering, as he edged 

 his way timidly along the cottonwoods. 



"Oh! the bees are not flying around much 

 this forenoon; and they are very quiet," ex- 

 plained Fred. "Just wait until I get them all 

 up here— what a glorious sight you will see! 

 By the way, Mr. Ghering, there are two small 

 straight cottonwoods in that cluster over there. 

 I should like to make them into a work- bench. 

 You furnish the material, and I will do the 

 work, and we will own it in partnership." 

 "That it is right, Fred; shust suit yourself 

 apout it; but I don't believe I shall 

 vork the bench much out here; 

 those bees don't like me von little 

 bit." 



Now, Fred Anderson was not a 

 nervous young man, as we have 

 already seen; but he had the usual 

 amount of mischief in his make-up, 

 and he induced Mr. Ghering further 

 and further from the sheltering 

 cottonwoods. The bees that Fred 

 had moved from the deserted ranch 

 were but a few feet away; and in 

 his movements near them Fred ac- 

 cidentally (?) dropped his mattock 

 upon one of them. 



Mr. Ghering was wearing a soft 

 black-felt hat, well pulled down 

 over his head; but there was a 

 small hole in the apex of the crown. 

 One bee seemed to think that the 

 hole had something to do with the 

 [disturbance of th hive, and was 

 Iventing its wrath upon it. A dozen 

 more, attracted by the aroma of its sting, set- 

 tled upon the same hole — entered, and com- 

 menced operations upon Mr. Ghering's scalp. 



PURITY vs. GOOD WOIiKERS. 



Question.— I understand that you are selling 

 queens and bees. Do you guarantee your stock 

 to be pure ? or is not purity of stock the great- 

 est essential in bees? 



Ansiver.—Much has been said in the years 

 that are past about a standard of purity for our 

 bees; and some of us have often been led to ask 

 ourselves the question, " Can we adopt a stand- 

 ard of purity that will always secure to us the 

 best working qualities in our bees?" We can 



