18H(I 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



749 



utos, and I arrived at the place. I tied my 

 horse up beside tlie fence, dismounted, and 

 rajjped at tlie door. I was not quit(> so fortu- 

 nate tliis time as 1 liad l)(>en on former occa- 

 sions. Mr. West iiimsclf was al)scnt. but for- 

 tunately [ nu't his son. who evidcnly was a 

 good l)(M^-keeper. I was in a gi'cat hurry to see 

 all I could, and I expiaiiu^d to the junior West 

 that I had to nuike sonu' miles yet. aiul woukl 

 have to huri'y at his place more than I really i)r<>- 

 ferred: I inislit stiike some l)ad roads, and need- 

 ed plenty (if time. We immediately went out into 

 the apiary, lli're. again, lixed distances are 

 used. Some of the frames are the Hoffman, 

 and others are the regular suspended, with nails 

 driven in tiie right distance, to iu)ld them at 

 fixed distances. They imve in all too colonies 

 in three yards. The season had l)(>en a poor 

 one. but tiiey would average about ;.'5 lbs. per 

 colony. We soon rejjaired to the shop, where I 

 noticed a similar horse-power to that used by 

 Mv. I)ii)ble. l\Iy stay here Was probably not 

 more than 15 or ;20 minutes: and after apologiz- 

 ing for my short visit I again took to the wheel. 



now I KAX AWAY FROM A UEE-KEKI'KR. 



Being in company the night before with a 



lot of roughs in the hotel at , as mentioned 



in the i)revious number. I i)ri'snme that I was a 

 little bit nerxous. I came along to a stri'tch of 

 road where there was a sort of sidehill. It was 

 down in a kind of valley, and quite remote from 

 any farmhouse— possibly a mile either way. I 

 saw a man going along the road, witli a walking- 

 stick. "Now."" thought I, "may be he is all 

 right, and doubtless won't do any thing out of 

 the way, but I will just steal upon him rather 

 quietly. As the bicycle is perfectly noiseless, 

 when I get just aboutopposite to him I will spin 

 by him before he knows it:" and this was al- 

 most imnu'diately put into execution. Aftei' I 

 had gi)t a littk' distance beyond. I thought, I 

 heard him calling to me. Whethei' I didornoT. I 

 hustled ui) the hill as fast as I could. On airiv- 

 ing at th(> top I coasted down i\w. hill at the 

 rat(^ of about a mile in four minutes: and as I 

 was speeding tlowii as if on wings. I congratu- 

 lated myself on how nicely I had fooled the per- 

 sonage whom I liad met in the valley back of 

 me. I finally canu' to a farmhouse, and men- 

 tioned the little circumstance. 



'■ Oh, no! " said the farmer; " we are all hon- 

 est men down this way." 



"That may be." said I; "but if you had been 

 traveling over the country as I have been, alone, 

 you would not be disposed to trust every man, 

 especially when you are off alone a mile or two 

 from any farmhouse." 



At tills point 1 can not forbear giving you the 

 se(inel. I rlo not know whether it is a joke on 

 myself or on my fiiend. but it is rathei' on me. 

 Just read this extract from a business letter: 



EXTKACT FROM A BUSINESS LETTER. 



Mr. N. D. West stopped at my liouse to-day. He 

 told nie tliat Ernest lioot \\:isat his Iious(m)ii the 13th, 

 and lliiit lie passed tiu-onmh this i)lace on his way to 

 Durham. Well, I saw him a short distance off. If 

 lie reinenibors, jnst before lie rt^aciied this place, on 

 the I'iglit. below tlie I'oad, a level piece of land, 

 swaiiq), and meadow. I was down there looking- to 

 see what tlie honey prosp(Mts were from the }iol(l(>M- 

 rod and Ijonesef. 1 saw some oiii^ ])ass aloiifr the 

 road on a liicyele. as il'the ''old tioy" was after him, 

 So I hurried up the liaiil^ and aflt'r him, just in time 

 to see liiin froinfi' over I lie hill, nearly out of sifrht. If 

 T had known it was Ernest, I should havi' overh;iuled 

 him. I tliink 1 could have done if, as he hail (juite a 

 hill to KO up. I am very sorr.y that he could not stoj) 

 and see me. I hope he will if he ever comes this 

 wa.v ag-ain. Ben Franklin. 



Franklinton, N. Y., Aug. 21, 



Well, well I a bee-keeper and an honest man! 

 and I, a doubter of a fcdiow-being! After arriv- 



ing home I was told that there was a letter from 

 a man who saw nu' going through the counti-y, 

 but, was not able to overhaul nu'. I did not say 

 any thing, but I began to snsiiect that 1 had 

 nuuli' a h)ol of myself: and tlie writer of the 

 above. I have no doubt, was the vei'y indiviflua.l 

 who would have given me a nice bee-talk, 

 and told nu^ about his liees. \Vell, I hope he 

 will forgive me; but who in the world would 

 have ihought that there was a bee-keeper who 

 knew m<'. in that, lone \alley? and when he 

 would stop me for a friendly chat. I .just I'an 

 away! Well. 1 wended my way on my ioiiriiey, 

 entirely oblivious to tlu^ fact that I had run otf 

 and left one of my bee-kereping friends. 



A RACE WITH A HOUSE. 



I linally came to a tcill-gate. I stop|);'d and 

 inquired the toll. " Oh!" said the good-natiu'ed 

 toll-keeper, looking at me and my wheel, " we 

 hardly regard your I'ig as worth considering. 

 You may pass on." said he. waving his haiul. 

 I did not know whethei' to feel jileased or not. 

 At: any rate, another rig. just iK'liind me. ca.me 

 u]i. and tlie di'i\'ei' jiaid liis toll. He had a raci>. 

 horse and a sulky; and from the former expei'i- 

 ence I had had. I knew that he wanted to set; 

 whet lu'f that fellow with a wheel could keep up 

 with him. I put on all speed, but endeaN'ored 

 to (tjiiicar as if 1 wei'e not racing, but simply 

 taking my ordinary gate, you know. I manag<'d 

 to monopolize the whole road, so that it was a 

 dillicult matter for him to pass. ev(ui if he would. 

 There wei'c I'ai'nihouses all along this road, and 

 1 rather enjoyed the fun. We ran togetliiT for 

 lierhaps two miles, and I was lieginning to tVel 

 as if I luid got tired of racing— at h'ast. running 

 at sncli a I'iite of sjieed— when 1 observed that 

 the panting of the horse behind me was growing 

 fainter and faintcu', and finally, in a few min- 

 utes more, the driver and the horse were no- 

 where to be seen. The fellow could have gone 

 by me. I know; and [ am e(|ually sui'e that, 

 after a run of liv(! miles, the wheel would liav<'_ 

 been a long distance ahead. I do not s|)eak of 

 this because I have any superior skill or endur- 

 ance as a cyclist, but only to show what a medi- 

 ocre rider liKi' myself has done many a, time. A 

 good horse will outsti'ip a bicyclist foi' a, short 

 distance; but they are away behind on a, long 

 run. 



Yes. sir: a Victtir bicycle is woi'th regarding, 

 tlie toll-keepi'r to the contrary: ami while I am 

 not <in.ri()Un to |ta,y toll. I like to have that most 

 delightful of iill steeds, the Safety bicycle, at 

 least put on a, par with the best of horses, lioth 

 for speed and endurance for long I'uns: but to 

 prove that parity, I hardly think I shall agri'(> to 

 race with every horse-jockey. 



After stopping on th(> way for a refreshing 

 drink I again started, and in an lioui' or two 

 more I saw the spii'es of Durham. How my 

 heart leaped at the sight! 1 had not seen my 

 wife for a couple of loocJis. and that was an 

 awful lorig while for me: and I felt that my 

 feelings dujilicated liei's. On arriving at Dur- 

 ham 1 was inhirmed that Shady (!len— the places 

 where she was stiipiiing — was about three miles 

 out. Over a winding anil somewhat hilly road 

 1 traveled until the welconu'sign. " Shady (Jleii." 

 pointed tii the iilace. In 1 came, with a lloiirisli. 

 It was then only thi'ee o'clock. 1 had gone 4.") 

 miles that day. visited the bee-keepers on the 

 way. seen some" beautiful country, and all before 

 three o'clock. Mrs. Root was on Mount- I'isgah, 

 with a l)arty of tourists, and would not be back 

 till night: ' but a little niece recognized nu^ 

 among the lirst: and finally I met, liei' paiia and 

 mamma. I was asked if I was tired. No, not at 

 all. I was rea,dy for a roni]) down the ghni. and 

 away we went. 



[To l>e continued.] 



