1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



815 



thei'o were two or three bee-ke(^i)ers In Albany 

 who exijeeted me that tiay. and that, when I 

 came, we would go into camp at Lake George. 

 He, in turn, meant that a company of wheel- 

 men were on their way to Syracuse. There 

 was one important member, as I afterward 

 learned, wiiom they weic waiting for: and 

 supposing me to be that indiviilual. he thought 

 he would hniTV me np. I had gone very near- 

 ly fifty miles over roads that were hardly i)ass- 

 able for even a lumber-wagon, and I iuid taken 

 nearly all day to do it; and, to make matters, 

 still worse, the streets of Albany wer(> the 

 worst paved of any I mcr came across. I dis- 

 mounted, and pushed my wlieel on the side- 

 walk. A burly policeman, with his club up- 

 lifted, very respectfully advised me to get into 

 the road, with its muddy and uneven places. 

 I complied. I soon reached the hotel, and took 

 lodging. 



AT THE CAMP OF BEE - KEEPERS ON LAKE 

 GEORGE. 



The next morning, about 9 o'clock found me 

 in the city of Troy, the place where they make 

 collars and cuffs by the carload. After visiting 

 with friends and relatives, I left my bicycl? in 

 the city, and took the train for Lake George, 

 which I reached that afternoon. My friend 

 F. A. Lockhart, of Pattens Mills, near Lake 

 George, was on hand at the Depot. A couple 

 of lady bee-keepers, Miss Douglas and Miss 

 Wolcott, came on the same train. I went to the 

 hotel, and the two ladies went with Mr. Lock- 

 hart to the camj). The next morning ZNIr. 

 Lockhart came after me. and very soon I had 

 the pleasure of meeting Rambler. Yes, if I had 

 not been told so I should have known that 

 good-natured, rather tall individual driving 

 a black horse. Then there was Mr. Lockhart's 

 father, one of those jjleasant, hearty Scotcli- 

 men that it is a pleasure to see. 'There was 

 also John H. Larrabee and his brother: Mr. 

 and Mrs. G. H. Knickerbocker, Mr. Higley. 

 and several others whose names I have foi'- 

 gotten. 



Mr. Lockhart, Sr., owned a cottage along the 

 shore of the lake; and as the attendance at the 

 camp was not large, the tents brought by Ram- 

 bler and " genial John " were not used. We 

 accordingly all of ns took up our quarters in 

 the cottage. There was just enough to mak(> a 

 good-sized family. rc])resentatives from Ver- 

 mont. New York, and Oliio. A couijle of row - 

 boats were at our disposal, so that we could 

 take rides upon the lake; and, in addition to 

 that, a small steamer, rebuilt by a son of Mi-. 

 Lockhart. of queen-rearing fame, came; around 

 both days to our camp. In addition to this 

 there was fishing-tackle, and every thing else 

 in the spoiling line, that could make such a 

 camp delightful, to say nothing of the beauti- 

 ful scenery round about. Thc^ boys had been 

 out fishing that day, but succeeded in catching 

 only four or five small minnows; and during 

 the time I was there, no large fish were caught. 



We talked bees, we talked bee-keepers, and I 

 should not be surprised if we indulged in a lit- 

 tle gossip, not only at each other's expense, but 

 at tlie expense of some who were not present. 

 We visited as only bei'-keejx'rs can, until late 

 in the evening. The ladies of the jiarly retired 

 at a ir((s(>ii((l)lc hour, but the rest of us had not 

 finished talking yet. As in almost every crowd 

 like this there was one comical genius (Brodie 

 Higley by name) that, no matter what he said 

 or did, we iuid to laugh. Rambler has spoken 

 of him as the bee-keeper who attempted to 

 wintiM' his bees on wagon-wheels; see Glean- 

 ings, page (iSa, 1888. It was growing late, and 

 our friend Mr. Higley could keep awake no 

 longer, and finally, in an upright ])osture, he 

 went off into a doze, while we talked and 



laughed. As he leaned back in his chair, his 

 appearance was exceedingly comical: and. no 

 matter how hard we laughed, the sounder he 

 slept. A thought struck me, and I proceeded 

 to put it into execution. I brought all the 

 lamps we could s|:)are. soas to get a good illumi- 

 nation on the face of our friend, and I was just 

 then qui(Uly puisiug my camera, that I might 

 have a permanent record of liis face — his mouth 

 wide open, and he himself enjoying all the 

 bliss that sleep can give, when, lo! he suddenly 

 roused up and glared at the camera. He did 

 not see any thing to laugh at, although the 

 whole crowd of us fairly yelled. Pretty soon he 

 quietly retired to a corner of the room, and was 

 soon fast asleep. Not long after, the whole of 

 us retired, it being my happy lot to sleep with 

 the Rambler. The next morning I got up feel- 

 ing any thing but refreshed; my sides were 

 sore from laughter of the previous evening. 



A En)E f)N A bee-keeper's STEAM LAUNCH. 



That day our crowd was invited by the An- 

 drews to take a ride upon the little steamer — 

 an invitation which we gladly accepted. I 

 took along my Kodak, and took photographs 

 of several of the mountains. To give you just 

 a fair sample of the beautiful scenery. I give 

 you one of the instantaneous views herewith. 



A VIEW ON I,AKE GEORGE. 



I stood up in the steamer, and the view taken 

 shows a part of Mr. Andrews' hat. and. I think, 

 a corner of Mr. Larrabee's face. Yon can see 

 that the shot was instantaneous, as the ripples 

 and the waves are apparently motionless. 



We visited most of the principal points at 

 that end of the lake; stopped at Mr. Andnnvs' 

 cottage, rom|M>d about a while, and finally re- 

 turned. It was suggested by one of the party, 

 before leaving the steamer, that we have a 

 photogra|)h of it taken. Both Rambler and I 

 tried our hands at it, but neither succeeded in 

 getting very good views. Then after the party 

 left tlie steamei' they stationed themsehcs on 

 the shore, and we both took a sliot. Tli(>re was 

 a sort of spring-board on tlie end of the dock. 

 In order to take in th<> whole crowd I had re- 

 treated clear to the end of this board, and the 

 water beneath was perhaps 15 feet deep, and as 

 clear as crystal, as is the character of the 

 whole lake. I had stepped just one step back 

 too far and came very nvdv taking a i)lunge 

 bath — camera and all. and after a good deal of 

 wiggling I regained a upright posture. The 

 crowd on the shore were in the height of their 



