642 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



in worse condition than those piled under the 

 trees. I had a helper a portion of the time ; 

 but for all that it was a great scrape — over 

 5000 combs to be cut out, and the frames 

 cleaned. Well, we completed the job in fine 

 shape, and there was a great pile of sacks of 

 old comb, etc., to be rendered into wax. 



You will notice that my helper is cutting 

 out comb with a long knife ; another is lean- 

 ing against a hive. These are uncapping- 

 knives, very long, thick in the center, straight 

 shank, and heavy. A down stroke is intend- 

 ed with these tools. 



An excellent machine for rendering this 

 wax would have been the Ferris steam wax- 

 extractor ; but other plans and other parties 

 were called into the work later. In Ventura 

 Co. are some very expert men with the wax 

 proposition. Three dry seasons, much loss of 

 bees, much wax to render, has developed a 



RAVAGES OF THE BEE-MOTH 



new industry in the wax business. These ex- 

 perts pick up old black slumgum, and, in fact, 

 any old thing that has ever been in a bee-hive, 

 and they wring wax out of it. They claim to 

 get 95 per cent. 



I was denied the privilege of getting away 

 from Bro. Richardson's on my wheel. Our 

 great scrape wound up with a great rain ; and 

 the harder and longer it rained, the better we 

 bee-men felt. Streams were swollen, roads 

 washed out, trains delayed ; but what of that? 

 Plenty of rain means plenty of honey. 



After several delays, and nearly a day for it, 

 I reached Ventura, 40 miles. At one of the 

 delay points I met a bee-man from San Ber- 

 nardino Co., and he was happy too — rain, I 

 suppose. We both stopped at the Ana Capa 

 Hotel. We were out at about the same time 

 in the morning, and took a stroll before break- 

 fast. As we passed a saloon (of course it was 



wide open), said my friend, "I believe I'd 

 like to take a nip ; how is it with you, Ram- 

 bler?" 



" No nip for me, my friend. I never nip." 

 And I walked right along. 

 "Well — w-e-1-1," said he, hesitating a lit- 

 tle ; "I guess I won't nip, after all." 



After a little silence, said he, "Well, Ram- 

 bler, that is what we may call the power of 

 example. If you had entered the saloon with 

 me we might have had several nips, hey ? but 

 I guess my appetite for breakfast is about as 

 good without it ; " and I noticed at table that 

 he ate quite heartily. 



When on the street again, whom should we 

 meet but Mr. Mendleson ? He came spatter- 

 ing along on a cart. Mud — just happy in 

 mud; rubber boots, just the thing for rainy 

 weather ; lovely rain ; going to have some 

 more too. 



Our accumulated force 

 started out to hunt up 

 some more happy bee- 

 men. We found Mr. 

 Wilkin under his own 

 vine and pepper-tree. 

 He greeted us with his 

 accustomed broad and 

 genial smile. 



" Why, Rambler, you 

 must have rained down. 

 What a glorious rain!" 



We hitched another 

 man to our crowd here 

 and climbed the hill to 

 Mr. Mt-rcer's, and there, 

 in spite of the great 

 rain, we found him 

 humped up in a rock- 

 ing chair near a blazing 

 hearth, all broken up 

 with the grip. 



I always feel it my 



duty to cheer up the 



afflicted, and I told Mr. 



Mercer that I had a 



plan in mind that I 



thought would cure his 



grip. That brightened 



him up quite a little. 



He had two carloads of bees and fixtures 



away up in Central California. It was high 



time they were moved south, but this grip 



had him fast. 



"Well," Mr, Mercer, "my remedy is for 

 you to go to Ana Capa Island. I am getting 



up a party to- 



" You get right out of this. Rambler ; don't 

 you mention Ana Capa to me;" and he tore 

 around the room, shaking his fist at me. His 

 wife, dear good woman, pacified him. "Yes, 

 Rambler, you got me over there once, but 

 you can't do it again. The grip — jinco — 

 that's nothing like being seasick. Why, I 

 can feel the way that old crazy schooner 

 bobbed all over the ocean now. Don't you 

 mention Ana Capa to me again." 



I think the recalling of the trip to the 

 island in 1894 had a very beneficial effect 

 upon our friend. It rousted him up, and I 



