1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



557 



not prepared, the apiarist has ample time to 

 get it ready. After this he can return to 

 the swarm just now clustered. Most of the 

 devices require to be held until the cluster 

 has settled. It is a tedious job to hold a 

 pole at arms 1 length, with face upturned. If 

 the swarm clusters very high, some other 

 arrangement, perhaps, would be better than 

 the Manum ; but for low shrubbery it is just 

 the thing The other special feature of the 

 device is, that after you have gotten about 

 half or two-thirds of the bees into the bas- 

 ket, they can not escape and seek their origi- 

 nal point of attachment. 



HAULING BEES WITH COLTS— A WARNING. 



During the past week I have had some 

 experience, of a kind of which .Josh Billings 

 said, " The tuishun is rather hi." We have 

 been moving bees with a colt, and very like- 

 ly you will forecast the result before I get 

 through. Old horsemen tell us that colts 

 should be hitched in the stable, or to the 

 side of a barn or high board fence, or at 

 least something they can not get their feet 

 through or climb over, or tangle themselves 

 up in. My colt Billy, referred to before in 

 this department, had been making trips to 

 the basswood orchard nearly every day. A 

 large portion of this apiary has been devot- 

 ed to tilling orders for bees and queens by 

 the pound, nucleus, and colony. At the or- 

 chard there was neither a shed, side of a 

 barn, nor high board fence. The only avail- 

 able thing was a small elm-tree, about four 

 inches in diameter. The ground was pretty 

 level at this spot; and although it was not 

 the best place in the world to hitch a colt, 

 we thought we would' 1 risk it" until we 

 could tit up a hitching-post, or, better, a 

 shed after the rush of the season. Billy 

 stamped the ground considerably around 

 that tree, and, colt-like, champed his bits. 



One day we went down after about $75.00 

 worth of bees, which were to go by express 

 in the morning. As the aforesaid elm-tree 

 was inconveniently situated for the market- 

 wagon, we hitched to a fence— one that was 

 strong. We had got our bees into the ship- 

 ping-cages, and were loading them on the 

 wagon. Billy became impatient, and want- 

 ed to go home before we got fairly loaded ; 

 and before we knew it he had somehow got 

 his foot through the fence and into a gate. 

 With $75.00 worth of bees in the wagon, at 

 May prices, and the horse tangled as he was, 

 we rather expected a fracas. A few sooth- 

 ing words quieted the horse so that we 

 could untangle him, and we were soon on 

 our way, rejoicing that we had got out of 

 our trouble so luckily. 



About a month elapsed, and Billy in the 

 mean time was learning to stand like, an old 

 horse. One afternoon, as usual, Mr. Spaf- 

 ford took Billy and the light wagon, your 

 humble servant remaining at his d: j sk. This 

 time Mr. S. hitched to the elm-tree, and 

 then went about his work. He had nearly 

 finished his last hive when he heard a little 

 noise in the direction of the horse. Bush- 

 ing out, he noticed that the animal was be- 

 having in a very unusual manner. Well, to 

 make a long story short, Billy had caught 

 the right thill in the tree. He then stepped 

 to one side, and broke one end of the shaft 



diagonally off, parhaps a foot from the end. 

 The splintered part evidently struck just 

 back of his tore-leg, and goaded him a little. 

 As you know, a horse, when he is pricked 

 by any thing, never moves away from the 

 irritating object, but, on the contrary, will 

 push the sharp point into himself. Billy 

 pushed the thill into himself back of his 

 fore-leg, reeled sidewise a little, and. with 

 the point sticking in his vitals, again broke 

 the thill off lower down. He then fell over 

 one end of the thill. striking the ground, and 

 the otherend plunging deeply into his heart. 

 Before Mr. Spafford could reach him and be 

 of very much assistance, a valuable horse 

 was killed— one that could travel fourteen 

 miles an hour, and one for which I had, just 

 prior to its death, had frequent offers. 

 Whether an unlucky bee had stung the 

 horse, and so been the direct cause of the 

 disaster, we shall never know. 1 do know 

 that I have lost a valuable horse, and a 

 great pet, of which my wife was exceeding- 

 ly fond. 



Perhaps some of the experienced horse- 

 breeders who read this will say, " Why did 

 you not unhitch?" For the simple reason 

 that we had tried it once or twice, and Billy 

 had wound himself around the tree until he 

 did not have any strap at all. Well, this is 

 mishap No. 2. 



As our three heavy draft horses were 

 busy, we next took Meg. As she had run 

 away several times, Mr. Spafford, after an 

 experience with her once, feared to take her 

 again. No other horse being available, 

 Neighbor H. kindly offered to loan us his 

 Bobbv pony. This likewise was a colt. The 

 hitching-place was made more substantial, 

 and the horse was unhitched from the thills. 

 Every thing went well until they were well 

 started toward home with the bees. Like a 

 good many other colts, he did some unex- 

 pected things. Why, what do you suppose 

 it was? He simply fell down and broke 

 both thills. There were $25.00 worth of 

 bees in the buggy. Very fortunately a 

 farmer near at hand came to the rescue im- 

 mediately. Mr. Spafford held the colt down 

 while his companion unhitched. In the 

 mean time an angry bee had the meanness 

 to come and sting this poor colt on the end 

 of its nose. He lunged a little, but by good 

 management the colt was safely disengaged 

 from the thills, without any sliver sticking 

 him in his side, and another serious mishap. 

 It was then raining, and the roads were get- 

 ting slippery. The thills were wrapped 

 around with straps, the horse rehitched, and 

 Mr. Spafford started on his venturesome 

 journey again. When he arrived at the fac- 

 tory I saw that something had gone wrong 

 again ; and although Mr. S. is an experienced 

 horseman, and a man who has broken colts, 

 and who has handled some very vicious ani- 

 mals, there was a care-worn expression on 

 his face. As I stepped up to the horse, he 

 begged to be excused from going after bees 

 any more, with colts. I assured him that he 

 shouldn't. 



It is said, that it never rains but it pours 

 — misfortunes never come singly. I do 

 know that they sometimes come singly, but 

 I am sure, also, that they often come in 



