288 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



stones and the honey down the ladder to the 

 bottom. It caused quite a commotion in the 

 village, most of the inhabitants coming to 

 get a look from a respectable distance. Aft- 

 er we had finished we found we had about 

 260 lbs. of honey besides the bees. My share 

 of the loot was 160 lbs. of honey ; and after 

 straining it I had 10 lbs. of wax. The other 

 100 lbs. was divided between the two brick- 

 layers and the foreman, besides sweetening 

 the boys who used to come and say, "Master, 

 give us a bit of honey, please." 



But what I noticed principally was that, 

 although the combs were in some eases so 



old, there was no sign of foul brood or any 

 other disease. The bees were very strong 

 lots. Of course I got my share of stings on 

 my hands and arms, but that did not matter. 

 I have had so many that my system has 

 become used to stings. The other men got 

 off very light indeed. Of course we all 

 wore veils, which I provided. It took the 

 bricklayers two more days' work to replace 

 the roof after we had got the bees and honey 

 out. It turned out a very pleasant and 

 profitable work for me, and I should be glad 

 of a few more jobs like it. 



Evesham, Worcestershire, Eng. 



MAKING GOOD WITH NINE COLONIES 



BY H. N. WAGNER 



The way I got into the bee business was 

 very simple. A swarm had taken up its 

 home in the corner of our house. So long 

 as the bees were willing to attend strictly 

 to their business they were left alone; but 

 they took a notion that the whole house and 

 yard was theire. My wife and little boys 

 were stung so often that at last they simply 

 forced the man of the house to act. The 

 bees had to be taken out. I read an adver- 

 tisement in the local- paper that Stoneman, 

 the beeman, would take bees from houses. 

 I found him a rather meek sort of fellow. 

 In talking with him I discovered that he 

 taught a class in the Methodist Sunday- 

 school. This made me especially anxious 

 to secure his services in getting out the bees, 

 for I had often heard when a boy that bees 

 will not sting a truthful or an honest man. 

 I wanted to prove this old saying. I knew 

 a teacher in a Methodist Sunday-school 

 must be honest, and reasonably truthful. 



On the day appointed, John with his 

 tools and hives came out to do the work. 

 He was to take out the bees and hive them, 

 and I was to pay at the rate of $5.00 a 

 day. I was to help. 



After the side of the house was opened, 

 I stood back and watched John. I noticed 

 that the bees were stinging him. I watched 

 his lips, but I did not detect by them that 

 he was swearing " under his breath." I 

 hated to doubt the old saying, nor did I 

 want to doubt John's honesty. I had some 

 doubt about the truth of the saying within 

 a few minutes, as I took a hand in the work 

 and received several stings. I believe most 

 old sayings are not quite true. 



When we finished the day's work we had 

 four colonies in hives. We took two from 

 a neighbor's house ; and, a few days before, 



a stray swarm came along and settled on 

 a sage-bush which I had put in a box. 



I now felt that I had been born into the 

 beekeeper's guild. Jolm had gone home 

 with a check for his labor and hives, and 

 the tools which he said I needed. I noticed 

 when he left he seemed to have an expres- 

 sion upon his face which said, " I have my 

 pay for my work. You will get your ex- 

 perience as the days i^ass." 



The bees were put into hives about the 

 10th of July. In October I had a sui'plus 

 in large extracting-frames of almost 500 

 lbs. which I sold to people for ten cents a 

 pound in the frames. After keeping honey 

 for our own use I sold a little over $40 

 worth to my friends. I had enjoyed taking- 

 care of the bees; and when the wife saw 

 the money coming in she felt somewhat 

 more charitable toward them. But they had 

 stung her so much she was very sick from 

 the effects of the stings, and has not learned 

 to love them. She even claims that I, like 

 all beemen, have gone a little "off my base." 



Since I did not know any thing about 

 wintering bees I read some of the methods 

 given in the bee literature. I just packed 

 them away in leaves, leaving part of the 

 front of the hive exposed. When spring 

 came I found one of my four dead. I 

 opened the second season with three strong 

 colonies. I made an increase of four. 

 About the middle of the summer I saw 

 John, my old friend who alwaj-s has an eye 

 to business. He knew I had a bad case of 

 bee-fever. In his travels he had picked up 

 nine boxes with a few bees in each box. He 

 said, " T will sell you those nine colonies 

 for $11. I bit quickly. I took them home, 

 and onl}' six of them had any brood. I had 

 also bought from my beeman ten ten-frame 



