.IINE ], J 915 



439 



in front of two hives, we have been as 

 nervous as kittens. Another slight case, 

 but immediately recognized, occurred the 

 first lime we went into our bees this spring. 

 But many times since then the signs, super- 

 ficially observed, have seemed to crj' wolf, 

 when there was no wolf. Just a day or 

 two ago, after looking into half a dozen 

 hives, I was loafing around, watching the 

 bees fly (and is there anything more fascin- 

 ating?), when tliere — surely that hive was 

 being attacked! And that one! And still 

 anollier! But a second and more deliberate 

 look showed that the bees were merely play- 

 ing in the sunshine. I had finished work 

 about one o'clock, and that approaches an 

 hour especially popular for the gambols of 

 tlie young bees. Drones were among them 

 that day too; and the sound of the happy 

 little things was quite diffei'ent from the 

 voice of robbing bees. 



Later. — Noon, May 8. A child with a 



white-clover chain about her nock! It must 

 liave come ! 



Moiintiiiir on winj;s of undaunted desire 



Straight through the heart of .June's opal and blue, 

 Bees, how you flash I How you strike out and soar! 



Are you daring your dreams to come true? 

 Daring your dreams I As a flame dares the fire I 

 They'll come true! 

 They'll come true! 



June in the heart of you, June in the wings! 

 June in the part of your spirit that sings! 

 Bees, are you spirit? Or breathless desire, 

 Or the rapture that dares to aspire? 

 Daring to dream and then daring to do! 

 They'll come true — 

 Those brave dreams — 

 They'll come true! 



If all of us had the persistence and the 

 apparently eager zest for effort that the 

 bees show, most of us would come nearer 

 the achievement of our own fair dreams. 



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BEEKEEPING AMONG THE ROCKIES— Comttiiniied from page 436 



bees will fly a eonsidei'able distance and 

 may not work in the orchards in which they 

 are placed. I believe it has been demon- 

 strated that bees prefer to fly some distance 

 rather than gather nectar close to their hive. 



The conditions mentioned by Professor 

 Woodworth were ideal for that colony noi 

 to be poisoned to any appreciable extent. 

 There was such a profusion of bloom that 

 the bees probably had not one chance in ten 

 of gathering nectar from sprayed bloom. 

 If arsenite of zinc is repulsive to bees it is 

 welcome as a spray liquid, for it is a matter 

 of quite common knowledge that arsenate of 

 lead attracts them. Bees are quite often 

 seen around the spray-tanks. It is possible 

 the bees attempt to utilize the arsenate of 

 lead as a substitute for pollen, or they may 

 be in search of moisture when hovering 

 about the spray-tanks. 



The presence of other honey-plants upon 

 which bees may work is an important fac- 

 tor. If alfalfa, sweet clover, alsike, or other 



clovers were in bloom when spraying is 

 generally done in Colorado, I doubt whether 

 any losses of bees would ever be noticed. 

 All the loss seems to come when the or- 

 chards contain the only bloom available. 



The only reports I have received of bees 

 dj'ing from poisoning during the past four 

 years have been from commercial-fruit dis- 

 tricts, except one or two minor ones. Bees 

 were reported killed by poisoned syrup 

 sprayed upon sugar-beet leaves to kill grass- 

 hoppers. I saw bees dying, apparently from 

 the effects of poisoning secured from a pail 

 that had contained sheep-dip liquid. Quite 

 a number of colonies were weakened last 

 year near Denver by the supposed poison- 

 ous effect of smelter or city smoke. 



The most significant point in this matter 

 is that thousands of colonies of bees have 

 been moved from the orchard districts with 

 success. The trouble ceases when the bees 

 are moved, or very soon thereafter. 



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BEEKEEPING IN CALIFORNIA Continued from page 437 



he quickly prepared a hypodermic injection 

 to restore the action of the heart,- which 

 had by this time become very low. In a 

 few minutes the injection had taken effect, 

 and the danger had passed; but she remain- 

 ed in bed the rest of the day, and for the 

 next three hours I wrung cloths out of hot 

 soda water and applied them to her neck. 

 The weakness from this experience remain- 

 ed with her for a week. Strange to say, the 

 swelling was of little consequence; in fact. 



it amounted to less than from any sting she 

 has ever had. The physician said that the 

 sting of a bee is as poisonous to her flesh as 

 the bite of a poisonous snake would be to 

 many persons. I certainly do not care ever 

 to see any one suffer to such an extent from 

 a sting again. Mrs. Chadwick w-as almost 

 heartbroken to think that she must give up 

 helping me with the bees, for recent stings, 

 previous to this one, had led her to think 

 she was becoming immune to their poison. 



