1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULtURE. 



6^i 



drains from all sides, making- 

 him a very nice home. 



There is a walk leading- from 

 the rear of the house, flagged 

 to his kennel. I send you a 

 picture of our residence. It is 

 a 14-room house, standing on a 

 corner, surrounded by lawns 

 and shaded trees. I also send 

 you a photograph of a part of 

 one of my apiaries. The hives 

 are dovetailed, standing on 

 stands, similar to your style 

 // bee-stands, and these stands 

 are set on flagged stones, so 

 there is no opportunity of grass 

 growing up to interfere with 

 the flight of the bees. The 

 surrounding's are mowed by a 

 lawn-mower each week, and 

 the bees appreciate it highly. 



Mount Vernon, N. Y. 



[Desiring- further information 

 I wrote to Mr. Ferry again, 

 and he replies:] 



You say, " There is one thing- 

 you have not told us; and that 

 is, how j'ou manage to train 

 the dog to report swarms." In 

 the first place, you must have 

 an intelligent dog. There are 

 some dogs tliat are as dumb as 



APIAKV I'KI'SIDKD OVEK BY A DOG. 



THE DOG THAT IS TRAINED TO VVAICH SWAKMS. 



some men, and there are oth- 

 ers as bright as some men. 

 This particular dog we consid- 

 er very intelligent, and if he 

 had the advantage of speech 

 we should consider him quite 

 human. 



The first instance we have 

 had of his being interested in 

 notifying of swarms was when 

 he had been in company- with 

 those who work with bees. A 

 swarm came out at the oppo 

 site end of the yard, making- 

 an unusual noise. He began 

 to bark. This, of course, at- 

 tracted our attention. We im- 

 mediately prepared to receive 

 the swarm as soon as it alight- 

 ed, and I think his barking and 

 continuall}' running around the 

 j'ard caused them to alight 

 much quicker and much nearer 

 than they would otherwise. 

 We began to encourage him 

 by talking to him, and he con- 

 tinued to bark. This led us 

 to believe that he could be 

 taught to notify us when there 

 was any unusual noise made 

 by the bees. With a little care 

 and attention, an intelligent 

 dog can be taught almost any 

 thing. 



Since the above instance we 

 have taken some pains to have 

 him around the bees; and, if 

 there was any prospect of hav- 



