274 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



Fig. 4.— There's the queen : 



had first noticed the condition when hiving 

 swarms close to a soUd fence; then later ob- 

 servation showed that, when the hive stood 

 in the open, nothing of the kind happened. 



NO PROTECTION AGAINST STINGS. 



Mr. Alpaugh is the first beeman I ever 

 met who works without any protection 

 from stings when handling the bees. We 

 spent a couple of days together, opened 

 many hives, often upset the bees consider- 

 ably, for frequently I had to cut down 

 through the transversely built combs by 

 cutting through the ^'-shaped edges and 

 force them in line. The bees do not like 

 this treatment any too well, but they al- 

 ways left Mr. Alpaugh alone. He smoked 

 them considerably more than I ordinarily 

 do. In addition he puffed smoke into his 

 beard as a protection to his face. I have 

 been wearing whiskers for 30 years without 

 finding any special use for them, so it rath- 

 er tickledme tofindoneman whohad found 

 the hair on his face to be of some use, even 

 if it were only as a smoke-holder. 



In my wanderings on the northern halt 

 of Vancouver Island later in the season, I 

 came across the most vicious bees I ever 

 met. At one seacoast village I had in- 

 spected the bees in the forenoon, creating 

 quite a little excitement. A tethered horse 

 smashed a dozen pickets out of a fence; all 

 the dogs in the community, after snapping 

 viciously at every part of their anatomy 

 within reach, had hiked hurriedly for shel- 

 ter, so that, where about a score had former- 

 ly .slumbered in the open, not one was now 

 visible. The grocery store was filled with 

 agitated wonien; the only saloon was brisk- 

 ly dis])ensing liquid aiiticjQte foi' bee-stings. 



Luckily for me the steamer appeared on 

 the scene, so I hastened on board while the 

 getting was good, and so avoided the rush. 

 My next day's wandering brought me to the 

 same pier, so I leaned over the side of the 

 ship and inquired in my softest voice if 

 bees did well on the island. Instantly a 

 huge fist was lifted in my direction, and an 

 angry voice assured me that no living thing 

 had been safe since yesterday at noon. 

 The grocery store was without customers; 

 the owner's sole occupation and recreation 

 was to watch some occasional man putting 

 on his best speed while he frantically fanned 

 the atmosphere with his hat. He invited 

 me to come ashore; assured me that a very 

 large and influential deputation of the in- 

 habitants was just aching to interview me 

 — had cried all night because they believed 

 they would never see me again. Much to 

 his regret I had to decline the earnest invi- 

 tation — the most urgent and the warmest 

 I had ever had in my life; but I could not 

 get him to believe that were other commu- 

 nities who were sighing for my presence. 

 Victoria, B. C. 



REMOVING A SWARM FROM A PEACH TREE 



BY ,1. B. REYNOLDS 



I am sending some pictures of a swarm of 

 bees showing where it clustered on a peach 

 tree. I shook them into a large box and 

 carried them to the apiary and poured 

 them out in front of an empty two-story 

 hive in the corner, which was the location 

 formerly occupied by the parent colony. 



Convoy, < )hlo. 



