ifi FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



was a woman of remarkable energy and executive ability^ 

 generally accomplishing whatever she undertook, and 

 she undertook to stop that swarm. Whether the water 

 and dirt she threw among them had any effect on the 

 bees I do not know, but I know she got the bees, hiving 

 them in a full-sized sugar-barrel. 



In her eagerness to have the bees properly housed — ■ 

 or barreled — she could not wait the slow motion of the 

 bees, but taking them up by double handfuls she threw 

 them where she wanted them to go. In so doing she re- 

 ceived five or six stings on her hands, which swelled up 

 and were so painful as to make it a sick-a-bed affair. 

 This was a matter much to be regretted, for ever after a 

 sting was much the same as a case of erysipelas, prevent- 

 ing her from having anything whatever to do with 

 handling bees except in a case of extremity. 



Previous to that time I had not been interested to any 

 great extent in bees. When a small boy I had cap- 

 tured a bumble-bees' nest and put it in a little box, but I 

 do not recall that there was a remarkable drop in the 

 price of honey on account of there being thrown upon 

 the market a large amount of honey produced by those 

 bumble-bees. 



BEE-PALACE. 



When I was a little older I remember helping my 

 stepfather carry home, one night, a colony of bees in a 

 box-hive (movable-comb hives were not yet invented) the 

 colony being intended to stock a "bee-palace." This bee- 

 palace was a rather imposing structure. I think it cost 

 ten dollars. It was large enough to contain about four 

 colonies and was raised about two feet high on four legs. 

 On the top was a hole over which the box-hive was 

 placed, with the expectation that the bees would build 

 down and occupy the entire space. The bottom was made 

 very steep, so that wax-worms falling upon it would, 

 however unwillingly, be obliged to roll out ! When a nice 

 piece of honey was wanted for the table, all that was nee- 



