26 



FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



alive. They flew a little, but it was not warm enough 

 for a good cleansing flight ; and soon after there came 

 a cold storm with snow a foot deep, and by April 1 I had 

 only three colonies living, two of which I united, making 

 a total of tivo left from the forty-five or fifty. 



It was some comfort to know that nearly everyone 

 lost heavily that winter, but what encouragement was 

 there to continue under such adverse circumstances? I 

 was on the road traveling for Root & Cady all the time, 

 with onlv an occasional visit to mv bees, and no cer- 



Fig. 7 — Tzi'o carrying zvith Rope. 



tainty of being there upon any particular date, and evi- 

 dently with no great knowledge of the business if I had 

 been home all the time. To be sure, I may have got 

 enough money so as to feel that there was no particular 

 money loss, but after eleven years at bee-keeping, and 

 after having bought, first and last, quite a number of col- 

 onies, here I was with only two colonies to show for 

 all my efforts ! 



I do not remember, however, that any question as 

 to continuance occurred to me at that time. Perhaps I 



