FIFTY YEARS A^IOXG THE BEES 27 



didn't know enough to be discouraged. Instead of sell- 

 ing off the two colonies and going out of the business, 

 I bought live more colonies early in April. They were 

 in box-hives, and one of them died before the season 

 warmed up. so I began the season of 1872 with six colo- 

 nies. These I increased to nineteen, and I think I took 

 no honey. With the number of empty combs I had on 

 hand, there was nothing to exult over in this increase, 

 especially as the colonies were not in the best condition as 

 to strength. 



WINTER IX CINCINNATI. 



The thousands who have been charmed by the de- 

 lightful music rendered under the guidance of the baton 

 of that prince of conductors, Theodore Thomas, at the 

 May Musical Festivals held in successive years in Cin- 

 cinnati, will have no difficulty in understanding that a 

 congenial, although somewhat arduous, occupation was 

 aft'orded me when the managers oft'ered me the posi- 

 tion of "official agent," charged with doing the thousand 

 and one things needing to be done to carry out their 

 wishes in preparing for the first of these festivals. I 

 began this work in 1872, some six months in advance 

 of the time for the Festival, making my abode in Cin- 

 cinnati, although I still called Marengo my home. In 

 the winter I went back home, put the bees in the cellar 

 December 7, and then locking up cellar and house for 

 the winter I took my wife and child to Cincinnati, from 

 which place we did not return till late the following May. 



The bees were left entirely to their own devices 

 throughout the winter. In the latter part of ]^Iarch the 

 weather at Cincinnati became quite warm, and I wrote 

 to my bee-keeping friend, Mr. Lester, to get him to take 

 the bees out of the cellar. He took them out under pro- 

 test, for Cincinnati weather and ^Marengo weather are 

 two different things, and when they were taken out, 

 ]\Iarch 31, they were probably ushered into a rather cold 

 world. Thev were in bad condition when taken out — 



