The Bee and the Grasshopper. 



A honey-bee, yellow as gold, 

 Sat perched on a white clover top. 



When a grasshopper, wiry and old. 

 Came along with a skip and a hop. 

 ' Good-morrow !" cried he, " Mrs. Honey-Bee, 

 You seem to have come to a stop." 



" We people that work," 

 Said the bee, with a jerk, 

 ' Find a benefit sometimes in stopping ; 

 Only insects like you, 

 Who have nothing to do. 

 Can keep up a perpetual hopping." 



The grasshopper paused on his way. 

 And thoughtfully hunched up his knees ; 

 ' Why trouble, this sunshiny day," 



Quoth he, " with reflections like these ? 



I follow the trade for which I was made ; 

 We can't all be wise honey-bees. 



" There's a time to be sad. 



And a time to be glad ; 

 A time both for working and stopping ; 



For men to make money. 



For you to store honey. 

 And for me to do nothing but hopping." 



Smokers— How to Operate Them. 



Please give directions for operating Bee 

 Sraolfers successfully ? Materials to be 

 used and how best to ignite them ? 



X. Y. Z. 



In order to do this, we must give 

 directions for operating each kind of smo- 

 kers, viz : 



For Bingham Smoker.— Select maple, 

 or hickory which is sound and dry, and saw 

 it into blocks 4 inches long ; split these 

 blocks into pieces K inch square, and keep 

 them in a dry place for use. If it burns too 

 fast, mix some coarser with it. To start a 

 fire with such wood, a few good coals drop- 

 ped into the bottom befoi-e filling with 

 wood will answer ; but, as a rule, a few 

 shavings and chips of punk, or rotten wood, 

 started with a match and dropped into the 

 bottom before filling with wood will be 

 found best. Once started with such wood, 

 and refilled occasionally, a fire may be 

 kept continually burning and ready for use. 

 If smoke is wanted only for a few moments, 

 any dry rotten wood will answer, but such 

 as is found in the heart of an old hard 

 wood tree will be found best. 



To Burn Tobacco.— Start the fire as 

 above, and put in a layer of small, square, 

 or broken pieces of rotten wood, then a 

 layer of tobacco, then rotten wood, &c. 



For New Quinby Smoker.— Make the 

 smoke of any kind of wood that is suffi- 

 ciently decayed to burn readily, or if per- 

 fectly dry, solid hard wood may be used, 

 split in pieces J-/ inch square, and 5 inches 

 long. To start the smoke, take off the 



tapering nozzle, light a piece of decayed 

 wood, and put the burning end into the tube 

 first, or drop in a coal of fire, and place the 

 wood upon it. Replace the nozzle ; work 

 the bellows with one hand, directing the 

 smoke to the point desired. 



For Excelsior Bee Smoker.— Light the 

 smallest end of the cartridge with a match, 

 a cigar, or at the stove, and put the fire end 

 in first ; blow a little to get the fire started 

 before you put on the nozzle. Then take it 

 in the left hand, in the middle where it will 

 balance ; place the ball of the left thumb 

 in the thumb iiole, and hold it down a little 

 sidewise. You can now use your right 

 hand for anything else. When you open a 

 hive, first pry up the board with your knife 

 and give them a little smoke before you let 

 the bees out ; this keeps tiiem from taking 

 wing when you open it. 



Cotton rags, or cotton filling out of an 

 old, worn out comforter, is the best, cheap- 

 est and handiest fuel, as it burns so slow.— 

 Tear or cut the rags up before using. 



The Season in California. 



The San Diego News, in speaking of 

 the honey season, says : " Along the 

 coast the season for honey-making is 

 pretty much over, the flowers being 

 nearly closed out. Higher up in the 

 country it is a little different, and in 

 the mountains in some places the sea- 

 son but now fairly opens. In the 

 towns the bees are hard at work on the 

 trees that yield tlowers, and on a small 

 yellow shrub that can be found almost 

 anywhere. The honey is very tine, 

 wliite and pure, and ought to sell for a 

 fine price." 



The Los Angeles Star remarks : — 

 " We saw in front of Bassett «& Go's, a 

 large number of cans tilled with honey, 

 ready for shipment. They belonged to 

 E. E. Shattuck, who has 2 bee ranches 

 in this vicinity. We understand that 

 Mr. Shattuck has 20,000 lbs. of honey 

 now ready for shipment. He expects 

 to be able to ship 40,000 lbs. during the 

 season. There are quite a number of 

 apiaries which will yield handsomely. 

 The honey is excellent, but the quanti- 

 ty will be much below the yield of two 

 years ago. This is because many of 

 the bees died during the drouth of last 

 year, and those that are left have not 

 had a good working season. The 

 damp, foggy spring has been a consid- 

 erable drawback to the bees. But this 

 disadvantage will be partially counter- 

 acted by a prolonged season." 



