842 



T'ww mmLmmicmm mmw jmwmmmL,. 



loulil look out and see what was going 

 on. and enjoy themselves. 



Both myself and Mrs. B. were 

 delighted, and before dark I arranged 

 a stand for the hive in the garden, and 

 opened the baj' windows so that the 

 Ijees could take an early start, and get 

 to business bj' sunrise the next morn- 

 ing. Mrs. B. called me ■honey" several 

 times during the evening and such 

 sweet dreams as we had. 



We intended to be up early next 

 morning to see how our littles birds 

 took to our flowers, but a good half 

 hour before we probabh' should have 

 done so, we were awakened by the 

 unearthly yells of a cat. Mrs. B. leaped 

 from her downy couch, exclaiming, 

 •What can be the matter with our yel- 

 low -Billy"" The yells of anguish 

 convinced us that something more than 

 ordinary was the matter with him; and 

 so we hurried into our toilets. We 

 rushed out into our Ijack-^ard, and oh! 

 what a sight met our astonished gaze! 

 The sight consisted of a yellow cat 

 that appeared to be doing its best 

 to make a pin-wheel of itself. He was 

 rolling over and over in the grass, 

 bounding up and down, anon darting 

 through the bushes and foliage, stand- 

 ing on his head and then trying to 

 drive his tail into the ground, all the 

 while keeping up the most confounded 

 yowling that was ever heard. -The eat 

 is mad!" said Mrs. B. aflrighted. ■Why 

 shouldn't he be? the bees are stinging 

 him. " said I comprehending the 

 trouble. 



Mrs. B. flew to the rescue of her 

 cat, and the cat flew at her. So did 

 the bees. One of them drove his drill 

 into her nose, another vaccinated her 

 on the chin, while another began to 

 lay out his work near her eye. Then 

 she howled and began to act nearly 

 as bad as the cat. It was (iiiite an ani- 

 mated scene. She cried "Murder!" and 

 the neighbors looked out from the back 

 windows and cried for the police, and 

 asked where the lire was. This being 

 a trifle too much, I threw a towel over 

 my head and rushed to her rescue. 

 In doing so. I ran over and knocked 

 her down, trod upon the cat, and 

 made matters no better, 



Mrs. B. is no child on a wrestle and 

 she soon had me under her, and was 

 tenderly stamping down the garden 

 walk with my head, using my ears 

 for handles. Then I yelled and some 

 of the bees came to her assistance, and 

 stung me all over the face. In the 

 meantime the neighbors were shout- 

 ing ; and getting awfully excited over 

 the show ; while our servant, supposing 

 us fighting, opened the basement door 

 and admitted a policeman, who at once 

 proceeded to go between man and 

 wife. The bees hadn't got at Mrs. B.'s 

 tongue yet and she proceeded to show 



the policeman that I had abused her 

 in the most shameful manner, and 

 that I had bought a hive of bees on 

 purpose to tormemt her into the grave. 

 I tried to explain, but just then a 

 bee stung the officer on the nose, and 

 he understood it all in less than a 

 minute. He got mad, and actually 

 lost his temper. He rubbed his uose, 

 and did some official cursing. But as 

 this did not help matters at all, he 

 drew his club, and proceeded to de- 

 molish that patent bee-hive. The bees 

 failed to recognize his badge of office, 

 and just swarmed on him. They stung 

 him wherever he had no clothing, and 

 some places where he did have it. 

 Then he howled, and commenced act- 

 ing after the manner of the cat and its 

 mistress. He rolled on the ground for 

 a moment, and then got up and made 

 for the street shouting, ■■Fire!" 



Then the bees turned to the people 

 who had climbed upon the fence to see 

 the fun. Windows went down, and 

 some of the neighbors acted as though 

 they thought a 20-inch shell was about 

 to explode. By this time a tire-engine 

 had arrived, and a line of hose was 

 taken through the house into the back- 

 yard. One of the hosemen asked 

 where the tire was. but just then one 

 of the bees bit him behind the ear, and 

 he knew. They turne<l a stream upon 

 that half-wrecked bee-hive, and be- 

 gan to ■pl'ayaway" with one hand, 

 and tight bees with the other. But the 

 water had the desired eftect, and those 

 bees were soon among the things that 

 were. 



A terrible crowd had gathered in the 

 meantime iu front of the house, but a 

 large portion of it followed the flying 

 policeman, who was rubbing his 

 affected parts, and making for the 

 station-house and a surgeon. 



This little adventure somehow damp- 

 ened our enthusiastu on bee-culture. 

 During the next week we wore milk- 

 and-water poultices pretty ardently, 

 but not a word was said about honey ; 

 and now Mrs. B. has gone to st.ay a 

 week with her mother, leaving me and 

 the convalescent Tom-cat, and the 

 tickled neighbors, to enjoy our own 

 felicity. — San Fraticiseo Paper. 



CALIFORNIA. 



Alfalfa for Honey in llie Sacra- 

 mento Valley. 



Written for the Pacific Rural Press 



BY S. L. WATKINS. 



On a recent trip to Sacramento and 

 Yolo county, I visited Mr Adam Warner 

 of Clarksburg, Yolo county, an exten- 

 sive apiarist who keeps bees in both 

 counties. I found Mr. Warner at home. 

 He had just finished taking ofi" about a 



ton of honey, mostly in one-pound 

 sections. The honey was as flue, both 

 in color and flavor, as any I have seen 

 this season. 



■ ■ What kind of a crop did you have 

 this year, Mr. Warner ? " I asked. 



■■Not very large," he answered; 

 ■■ a little over a ton. You see the high 

 water kept things back so much last 

 Spring, that the bees did not have a 

 chance to do much." 



■That is very fine honey," I re- 

 marked. ■' By the look of it I should 

 think that it was gathered from alfalfa." 



'■ No doubt part of it was ; but the 

 honey this year I don't think is as good 

 as that I had last year. I have noticed, 

 though, that the honey, raised the last 

 few years, is a great deal better than 

 that obtained when Mr. Harbison kept 

 bees here." 



■'That is, no doubt, owing to the 

 wild growth being cleared out and 

 replaced with alfalfa, fruit bloom, etc.," 

 I answered. "About how many colo- 

 nies have you, Mr. Warner ? " 



'■I generall}' keep between 25(1 and 

 300 in six difterent apiaries. I give 

 the ranchers $20 a year for the privi- 

 lege of keeping bees on their places. 

 How many colonies do you think can 

 be safely kept in one apiary, taking it 

 season for season ? " 



■•Well, that is hard to tell," I an- 

 swered. "I have heard of keeping 

 between five and six hundred in one 

 apiary, but that is in the lower coun- 

 ties, where there is excellent bee pas- 

 turage, and where bees gather from 

 three to five hundred pounds to the 

 colony. In your location I think you 

 could safely keep 10(1 colonies without 

 overstocking. A great deal depends 

 on the season. Some seasons there is 

 abundant pasturage for. 1000 colonies 

 in one location ; and again 25 will 

 overstock it, in unfavorable seasons. 

 I once kept 130 colonies in one apiary 

 in El Dorado county, and they did first 

 rate." 



■•Yes, I am sure I could profitably 

 keep 100 colonies in one location with- 

 out overstocking ; in fact, I am going 

 to try it next season. In the future, I 

 intend to devote all my time to bee- 

 keeping. I have sold all ray stock and 

 intend to rent my ranch, so that I can 

 spend all my time with the bees." 



" Have you ever tried the Carniolan 

 bees ? " I asked. 



•■No; these I have are hybrids and 

 Italians, aud they are splendid bees 

 for honey gathering. 1 have heard 

 about the Carniolans being very gentle. 

 A bee-keeper told me that thej" did 

 not sting at all." 



•' Oh. yes. they will sting as well as 

 any other kind of bees." but with 

 proper handling you can look through 

 a good-sized apiary without getting 

 stung. Carniolan bees cap their honey 



