THB MMERICJSN BEE J&JjmumiL. 



327 





though he was of some use in the 

 world, after all. 



"It's queer that some folks go 

 through this vale of tears with their 

 eyes shut. As I was goiu' aloug tlie 

 road this moriiin', farmer So-and-So 

 hailed me, and wanted to know when 

 was the best time to cut out iiueen- 

 cells to keep tlie pesky bees from 

 swarmin'. 1 thought he was trying to 

 git some joke on me, and I told him 

 the best time was when he found the 

 bees buildin' cells. But soon I found 

 out that he was iu dead earnest. 



"He thought the bees built the 

 queen-oells in the spring, when they 

 hadn't anything else to do. That was 

 about the first of May, when the bees 

 in these parts thought about as much 

 of swarmin' as ray two-year-old grand- 

 daughter does of gettin' married. Now, 

 you know this man has about fifty 

 hives of bees, and folks think what he 

 don't know about 'em aint worth 

 Inrnin'. But he don't take any bee- 

 paper, and he hasn't any bee-book, and 

 he lives too fur from you to borrow, 

 the way I have done. Some of his 

 hives are half full of drone-comb. He 

 never uses a smoker, and I reckon he 

 don't see the inside of many hives but 

 empty ones. But he is gettin' more 

 enterprizin'. He wanted to stop 

 swarmin'. And he thought if he could 

 git me to go through anil cut out the 

 queeu-cells before corn-plantin', it 

 would be a wonderful savin' of labor. 



"I told him that instead of bees 

 being the wisest critters, they were the 

 most cranky, hand-to-mouth animals I 

 ever see. They never do nothin' be- 

 cause there's any reason for it, but be- 

 cause they don't know any better. 

 They build queen-cells one day, and 

 may be tear them down the next. 

 Thej' raise and feed a million drones 

 when perhaps they don't need any. 

 They stick their hives from top to bot- 

 tom with bee-glue, when you have 

 wintered them iu the cellar for fifty 

 years. They will nurse a worker-bee 

 that lays drone-eggs, and kill the 

 queen you try to give 'em. 



" They will sting the hand that feeds 

 'em, just as quick as they will the fel- 

 low that robs 'em. They will leave 

 the best hive on the farm to take up 

 with some little hollow tree in the 

 woods, where they are sure to freeze 

 to death before spring. They are just 

 as likely to swarm a few days before 

 frost, if buckwheat gives an}- honej', 

 as they are in basswood time. They 

 are like some young folks that get 

 love-struck, they will set up house- 

 keepin' without any meal in the bar- 

 rel, and a hard winter comin' on. 



"After I had delivered myself after 

 this fashion, all Mr. So-and-So said 

 was, ' Well, I swan !' " 

 Forest City, Iowa. 



»$cii'\°I':ii>i:k'n .vi.ui:vos. 



Trrftfen for the A}iicrleanBee Journal 



UV M. H. CILLISON, M. D. 



Mine vifo she \'oinl. iloi inler day, 



Ity lU'iyrlilnn' Srlinridcr's house 

 Tci' sec liocs lici's, Miiil iimv she say 



Mine bees are nix ccioms ouso. 



Slio (toll me Sfhiieifid-'s; Itees are vite 



Unil >-allcr— lilic clertiuld ; 

 D1k'>' vill no<t sluing;'. i!r»r dry ter flte 



\'iicn by dor vin>i-s <lci- hoid. 



Hces hivos— can loclt der dop ride off. 



Dose liees dhey coino nod oud. 

 Dlicy maljcs dor comljs \vei(fh yust er bound, 



Uud minds vhat der aboud. 



Und, Hans, dot Schneider vas er vltch ! 



I can nod iindcrslitiuni — 

 Hecs vife slie said, fur Kure 'tis drue. 



He shwarms dose bees by hand ! 



Und boolts— hee's more as I can dell ; 



He shtrin^ 'em on der shelf, 

 Und say no mans can do so veil 



What reads 'cm nod lieesself. 



Und babers.— dhrce er veek, I vow ! 



Reads Just aboud der bees. 

 He say dod bees-ness is bud now 



Sure in ids A B C's. 



Und seex, — ois-ht dousund bounds he sell 

 Vrom seexdy shtaiids— Shpriug cound. 



Made liy dose vite and yaller bees 

 Vhat fly vor miles around. 



Und hee's er liinil or dwist machine 



Vhat juTiiiis dod houcy kwick 

 Rideouil di'i- ciMiilis ! Mine hed grot sohwim 



Bod lioney l)nmu'e so shlick. 



Now, all dose dhings,— und more as dot, 



Mine vite just dalk er shtring— 

 Aboud dose bees vhat Schneider's got, 



Dod vorks more as dhey shting. 



I say, "Katrina. hold dod moudt ; 



I dakes nod vor der cute 

 Vhat cranky bee-mans >ay aboudt 



Dhere bees more as der trute. 



" Do'nd 1 kept bees nitrii vordy year ! 



Vhile Schneider le^^ as dhree I 

 Mine vodiler kci^p ln'i-s all hees life ! 



Knows Sehneidei- more as me ? 



" Und dose book-larnin— vhat ish dot ! 



Yust voolinjf dime avay ; 

 Vhile I der hives rub mid der leaves 



Vhat made der shwarms to shtay. 



" Und all dosi' mans doil babers rides 

 Vhat comes dhree ilimcs er veek. 



Sure hades ilod hook,— und vools vhat bides 

 Makes fat dod pees man's cheek. 



" Uud as ter shwarmiu' bees by hand— 



I laft mine sides ter crack. 

 He make dose vite und yaller bees 



Mid bowder on der back." 



Und dod high-fansle dwist machine— 



A sausage g-rinder shlick ! 

 I vondor how dod Schneider vool 



Katrine ou dod so kwick. 



I prind mine honey vonce mid dod, 



Und s(iueeze der vax like vice ! 

 (I noil led Kitty founil dod oud. 



She keeps no seered nice). 



Und vor dod bee as vill nod shting 

 Dhere's vnn. doo dhings, or dhree ; 



He vas er dhrone. he vas er king. 

 Or else no good vas he. 



Und vor dose hive der dops come off, 

 I nail mine on ter shiay. 



Und vor dose combs vhat weighs er bound- 

 Shades ov Munchausen's day ! 



Und seex,— eiiflit dousand bounds ter sell 



Vnn year ov seexdy slilands ! 

 Der voi-id nod i-ad so much. Vor sure 



He weigh dod mid hees hands. 



Bud more as all I laft ad vhat 



Katrina sez ter me — 

 Dod none vas ever half so blind 



As him vhat don't can sec ! 

 Adel, Iowa. 



BEE-STINGS. 



Treating; the Wounds — Becx and 

 Bloom, etc. 



Written for the American BeeJowmal 



BY REV. J. 1). GEHRING. 



My apiary east the first swarm of 

 the season on April 28. It was a large 

 one, and very cross — owing, I think, 

 to scarcity of honey. 



The best precaution against bee- 

 stings is, I think, cool and deliberate 

 movements, a veil to protect the face, 

 much patience, and pluck enougli to 

 "grin and bear" what stings cannot 

 be avoided. I am often much amused 

 when I hear and read of the various 

 remedies and cures for bee-stings ; for 

 all of them, to say the veiy least, are 

 very unhandy for a busy man. The 

 idea of my running to the house, leav- 

 ing an open hive behind me, to get an 

 application of soda water or some such 

 thing ! Who, when he is in the midst 

 of an interesting job, which requires 

 both hands, both eyes, and all the at- 

 tention of the mind, can stop to doctor 

 a bee-sting ? 



The nearest to a success for stings 

 that I have yet tried, is tincture of 

 Ledum i)ahtslre. I used to carry a lit- 

 tle vial of it in my vest-pocket, and 

 apply a few drops to a bad sting ; but 

 I soon found even that too unhandy. 

 As a remedy for the pain, it is pretty 

 nearly a success. 



For a very bad case of stinging, 

 such as I had two years ago when a 

 swarm of Italians got after me when I 

 tried to hive them, and stung me on 

 the neck, throat and head, I used the 

 homoeopathic antidote— " Apis Mel No. 

 3," internally, in drop doses in water ; 

 four or five doses, from one to two 

 hours apart. I think this remedy, used 

 intelligently and promptly, will always 

 prevent serious results ; and even death 

 in the worst cases. 



The Irishman said: "A man can 

 get used to 'most everything that be- 

 falls him, if it lasts long enough— and 

 that's the reason one can never get 

 used to hangin'." With a bee-keeper, 

 " stino-in' " lasts long enough so that, 

 in course of time, he gets used to it. 

 It is so in my ca.se. Bee-stings cause 

 me very little pain, and generally no 

 inconveiiienee, except when I allow 

 them to "jag" me in or near the eye. 

 I need my eyesight as much as my 

 wits, in the apiary ; and hence I be- 

 lieve in being " green " enough to wear 

 a veil when circumstances require 



one. 



I have never had so many drones m 

 my apiary as tliis spring. I thought I 

 had control of tliat part of the business 

 by having exelmled drone comb, and 

 by cutting oft" the heads of unhatched 



