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iu passing, stoppt'd witli the remark, 

 ' • Say, Dad, v,\\en are j'ou going to Kan- 

 sas ?" I informi'd him that I never in- 

 tended to emigrate to Kansas. " O,"' 

 he said, " I thought that was your ad- 

 vertisement on page 320 of tlie ABC 

 booli." I stood their jeers, Micawber- 

 like, and waited for something to turn 

 up. It tinally turned up one day in 

 the toj) branches of a sturdy oak-tree, 

 fifty feet from the ground, iu the shape 

 of two swarms of bees. 



In my palmiest days I never was 

 considered an expert climber, and how 

 much less now that youth has long 

 lingered on the sunny side of the hill 

 of life! I had all the modern appli- 

 ances for catching bees from the 

 ground, but alas! my puny arm was 

 too short with all my ti.xtures to gather 

 in the benighted bees that were so lost 

 to reason as to settle on the topmost 

 branch of the tallest oak in the yard. 



I stood around, taking it cool, as 

 bee-men advise, and secretlj' hoped 

 that my wife would volunteer to go up 

 and fetch them, but these hopes were 

 soon dashed to pieces, bj' her suggest- 

 ing that if I proposed saving those bees, 

 I had better move up the tree. What- 

 ever she thinks, I invariably think, too, 

 or at least try to. 



I placed the ladder against the tree. 

 It looked awfully short, and then, not 

 having had any experience. I did not 

 know which of my kit to take ; so, to 

 ease up my mind, and save coming 

 back, I took them all — hiving-box. pole, 

 sack, saw and rope. I succeeded very 

 well until I reached the top of the lad- 

 der, and there my troubles began. 



By hard scratching I gained a few 

 feet, but my wind was getting short, 

 so that I hung the box on a friendly 

 knot, and i)roceded a few feet farther, 

 where I left the pole dangling from a 

 small limb ; next the rope and then 

 the saw were tiled away for future use. 

 When I reached the top, or as near 

 it as I could get, 1 had only the sack, 

 and the bees were still far out of my 

 reach. While thinking what to do 

 ne.xt, I glanced earthward, to see if I 

 was still in sight, and right beneath 

 me stood my wife, with her hands on 

 her hips, her hat tipped back, and a 

 broad smile illuminating her usualh' 

 stern countenance. 



I remarked, '• Why this seeming 

 levity on so grave an occasion ?" She 

 replied, between peals of laughter, that 

 '■ it seemed so funny to have a Christ- 

 mas tree in June, and the funniest part 

 of it was, to have a red-whiskered 

 Santa Claus up in the tree-top. holding 

 the sack, while in the pictures he al- 

 ways had white wiiiskers." One glance 

 down the body of tlie tree convinced 

 me that all that was lacking was a tin- 

 horn and a few sleigh-bells. 



I returned and brought forward my 

 supplies. After locating myself after 

 clothes-pin fashion, on a limb beneath 

 the cluster, 1 snapped the pole to the 

 box, and then laid for my first swarm 

 of bees. I passed the box n\> till it al- 

 most touched the cluster, and then tired 

 away. 



It was a deep laid scheme, but poor- 

 ly executed. A limb caught the side 

 of the bo.x, and I spilt the cluster, get- 

 ting one half in the box, and the rest 

 on my devoted head. 



In my rambles up and down the tree 

 I had torn a hole in my veil, which 

 came directly over one eye ; before I 

 got into i)osition to defend mj'self, 

 about two quarts of bees had gone in 

 and registered. I began to get hot, 

 both in mind andbodj", but I succeeded 

 in landing them on the earth, and 

 emptying them in front of a hive ; and 

 uj) the tree again after the others. 



When I arrived at the top, I found 

 two swarms instead of one. I soon 

 had one of them down in front of the 

 hive, and back after the remaining 

 swarm. ,When I again reached the top. 

 instead of one. I found two .swarms 

 hanging as quietlj' as if they had hung 

 for years. I gathered in one and car- 

 ried it down and filled another hive. 

 While toiling up the tree after the last 

 one, puffing like an engine, I decided 

 that if the rush continued, I would or- 

 der a car-load of hives, and employ the 

 village hook-and-ladder company for 

 a few weeks to help me out. 



I got the last one down all right, and 

 then while all was quiet, I went to ex- 

 amine No. 1, to see if they had settled 

 down to business yet. I lifted the cov- 

 er gently, and peeked in. There was 

 not a solitary bee there to defend the 

 castle! Nos. 2 and 3 were the same. 

 A streak of light began to dawn upon 

 my benighted mind — those bees, as the 

 boys would say. " had been monkeying 

 with me," while I had toiled up the 

 body of the tree, they went straight 

 across and were waiting to be carried 

 down. 



To say that I was mad, would be put- 

 ting it rather mild. I had labored 

 fully two hours in the heat of the day, 

 and had one eye fast closing on the 

 beauties of earth, my clothes dilapi- 

 dated, the bark worn from the oak. 

 ditto my side that came between me 

 and the tree. I never allow myself to 

 use profane language, nor approve 

 of its use on all occasions, but 

 had a " street Arab " happened along, 

 that could have done the case justice, 

 he would have struck a paying job. 



My wife intimates that it is not nec- 

 essary for me to hire anyone to do my 

 talking for me. even if I do not swear. 

 I may possibly have spoken disrespect- 

 fully of their parents, and think I did 

 intimate that I should be highly pleased 



to have the lightning remove all future 

 swarms that ha\c such high notions. 



Some ladies may think it fun for an 

 old fellow to hive bees, when he has to 

 climb rough-bark trees until he gets 

 stuck full of knot-holes, and does not 

 have rind enough left on his carcass to 

 make a cover for a base-ball ; but /do 

 not think so. 



My burdens are so heavy that I fear 

 I shall have to join the Bee-keepers' 

 Union, get a divorce, or swear oS on 

 keeping bees. 



P. S. — I would tell what become of 

 the swarm that I did save, only I am 

 afraid that I would be laughed at. 



Spring Green, Wis. 



HOUSE-KEEPING. 



Some Old Cook-Books— Honey 

 Used in Cooking. 



Written for the Illustrated Home Journal 

 BY LUCY LANGDON. 



Among the cook-books in my posses- 

 sion is one dated 1836, another 1839, 

 another 1840, and still another 1845. 

 The last is entitled, " Every Ladj's 

 Book," and is arranged " Bj' a Lady 

 of New York.^' The title page de- 

 clares it to be, " An instructor in the 

 art of making every variety of plain 

 and fancy cakes, pastry, confectionery, 

 blanc mange, jellies and ice-creams ; 

 and containing other useful informa- 

 tion for ordinary holiday occasions," 



The most noticeable feature in this 

 book is the frequency with which wine, 

 brandy and punch occur in the direc- 

 tions. In this particular, surely the 

 world moves. Also, the recipes make 

 quite expensive " dishes." 



Far moi'e economical is "The Good 

 House-keeper," dated Boston, 1840; 

 which claims to be, "The Way to Live 

 Well, and be Well while we Live," by- 

 Mrs. Sarah J.Hale, author of "The 

 Ladies Wreath." "Traits of American 

 Life," and "Northwood." 



Of this cook-book there were two 

 edtions, the second containing extracts 

 from a cook-book prepared by Sir 

 Walter Scott, under the noni dc plume 

 of "Mrs. Margaret Dods," and an 

 amusing account of the exiieriments of 

 the " Cleikum Club." Sir Walter ex- 

 tols French cooking, and calls upon 

 the INIuse to 



Sing the man who to Paris did go. 

 That he might taste their soup, and their sanoes 

 Isnow. 



In the first-mentioned book, I find 

 the following recipes : 



" To preserve bees from worms and 

 insects : About May 1 i-aise the hives 

 and sprinkle some tine salt under the 

 edges." 



"To separate wax from the comb : 

 Tie the comb in a bag, and place it in 



