MY FARM OF EDGEWOOD 



of lilacs, not far from one of the side doors 

 of the farm-house. , These the outgoing oc- 

 cupant was indisposed to sell; it was "un- 

 lucky," he said, to give up ownership of an 

 old-established colony. The idea was new to 

 me, and I was doubly anxious to buy, that I 

 might give his whimsey a fair test. So I 

 overruled his scruples at length, moved the 

 bees only a distance of a few yards, gave 

 them a warm shelter of thatch, and strange 

 to say, they all died within a year. 



I restocked the thatched house several times 

 afterward ; and there was plenty of marjoram 

 and sweet clover to delight them; whether it 

 was that the misfortunes of the first colony 

 haunted the place, I know not, but they did 

 not thrive. Sometimes, I was told, it was 

 the moth that found its way into their hives; 

 sometimes it was an invasion of piratical ants ; 

 and every summer I observed that a few gal- 

 lant king birds take up their station near by, 

 and pounce upon the flying scouts, as they go 

 back with their golden booty. 



I have not the heart to shoot the king birds ; 

 nor do I enter very actively into the battle 

 of the bees against the moths, or the ants; 

 least of all, do I interfere in the wars of the 

 bees among themselves, which I have found, 



S6 



