292 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



October 



cells, so that all entrances by which 

 the bees may go direct from the field 

 into surplus arrangement are super- 

 fluous, even although many think 

 otherwise. By thus knowing the age 

 of the bees and the time it takes 

 from the laying of the egg to the 

 time the bee goes into the field as a 

 laborer; then applying the whole to 

 our location, so as to have the great- 

 est amount of laborers at the time of 

 the honey harvest, we become masters 

 of the situation. 

 Borodino, N. Y. 



Bees and Fire. 



BY SKYLARK. 



There is one peculiarity in bees that 

 I never saw mentioned in books or 

 papers. I am the first, sole, and origi- 

 nal inventor of it and claim preced- 

 ence over all others. 



About ten years ago a neighbor's 

 horses got into the apiary and upset 

 two hives. After securing the horses 

 I went back to '" fix " up the hives. 

 Both of them were lying on their 

 sides, with the lids or covers near by. 

 The first thing I did was to smoke 

 both hives thoroughly. This was no 

 funny job^ as the bees were enraged 

 to madness, and blamed the whole 

 calamity on me ! In vain I protested 

 my innocence again and again. I tell 

 you when a bee gets a sharp pointed 

 idea into his head — especially a fight- 

 ing idea — it sticks there and no 

 amount of argument will do any good. 

 The fact is I don't believe a bee, es- 

 pecially the worker, has any reason at 

 all. No ! No more than a mule. 



Well, I placed the smoker (a Clark) 

 on the next hive and went to work to 

 " fix up " the fallen ones. It was in 

 September and the grass was "high 

 and dry " through the apiary, for 

 there was no honey that year, and it 

 was not trodden down as it is in good 

 years. 



All at once I heard a crackling noise 

 behind me, and looking round me 1 

 discovered a blazing patch as big as 

 your breakfast table — if you have any. 



I at once rushed to the bushes to get 

 boughs to fight the fire, but before I 

 got back it was entirely beyond my 

 control. In my flight I had lost my 

 hat, but would not stop to pick it up. 

 Thus in my shirt sleeves and bare 

 headed J fought the fire for two long 

 hours, confining my efforts to saving 

 the hives. 



The fire first swept northwards and 

 burned out the lower part of the 

 apiary, but the wind changing it 

 swept back through the upper part 

 and thus the whole apiary was ablaze. 

 During the last hour I was assisted by 

 a neighbor's boy. During all this 

 time not a bee offered to sting — not 

 one that I could discover left the 

 hives. Those that were out hurried 

 home — for the hills were on fire on 

 three sides of us — and amidst the 

 blazing grass and dense volumes of 

 smoke entered their homes. 1 lost six 

 colonies and had" some fifteen hives 

 more or less injured. Two of these 

 last had the entire back end burned 

 out of them, but the bees were safe ! 

 One would think that terror stricken 

 in their blazing homes they would 

 rush I'orth and sting to death even a 

 cast iron hay stack. But no ! there 

 they stuck all those terrible two hours! 

 Only a few guards appeared on the 

 aliglatiug boards, and stood — aye 

 nobly stood at their posts of duty — 

 until they were literally l)urned into a 

 crisp. Verily, "they died with their 

 boots on." 



That taught me a lesson. Every 

 year since that I have burned out my 

 apiary at night, when there is no 

 wind, and before the grass gets too 

 dry, burning up pretty close to the 

 hives. Not a bee has ever taken wing 

 or attempted to sting. The hives are 

 eight feet apart in the row, with a 

 twelve foot street between them. 

 Sometimes we have had a blazing fire 

 fifty feet long in these streets, but 

 have never been molested. Never 

 wear veils at such times. Has any 

 one ever had the same experience, or 

 is this trait peculiar to my unrivaled 

 bees ? 



