1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



141 



Of course, I sold him some, and he ordered 

 some more in two or three \veel<s, making :.'4 lbs. 

 so far. When I asked him if he had tried it yet 

 himself he said, " Why, I have eaten more of 

 that honey than I have eaten before in all my 

 life. It is thicker, liner flavored, and agrees 

 with me bett(>r than the old strained honey I 

 tried years ago." 



Some of my customers who keep boarders say 

 it is the cheapest thing they can get for sauce. 

 It needs no preparation, will go farther, and is 

 relished as well as any thing. 



As compared with maple syrup, a person can 

 usually take only a little honey on a spoon, but 

 will take a whole spoonful of maple, it is so 

 much thinner. 



Oberlin, O., Jan. :.'4. 



^ 1 



RAMBLE 102. 



.SURPRISE party; pui.lrd p.kes: how the 



RAMBLER AND MR. MOFFAT CAUGHT THE 

 BEE-THIKVES, ETC. 



The cabin in which the Rambler now resides 

 in happy single blessedness is large enough for 

 me to spread myself in, and have one spare 

 room besides. It takes three good rooms in 

 which to do the spreading. I find fully as much 

 company here as in the little cabin where I had 

 rattlesnakes and sknnks under my bed. The 

 basement of my house is occupied by two cats. 

 The husband cat is, however, absent much of 

 the time. Having, I suppose, set 

 him an example for rambling, he is 

 trying to outdo my best efforts. 

 The wife cat, however, is very con- 

 tented, and placidly eats my pan- 

 cakes if I spread them well with 

 35-cent butter. The attic of my 

 house is also occupied by a family 

 of woodpeckers. They are so much 

 in the habit of pecking around 

 for a living, that, even in the dead 

 of night, their pecking machinery 

 gets to going, and at first it was 

 exceedingly annoying to hear a 

 loud rap, rap, rap, and, upon going 

 to the door, to look out into blank 

 darkness. Knock, knock, knock, 

 again, suggestive of spirits. Won- 

 der whose spirit it is. Then Poe's 

 Raven comes to mind: " Who's that Knocking, 

 knocking at my chamber door?" Then the 

 knock, knock, knock, is repeated, and I locale 

 it in the attic, and among my harmless feather- 

 ed tenants. 



A few evenings after locating in this four- 

 roomed house I was having a fine outlook upon 

 the world through one of our San P'rancisco 

 papers, when another knock, knock, knock, 

 came. This time it sounded so natural that I 

 laid off my specs and went to the door, and 

 there stood the smiling visage of my nearest 

 neighbor. He sort o' unceremoniously brushed 



right by me and entered the house, and then 

 another neighbor did the same, and then anoth- 

 er; then the women began to swarm in, and 

 I retreated to the further corner of my study; 

 but the neighbors kept coming, and then babies 

 inarms. I almost faint(!d, and gasped, "Gra- 

 cious! what next is coming?" Well, it was 

 chairs, tables, and oysters, and then I began to 

 realize that I had been struck by a surprise par- 

 ty. I never liad the least objection to being 

 surprised; but in this case, instead of being 

 gi'adually surpi-ised, the good people all came 

 at once. It was rather overwhelming: didn't 

 know where to put my hands and foc.t. I grad- 

 ually came tu. as the Yankee said, and told the 

 women 1o dump the babies on the bed and I'd 

 go out under a pepper-tree and change my wear- 

 ing apparel. They followed my advice, and the 

 bed was a sight to behold. I got out into the 

 glorious California air, and made for the pep- 

 per-tree with my Sunday go-to-meeting clothes 

 under my arm. The cold stars looked down 

 upon me wiih unpitying rays. 



All of my festive young friends, and especial- 

 ly Mr. and Mrs. Clark, took right hold with 

 both hands, so to speak, for enjoyment; and as 

 these good friends were responsible for the sur- 

 prise, I expected something would soon happen 

 to them, and, sure enough, it was only a few 

 days after that when both were down with la 

 grippe. 



The surprise was brought to a close at a time- 



ly hour, and all the friends happily went to 

 their various homes. The babies, sleeping 

 peacifully on my humble bed. were rolled in 

 blankets and tenderly conveyed away also. 

 When the last one had disappeared I entered 

 my cabin again, and, after a few reflections upon 

 past times in the far East, I was soon enjoying 

 myself in the land of dreams. 



Soon after the occurrences above noted I vis- 

 ited our apiary again to give it a thorough 

 looking-over, for it had been a long time that I 

 had been absent from it. and at such times there 

 are apt to be some colonies that become queen- 



