THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 221 



for him, she had just been grubbing dandelions out of the lawn for 

 several hours and was not in a receptive mood to entertain thoughts 

 of the blessedness of dandelions. His bubble burst, and then he hap- 

 pened to think that the wind was spreading the seed faster than he 

 could possibly do it and that it was no use anyway. 



So he went out and sowed a patch of sweet clover and that 

 evening wrote an article on its value to a farm paper. The wind 

 will take care of the spreading of the dandelions, but you get busy 

 with sweet clover ! W. F. 



Uninterpreted Bee Language. 



The lover of bees will not always consider the workers as so 

 many hired servants with shovels, making it their chief business to 

 scoop up shining dollars to fill his pockets. We shall get to know 

 them better, and think of them not only as servants but as fellow 

 laborers. Already some of us have learned a little of their language, 

 the home talk of the hive. 



There is the hum of content when nectar is abundant ; the sighs 

 and mournful quiver of wungs when the queen has been hopelessly 

 lost; the joyful shouts of the great multitudes w^hen the first swarms 

 issue; the hum of submission when subdued by smoke, or a jarring 

 of the hive until the bees are filled ready to vacate their home for a 

 safer place. These we understand readily, but no doubt there are 

 a score, possibly a hundred others, as clear as these and as easily 

 understood when we have ears to hear, eyes to see, and a keen 

 sense of discernment to understand. 



We are learning to magnify the softest wdiispers so as to make 

 them easily heard by listening multitudes. We can now easily 

 believe that the dictagraph may be adjusted to the inner chambers 

 of the most populous bee household and record marvels of language 

 that will unveil many of the mysteries of present day bee-keeping. 

 The moving picture film also may be able to give us a perfect 

 system of a sign language more extensive than our liveliest imagin- 

 ation has yet dreamed. 



This increase of knowledge on our part may tend to a more 

 humane system of handling these delicate winged creatures and 

 lead us to discover methods by which the stings will be unknown; 

 the veil will be discarded and the smoker forever unlit. We have 

 gladly and wisely forgotten the brimstone methods of robbing the 

 bees to serve our guests, but we have by no means reached the 

 ideal method of perfect harmony between the toilers and their task- 

 master, who still murders them without pity when their patriotic 

 zeal leads them to draw the sword and use it, even though the 

 occasion be strictly one of self-defense. — A. F. 



