1920 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



273 



Unloading the cases of honey 



Scrap linoleum 1.00 



Stand for extractor 2.40 



Paint .75 



$30.18 



The extracting house has a capacitj- 

 of a half ton of honey at one extract- 

 ing without overcrowding its 8x9 ft. 

 floor space. It is cool, even in the 

 hottest weather, and "you can stand 

 in the middle of it and reach every- 

 thing in it," boasts Uncle Bob, who is 

 fond of inviting his friends and ac- 

 quaintances to inspect it. 



One such visitor, a veteran beeman, 

 made no comment. Uncle Bob fol- 

 lowed him to the gate. "Didn't you 

 look at the extracting house?" he 

 anxiously inquired. 



"I didn't see any extracting house," 

 returned the visitor. "I went into a 

 little white parlor and stuck around 

 awhile waiting fer some one to pass 

 the tea an' cakes." 



Uncle Bob was mollified. 



Best of all, when my partner was 

 able once more to report at head- 

 quarters, he pronounced our equip- 

 ment "bully I" 



But I shall never know whether or 

 not he was more pleased at finding 

 an up-to-date extracting house ready 

 for business at a cost of only $30.18, 

 or regretful that he had not shared 

 the fun of Hoovering. 



the family would knock on the hive 

 and tell them about it. 



In some parts of the civilized world 

 today bees "are put into mourning" 

 when a member of the family dies. 

 That is, someone knocks on the hives 

 and tells them of the death, and then 

 drapes each hive with a strip of crepe. 

 If this were not done the supersti- 

 tious believe the bees would fly away. 



Another interesting fact about bees 

 is that so long ago as the days of 

 ancient Egypt the good order exhib- 

 ited by bees in their government of 

 themselves was commemorated by 

 Egyptian kings employing them as 

 symbols of royalty. As such they ap- 

 pear in hieroglyphics that exist today. 

 The same thought made bees the 

 dominant decoration upon the man- 

 tels and flags of French kings, and 

 little bees made of gold were buried 

 in the tombs of some of the French 

 kings. 



Another superstition of old days 

 still found in some sections of Eng- 

 land is that which declares the bee- 

 hives must be turned around when 

 the funeral procession of a member 

 of the owner's family passes them. If 

 the hives aren't turned it is believed 

 the bees will immediately swarm and 

 leave their liives. — Rochester, N. Y. 

 Herald. 



Bees Steal Jam 



A peculiar phenomenon was ob- 

 served in the apiary of Norris S. 

 Dailey, in his orchard at the north 

 part of the village. While he was re- 

 moving honey from the hives he saw 

 that three combs were filled with a 

 pink substance. Upon investigation 

 he found that instead of honey it was 

 raspberry jam, except that the seeds 

 which usually accompany the jam 

 were absent. He says that other api- 

 aries in the village have been af- 

 fected in a similar way to a less ex- 

 tent. 



.\11 the jam in the honey combs 

 comes from a preserving plant, which 

 is over half a mile from Mr. Dailey's 

 home. Swarms of honeybees and 

 hornets have invaded the plant dur- 

 ing the past week, robbing the uncov- 

 ered jam jars of their sweets, often 

 stinging the operators, and on one 

 occasion driving the whole force from 

 the building. — Auburn, N. Y., Adver- 

 tiser-Citizen. 



Bee Sting Serious 



Severely poisoned by the sting of a 

 bee last Thursday, John Hummel, son 

 of Mrs. J. W. Hummel, of Wapato, is 

 reported to be recovering as a result 

 of prompt medical attention. The un- 

 usual severity of the sting is at- 

 tributed to arsenate of lead, supposed 

 to have been absorbed by the insect 

 in deriving nutrition from plants so 

 treated. — Yakima, Wash., Herald. 

 Sting on Tongue 



Stung on the tip of the tongue by 

 a bee, while he was driving his auto- 

 mobile from Pomona to his home in 

 La Verne, H. X. Hanawalt was ren- 



NEWS ITEMS ABOUT BEES 



Serious and ridiculous statements 

 from the daily press : 



Superstitions 



In ancient days it was thought that 

 the bee had "an ear for music" — 

 strange was the reasoning — because 

 even then it was customary for their 

 keepers to make a tremendous clat- 

 ter when they were swarming, to 

 keep them home. 



Even in our own New England, in 

 other years — as well as in various 

 parts of Europe — it was believed that 

 bees would leave the hive on the 

 death of a member of the family un- 

 less they were told about it. So to 

 avoid this loss a maid or a friend of 



'Milking the honey cow" a friend terms the filling of the cans 



