1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUilE. 



351 



THE FIRM OF JANE MEEK & BROTHER. 



A Serial Story in Ten Chapters. 



BY REV. W. D. RAI^STON. 



CHAPTER V. 



SPRING WORK. 



omon 

 gone; 



T length the snow melted away from around 

 the parsonage, and every thing- indicated the 

 approach of spring-. Mr. Meek, as he con- 

 ducted family worship one morning, read 

 from the second chapter of the Song of Sol- 

 "Lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and 

 the flowei'S appear on the earth; the time of 

 the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the 

 turtle is heard in our land; the flg-tree putteth 

 forth her green figs, and the vines with the tender 

 g-rapes give a good smell." He remarked, "Surely 

 these words describe the pleasant spring-time. 

 How grateful we should be that this pleasant, hap- 

 py season is now at hand I " 



After they had arisen from kneeling in praj-er 

 around the family altar, Tommy said, "If spring is 

 at hand, our bees ought to be out to enjoy it." 



His father replied, " We will set them out to-day, 

 providing it proves as fine a day as it now prom- 

 ises." The day was fully as fine as could have been 

 expected, and at ten o'clock Mr. Meek went to the 

 cellar, lifted the nail-keg hive, and, gently carrying 

 it into the yard, placed it where it had stood in the 

 fall. After being so long imprisoned in darkness, 

 the bees enjoyed their flight very much, and filled 

 the air as though swarming. 



Mr. Meek judged from the weight of the hive 

 that more feeding would be necessary. The chil- 

 dren again put their spare cash together and bought 

 fifty cents' worth of sugar, which was made into a 

 syrup, and fed in the same manner as in the fall, 

 only more sparingly, with a view to stimulate 

 brood-rearing. The bees were safely through the 

 winter, and preparation might now be made for the 

 summer's work. 



One day the children accompanied their father to 

 town, and went Avith him to the shop of Mr. Woods, 

 the man who made bee-hives. He showed them 

 samples of the different hives made by him. They 

 were all well made, and nicely painted. Reading 

 Mr. Langstroth's book led the the children to select 

 the Langstroth hive. These he sold at two dollars 

 each, if sold singly; but he said if they would take 

 five they could have them for eight dollars. Their 

 father advised them to purchase five, saying, if not 

 all needed that year they would be needed some 

 other year. With each hive he was to furnish a 

 rack for holding section boxes. 



After their return home their father directed 

 them to clean out a small out-building, and use it 

 as a storeroom for bee-fixtures, except things likely 

 to be injured by rats or mice; such he advised 

 them to place in the family storeroom where they 

 would be safe. The children felt very proud of the 

 nice new hives. 



While all were absent at town that day, except 

 Mrs. Meek, a man who made a business of cutting 

 stencils for marking names on grain-sacks and the 

 like, called at the parsonage to see if they wanted 

 any thing of that kind. Mrs. Meek ordered from 

 him a stencil for marking bee-hives, Ihat would 

 mark the name of the firm, " Jane Meek & Brother," 



in large letters; also a brush and bottle of marking- 

 paint. When these were delivered, a few days 

 afterward, and presented by her to the firm. Master 

 Tommy indulged in quite a dance on one foot 

 clapping his hands, and crying out, " Good! good!" 



Ho and Jane soon had the name of the firm 

 marked on the front of each cap. If Tommy had 

 been permitted to have his way, it would have been 

 marked all over the hives. The white hives, nicely 

 painted with the name of the firm on the front of 

 the caps in large black letters, looked finely. Mr. 

 Meek had procured a price list of supplies kept by a 

 dealer in a neighboring town, which he and the 

 children had been looking over, and considering 

 what Ihey should order. At length the following 

 order was made out and sent to the dealer: 500 sec- 

 tions, 5'.i inches by6'.i; one smoker; 50 tin sepa- 

 rators to suit sections; 8 pounds of thin combfound- 

 ation, cut to fit sections. 



All these arrived in due time, and were placed in 

 the out-building, except the foundation, which was 

 carefully laid away in the family storeroom. The 

 neat sections, being all in one piece, with grooves 

 for the corners, and the ends nicely dovetailed, 

 were a marvel to the children, who immediately 

 set to work to put them together. There were sec- 

 tions advertised of various sizes; but their reason 

 for ordering that size was because the racks that 

 came with the hives were made to fit that size. 



In the spring they talked of having the bees 

 transferred from the nail-keg into one of the new 

 hives; but as Mr. Meek had never seen that work 

 done, he advised them to let them alone, at least 

 until after the swarming season. No honey-bo.x 

 was placed on the nail-keg, lest it might tend to de- 

 lay the swarm. The whole family, but especially 

 Jane and Tommy, were anxiously looking for the 

 swarm to come olf. 



One day both Jane and Tommy rushed into their 

 father's study, and hurried him away to look at 

 the large bees Hying around the hive. He pro- 

 nounced them drones, and caught one or two for 

 the children to examine, and see that they had no 

 stings. He said it indicated that the bees were 

 thinking of swarming. The children therefore 

 watched the hive more closely. 



One day the children were at work in the garden, 

 when Tommy started to the house for the spade. 

 He had to pass near the hive, and Jane was sur- 

 prised to see him stop a moment and then begin a 

 dance upon one foot, clapping- his hands, and cry- 

 ing, "Good! good!" She called to him to know 

 what was the matter, when he shouted at the top of 

 his voice, "The bees are swarming! the bees are 

 swarming! " 



She soon stood by his side, and, sure enough, the 

 bees were pouring out of the old keg in a perfect 

 stream. As Tommy expressed it, they were tum- 

 bling out, heels over head. Jane thought of the new 

 hives, and said, as she started for the out-house, 

 "A hive! a hive! " and before their father or moth- 

 er reached the j'ard they were back with the hive. 



The children had never seen bees swarming be- 

 fore, and became greatly excited as they gazed up- 

 on the thousands of bees circling through the air. 

 When they began to cluster on the low limb of an 

 evergreen. Tommy seemed to lose all the sense he 

 ever possessed; he danced first on one foot, then on 

 the other, clapped his hands and threw his hat high 

 into the air. ]FIe evidently hardly knew whether ho 

 was on fopt or on horgeback. 



