1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



771 



THE FIRM OF JANE MEEK&BROTHER. 



A Serial Story in Ten Chapters. 



BV REV. W. D. RALSTON. 



CHAPTER X. 



EXCELSIOR. 



TN recording the events ol' tlic summer it was 

 ||f said that one swarm had gone to the woods. 

 ^r It was not one of the first swarms, still it was 

 -*• a fine large swarm. It came off, was liived as 

 the others had been, and all appeared to be 

 going nicely; but the next morning the children 

 were surprised to see the swarm come out. They 

 called 1 heir father from his study, but he reached 

 the yard merely in time to say good-by to the 

 departing swarm as it started for the woods. 

 Tommy ran beneath It for half a mile or so; but 

 when it got fnirly under way it left him. Mr. Meek 

 stood at the front gate and watched Tommy as he 

 ran. He thus formed a pretty correct idea of the 

 direction the bees had taken. Almost one and 

 a half miles distant, in that direction, a neighbor 

 was building a new barn. The men were now at 

 work upon its roof. Mr. Meek saw that, if the bees 

 continued on in the course they had taken, they 

 would pass directly over that barn. He and 

 Tommy drove over to the barn and inquired of the 

 workmen, who told them it did pass directly over 

 the barn. 



They then concluded to examine a piece of 

 woods that lay in its course only a little further on. 

 They were going through the woods in the line 

 tiie bees were on, examining every tree, when they 

 found them in the hollow of an old snag of a tree, 

 not very far from the ground. They spoke to the 

 owner of the woods, who said they were welcome to 

 cut it. They returned home, and, after dinner, 

 took the ax and a new hive, and proceeded to the 

 woods. The farmer who owned the timber came to 

 their help, ax in hand. Soon the tree was cut, and 

 the bees successfully hived again. They expected 

 to let them remain until dark, when all that were 

 out would have returned and found the hive, when 

 they intended to return and move them to their 

 apiary. The owner of the farm ottered Tommy 

 four dollars for it if it remained in the hive; but 

 if it should go away, he would give up the hive 

 and pay nothing. Tommy accepted his offer, and 

 Mr. Meek directed the farmer how to remove the 

 hive to his house, which was not far distant. He 

 also gave him advice in regard to caring for them. 



As the honey season was now ended, the firm 

 looked around for a market in which to sell their 

 prop. Mr. Shaw, the grocer who purchased last 

 year's crop, was ready to take all the comb honey 

 at the price paid last year, fifteen cents a pound. 

 Extracted honey was something new to him, and 

 he did not know what success he would have sell- 

 ing it. He gave the children two dozen glass jars, 

 holding three pounds each, telling them to fill these 

 and he would try what success he could have sell- 

 ing them. He paid them ten cents a jiound for 

 >vhat he received. 



One day Jane and Tommy took a quantity of 

 extracted honey in their father's buggy, and drove 

 around among their friends and neighbors, offering 

 it for sale. They succeeded so well that they 

 ■went out for several day§. As they were intro- 

 ducing a new article they offered it ihoap, tisking 



only ten cents a pound for it. In a little time they 

 had sold all their exti-actod, except fifty pounds, 

 reserved for home use. They also reserved forty 

 pounds of comb honey. The rest was sold to Mr. 

 Shaw. Their Ixwiks were then posted, and showed 

 as follow^: 

 Bought for the apiary: 



10 hives in the flat, 85 cents each $8.50 



1000 sections. . . .* .5.50 



U lbs. of found.>tion 6 00 



Paint, oil, and luiils 2 00 



Freight 1.25 



Honey-e.\ tractor and knife 3.00 



*2«.25 

 Cash on hand f rouj the sales of last year 29.40 



Taking from this the expenses noted above, there 

 was left f;i.l5 in the hands of the firm. Their casli 

 account for this year shows as follows: 



One colony sold .$4.08 



450 lbs. of extracted sold 45.00 



510 lbs. of comb honey sold 70.50 



Beeswax sold 1J>0 



$127.00 



Add to this the f;i.l5 in the hands of the firm, we 

 see that, at the close of the year, the firm had 

 fl39.15, and 13 colonies of bees. 



On looking over the supplies on hand it was felt 

 that $30 15 would provide all needed supplies for 

 the coming year, and that the firm might with- 

 draw the $100 and apply it to something else. The 

 great question now witli the firm was. What shall 

 we do with this money'? Sometimes it was pro- 

 posed to loan it, or to place it in the bank; other 

 times they were thinking of investing it in a pony; 

 at other times they thought they would buy an 

 organ with it; but at length, by the counsel of 

 their father and mother, they madg a very good 

 and sure investment of it. 



The congregation Mr. Meek served esteemed 

 him very highly, and contributed liberally toward 

 his support; but they were few in numbers and 

 limited in means, and therefore the salary paid 

 him was no more than sufficient for his support. 

 As his children grew up he felt that soon tliey 

 must go from home to school, or else be satisfied 

 with the education obtained in the common-school. 

 Having received a thorough education himself, 

 he was anxious that they should enjoy as good 

 opportunities as he had. But he failed to «ec 

 from whence the money would come to pay board 

 and tuition when they should leave home. 



Alter they engaged in keeping bees, and their 

 efforts seemed likely to prove successful, both he 

 and his wife had hopes that the money soon to be 

 needed might come from this source: so when the 

 firm had $100 to spend, the parents proposed that it 

 be spent in sending .lane to the school in the neigh- 

 boring town. Tommy readily agreed to this; and 

 as the school had opened, no time was to be lost. 

 That very afternoon the whole family drove to 

 town and came back without Jane, who immediate- 

 ly entered upon her duties as a pupil in the schoql. 

 She had diligently improved her advantages in 

 the public school, and at home; and after being 

 examined by the teachers in town she was placed 

 in a class which would finish the course of study 

 prescribed in that school in two years. A board- 

 ing-place was found for her in the family of a 

 friend; and as she remained only from Monday 

 morning until Friday night, said friend charged 

 but $1.50 a wc<>k. The bill for tuition was $0.00 a 

 term, so it seemed probable that tljc money earned 



