928 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Dec. 



frames together in a day and a half, and I do not 

 wonder that he begged to be excused. I do not 

 think he could possibly put 30 together in that time, 

 and do it as it should be done, especially at the 

 start. There must have been something wrong, or 

 he would not have broken them to pieces in lifting 

 them off the form. I have never pulled a frame to 

 pieces yet in removing it. Every thing must be just 

 right, then we shall find it a real pleasure to put a 

 few hundred together, especially if the thermome- 

 ter is around zero, and the snow blowing so that it is 

 not safe to go out of the house. A few hundred of 

 these small sections of honey would pay a bee-keep- 

 er, even if he never sold one of them. One given to 

 a friena or stranger will put a happy thought in his 

 mind of you very often; and the little incident will 

 never be forgotten, and it will tally one little stej) 

 toward the happy side of this life. If you like, Mr. 

 Editor, I will write a short article before long, on 

 putting the veneer and foundatiou in place; and I 

 will with pleasure answer any incjuiries, through 

 Gleanings or otherwise. W. Harmek. 



Manistee, Mich. 



Yes, it is quite likely that Rambler did 

 build his hopes too high, in trying to make 

 40,000 sections at first, for he so intimates 

 before he gets through with his article. The 

 essentials you give are important ; but that 

 the sections should be put together properly 

 is difficult of accomplishment. One must 

 have lots of patience, and must be willing to 

 go very slowly. We should be glad to have 

 you, friend Harmer. write such an article as 

 you suggest, describing very minutely your 

 present method of filling the frames. 



BEE-KEEPING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 



A MISSIONAKY S EXPERIENCE IN THE REGION OF 

 NATAL. 



§EVERAL years ago I saw a few copies of 

 Gleanings, and there was such a cheery 

 homelikeness in it all that I wanted to be- 

 come one of you, and contribute a bit from 

 my experience with bees in Natal. But a 

 missionary's life is a busy one, and I have never 

 seemed to find time to write. I have now come 

 home on a furlough; and seeing, a few weeks ago, 

 at Columbus, friend Root's exhibition of bees and 

 honey, I am reminded of my former desire, and 

 now sit down to give the readers of Gleanings a 

 leaf out of my life in Africa. 



I must tell you, my bee-keeping was only a bit of 

 recreation in a busy life, and resulted chiefly as 

 well as firstly in some "experience" that may or 

 may not be of value. 



To begin with, 1 was ignorant enough of all that 

 related to bees. 1 knew there were "workers," 

 " drones," and a " queen," but I could not have dis- 

 tinguished the latter, though I could the two for- 

 mer. Aly wife and I went to live in an old house that 

 seemed to be " bee-haunted." A desperate attempt 

 had been made to get rid of the bees under the 

 floors, with but partial success, for bees were flying 

 about the house, much to my wife's terror. How- 

 ever, they left after a time, and for about two years 

 we were comparatively free of them. Meantime an 

 older missionary, who had formerly lived in the 

 house, excited my desires by stories of the quanti- 

 ties of honey Ije had taj?en from bees under the 



floor— 30 lbs. of strained honey at one time. Anoth- 

 er missionary told me how his son had " boxed " 

 some bees, which, in the course of time, had " waxed 

 fat " and sallied forth upon men and beasts, sting- 

 ing some of the latter so severely that they died. I 

 determined, however, I would have some bees, and 

 soon my opportunity came. It was in the fall of 

 188.3 (it was fall there, but would be spring here). 

 It had been a good season for honey, and I remem- 

 ber the natives brought large quantities to sell. 

 They, of course, had got it by smoking out the wild 

 bees, and robbing them of their honey. In seeking 

 new homes, many swarms came to our house and 

 built their comb under our floor. Here was my 

 chance, and I improved it. After a swarm had 

 been at work some time I took up the floor one 

 night, and, with the help of a native boy, secured 

 the queen. What a time we had! Though I was well 

 muffled in mosquito netting, and had my hands 

 covered with gloves, yet the bees found an opening 

 and crawled on my neck and under my sleeves, 

 and up my trowsers. After a time the bees became 

 quiet, and then we searched for the queen. The 

 natives call it the inkasi, the king; and when I 

 would tell them it was not a king, but an inkasikazi, 

 a queen, they were too polite to contradict, but 

 still smiled incredulously. 



Well, that first box of bees was secured and put 

 under an orange-tree in the garden, but the bees 

 had no notion of staying. They came out, and I 

 put them back. I had clipped the queen's wings. 

 I do not remember how many times I put those 

 bees back in the box, but it was more than a dozen. 

 As soon as it was warm in the morning, out they 

 would come. I put them back, only to find them at 

 dinner time in a cluster on the ground. It seemed 

 to be a trial of perseverance, with the chances on 

 the side of the bees. I Anally left them on the 

 ground, and gave them up. But several days after, 

 finding them still there, I tried again, and this time 

 succeeded, for the bees remained and went to work; 

 but it was well on toward two weeks that I had 

 been working over them. Meantime other swarms 

 had come into the house. During that season they 

 came into five different rooms, and several times 

 the same room was occupied time after time by 

 bees. 



Once bees came into a room, and hung in a clus- 

 ter from the window-frame, and began to make 

 comb there; then, thinking better of it, they went 

 away. 



Once while we were at dinner a large swarm of 

 bees came crawling under the door; and through a 

 crack, down under the floor, they went. Just 34 

 hours afterward I took them up and they had made 

 a large pail full of comb, much of it containing 

 honey. As the result of the six or eight swarms of 

 bees that I had " bo.xed," three remained to me and 

 prospered. I had two rough hives, made with mov- 

 able frames after a model given in the " Encyclope- 

 dia Britannica." As the bees fixed the frames 

 pretty solid, the term " movable " was a misnomer. 



This is Chapter I. in my experience. Whether 

 any more is written will depend on friend Root's 

 wishes and my time. H. D. Goouenudgh. 



Clifton Springs, N. Y., Nov. i;i, 1888. 



We are very glad to make your acquain- 

 tance, friend G.; in fact, we are always glad 

 to hear from missionaries. We should be 

 pleased to have Chap. II. of your experience. 



