3t)0 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Mar. 1.1. 



caught in a hive, tlie entrance to which they 

 have long been accustomed, we were interested 

 at once. It is not wise to be certain of any thing 

 we have never tried; but we believe this is a 

 little ahead of. and cheaper than, all the others. 

 Of all otiier automatic swarmers, the bees are 

 obliged to go with the queen to a strange en- 

 trance and a strange hive, and it is owing to 

 this, fact that so few bees rcDKiln in the new 

 lodgings pi'ovided for them. J 



A BEE-KEEPER IN BAD LUCK. 



A LAUGHABLE INCIDENT. 



A German bee- journal, BUvtter fur Blenen- 

 zucJit, has the following story which has been 

 translated into the Fi'ench Reviie, and is good 

 enough, I think, to have an English setting. 



0. C. MiLLEK. 



At the apicultural exposition at "B., Antony 

 Bumke became the happy possessor of an Ital- 

 ian queen. How he admired it with its eyes of 

 gold and its abdomen of yellow and black rings! 

 In order to take it to his hive, he made a box 

 like a Swedish match-box, only, instead of a 

 wooden cover, he used a cover of paper pierced 

 full of little holes. With the queen he impris- 

 oned four workers. "She'll not be so lonesome," 

 said this sensible young man. 



What tine things he promised himself with 

 the progeny of this queen, and with what joy 

 he felt the little box in his trousers pocket! 

 But he must, before taking the train for home, 

 send a telegram to his betrothed and his future 

 mother-in-law. whom he expects to greet for a 

 few moments, as the train passes the second 

 station. Time presses, the train is about to 

 start. The engine whistles. Antony makes 

 rapid strides across the platform, and jumps 

 into the tirst coach he comes to, the coaches 

 being still of the ancient pattern that contain 

 only a few passengers, these few being locked 

 in by the guard, like so many prisoners. In liis 

 headlong liaste he scumbles over the extended 

 legs of an old gentleman, and his head strikes 

 forcibly against the sharp knees of a precise- 

 looking spinster, whose fright is expressed by 

 loud cries. With a thousand apologies he suc- 

 ceeds in seating himself, when he overhears 

 the hardly suppressed remai'k, " The fellow is 

 drunk," a remark which only deepens the 

 blushes of the bashful young man. 



He seeks, by his tranquility and upright bear- 

 ing, to efface this unjust opinion, but. unfor- 

 tunately, he feels a strong tickling on his right 

 leg. Furtively. Antony feels over the affected 

 part, and in so doing brushes against his next 

 neiglibor, a big, Jewish butcher's wife. 



" Don't let that happen again." she snapped 

 out. 



Antony reddened to the ears anew: but the 

 next instant, with a wild look, he sprang into 

 the air. 



" You ought to be ashamed of yourself, to 

 come among decent people in your i)resent con- 

 dition." said th(^ old gentleman with threat- 

 ening looks. "Such things ought not to be 

 tolerated. It's an outrage!" he growled from 

 his corner. 



At this moment Antony feels anew a violent 

 stinging. Summoning all iiis courages he brave- 

 ly plunges his hand into lus pocket. Mercy! 

 he is not mistaken: the box was broken, and 

 the cover crushed at the time of his fall when 

 entering the coach, and there is no trace of 

 either queen or workers. 



And now that sting in two places! Antony 

 utters a savage cry and leaps anew into the air. 



" Mercy on us! He's going ciazy," says the 

 butcher's wife. « 



■'Conductor! Conductor! let us out. There's 

 a madman here," cry all the passengers. 



Antony Bumke emits piercing yells. 



"In the name of heaven! he's going into a 

 furious delirium!" says the spinster. 



"Silence! silence!" commands the old gentle- 

 man. Then turning to Antony he savs, " What's 

 the matter'? Tell us." 



"I can't stand it any longer." cries Antony, 

 " they are gone — every one of them ! they sting 

 — I am stung already! Leave the coach! It is 

 very important that I should be left alone. 

 Otherwise you may all be stung." 



"He is mad! An escaped madman! Conduc- 

 tor!" cry all the passengers, beside themselves. 



The conductoi' appears at the window. " Pres- 

 ently, ladies and gentlemen; the train is just 

 going to stop. What! An escaped lunatic? 

 The matter shall be looked into immediately." 



The engine shrieks — station N. Full of af- 

 fright they all precipitate themselves from the 

 coach: and the station-master, informed by the 

 conductor, slowly approaches; and when the 

 passengers are all out Iput Antony he carefully 

 closes the door, posts himself before the open 

 window, and commences his examination. " So 

 this is an escape. You acknowledge it?" 



"Without doubt — certainly: they've all es- 

 caped," declares Antony, very much agitated. 



"All ?'' says the station-master. " How many 

 of them were there?'' 



"Five," says Antony, groaning: "four work- 

 ers — their loss wasn't much — but the queen is 

 gone too." 



"What? A queen? What was she like?" 

 said the station-master in a bantering tone. 



"Oh! she had eyes of gold, and the back part 

 of her body was covered with rings of yellow 

 and black." 



"Beautiful queen!" said the station-master, 

 laughing. "And what were the others like?" 



■' Why, just like all workers. One bee is just 

 like another.'' 



" Come, now. keep your thoughts together, 

 young man, and don't go to getting bees in y(mr 

 head again," said the station-master severely. 



"I haven't them in my head.'' said Antony, 

 groaning, " but in — " 



"And where then ?" said the station-master, 

 laughing, 



"In my — in my — pants!" This last word 

 Antony whispered in the ear of his interlocutor. 

 "I had a hole in my pocket — they slipped 

 through it.'' 



"Whatslippf^ through?" asked the confused 

 station-master. 



" Why. the queen and the four workers." 



"Ha! ha! ha! a queen and four workmen in 

 his — ha! ha! ha!'' laughed the station-master. 

 "Come, be quiet. What are vou crving about 

 .still?" 



"Oh! oh!" cried Antony; "1 can't stand it 

 any longer." 



The bell rings. Laughing as he goes, the 

 station-master directs iiis steps to the telegraph 

 operator to give orders to the next station con- 

 cerning "the lunatic.'' 



The train is in motion. Antony is alone. He 

 can no longer stand those stings. Rapidly tak- 

 ing his determination, he takes off his panta- 

 loons and approaches the window. Three bees 

 gaily soar aloft into the air, but two stick tight- 

 ly to the pantaloons. However, they must be 

 got off, and Antony shakes his pantaloons out 

 of the window. "A pleasant journey to you, 

 miserable queen." said he dolorously, when, at 

 that instant, whiz! went the express train by 

 on the other track. It seemed to the poor fel- 

 low, more dead than alive, that his head was 

 torn away, but it was only his pantaloons that 



