GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. ]5. 



AM further enlivened 

 the dinner hour with 

 oneof his 'way down 

 soutn plantation 

 songs, and then de- 

 parted for the cabin 

 while the doctor and 

 Frea pur-'^ued their 

 way through the 

 valley. 



" 1 think," said the doctor, " that 1 will not 

 show you my apiary until we return from the 

 sulphur springs. I will show you the field first, 

 and its possibilities, and the apiary last." 



"Suit yourself as to that," replied Fred; 

 "every thing is interesting so far. I take it 

 that the apiary is on the terrace above us. from 

 the way bees fly over; and then I thought I 

 caught a glimpse of it from that lofty observa- 

 tory. They followed down the stream;'' and 

 Fred, addressing the doctor, said, " I supposed 

 you had quite a number of Indians in here; 

 but I have seen none thus far." 



"There are only a few that come in here," 

 replied the doctor, "and then only upon some 

 religious rite, or when I need extra help. This 

 is a sacred valley to them, and they have about 

 as strange a tradition as Sam has related about 

 Ham's change of hue. I have related to you 

 some of their traditions; but the one that has 

 much to do witb their rites in this valley is 

 that their tribe sprang from a gopher snake. 

 A white squaw in splendid white raiment 

 changed the snake into an Indian, and at the 

 same time changed a rattlesnake into a squaw. 

 Now, according to their tradition this same 

 white squaw will reappear and change them 

 back into snakes, and confine them ever after 

 in this valley." 



"But, doctor, the bees having usurped the 

 place of the snake I should think you could 

 work them out of that absurd idea." 



" I am working to that end," replied the doc- 

 tor, " but as yet nothing has usurped the rattle- 

 snake; and standing as it does for the squaw 

 I much doubt if any thing ever will, for you 

 must know of the contrariety of squaws gener- 

 ally; furthermore, my young friend, little do 

 you understand the vagaries of human nature. 

 It has taken Christendom ages to throw off 

 rank superstitions, and still after these hun- 

 dreds of years I fear there are too many super- 



stitions left. Still, I am making progress, and 

 the young men are throwing off their super- 

 stitions, and are amenable to moral teachings, 

 as you have observed." 



"Then there are but few Indians who enter 

 the valley, and no squaws'?" queried Fred. 



" No squaws," said the doctor. " You are, 

 therefore, not only in a bee-keepers' paradise, 

 but also in a paradise for bachelors." 



"Or will be," said Fred, "until the white 

 squaw arrives and overturns things." 



"Yes," growled the doctor, "that is just 

 what always happens when the squaws arrive. 

 But, Fred, we have something more profitable 

 to talk about than traditions and squaws, and 

 I am very glad to have you here to talk with. 

 For the past eight years I have had but little 

 communication with my kind and the outside 

 world, and it is a new phase of my life to have 

 a kindred soul here wi.th me to commune with. 

 But to leave our reflections, and to get down to 

 practical things, we are in the center of the 

 valley, and here are the hot sulphur springs." 



" Do you know, doctor, this is a great curios- 

 ity to me? I have read much of such phenom- 

 enal things in this country, and these are the 

 first hot springs I have had the pleasure of 

 seeing— many of them," said Fred, in admira- 

 tion, " and all along the base and sides of this 

 cliff, steaming hot too." 



"Yes, boiling hot," said the doctor, " and I 

 wish to show you my improvement. When I 

 came into the valley, and until recently, the 

 cold water from the upper end of the valley 

 and this copious stream of hot water united at 

 this point, and flowed to the outlet together. 

 But now you observe that I run the cold water 

 into that ditch over there. Now let me dem- 

 onstrate to you the reason why. You observe 

 that the old channel is full of that obsidian 

 formation that surrounds the valley. This 

 boiling-hot water running over that formation 

 raises it to a high temperature, as you will 

 readily feel if you try to pick up one of those 

 stones." 



" Jerusha!" said Fred, as he attempted to 

 hold a piece of the hot obsidian in his hand, 

 but quickly threw it down, and, blowing his 

 Angers, exclaimed, " That is hot." 



" With these simple flumes I can turn the hot 

 water into the cold-water channel. Now, when 

 I turn the cold water upon those hot stones, 



