GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1. 



returned from the hot sulphur springs in haste, 

 and said, " Doctor, there is a peculiar phenom- 

 enon at the sulphur springs. The spring you 

 call the little geyser has disappeared, and there 

 is a boiling mass of black mud all around it." 



"That is peculiar," said the doctor thought- 

 fully. " That spring has held the even tenor 

 of its way ever since I have lived here. I don't 

 understand such an ebullition. It will bear 

 examination." 



Then the doctor and Fred hastened to the 

 springs. 



" Surely," said the doctor, "she must be mis- 

 taken; there is no chance for mud around those 

 rocks;" but the doctor changed his mind when 

 he looked down upon the familiar place, and 

 an exclamation escaped from the lips of both. 



"See," said Fred, in alarm; "that rock on 

 which we had our nucleus colonies has been 

 undermined, and there it goes into the seeth- 

 ing mass." 



" Yes," said the doctor, " that pit is enlarg- 

 ing; there goes another section of rocks." 



A puff of steam now belched from the center; 

 and as the wind blew it toward them they were 

 nearly stifled by sulphur fumes. Another large 

 section of rock and earth sloughed off between 

 them and the abyss, and, after a tremor, sank, 

 and hot steaming mud came uppermost. Fred 

 felt the rock under his feet, and found it hot. 



" Doctor," said he, " what does all this mean ? 

 We are in danger." 



"Oh! no, Fred; this is merely an ebullition 

 of an old crater, and will soon subside." 



"Don't flatter yourself too much upon that 

 point, doctor; craters have more back of them 

 than we can imagine. I propose that we seek 

 safety while we may, with the precious lives 

 we have here. There," said Fred, in alarm, 

 " goes an area as.large as a garden-patch. Dr. 

 Hayden, this very spot upon which we siand is 

 liable to melt away. Hasten, doctor; we must 

 save Alfaretta." 



The doctor was loath to go, but followed 

 Fred, who ran speedily toward the cabin, shout- 

 ing to Sam and Gimp as he ran. When at the 

 cabin he tried to appear cool, and briefly ex- 

 plained the situation; and when the doctor 

 came up it was decided that they take a few 

 valuables and proceed to the upper terrace, 

 near the entrance. The doctor, from his age 

 and experience, viewed matters very coolly; 

 and when Fred thought the very ground under 

 them might sink at any moment the doctor 

 seemed unconcerned, and was the last to leave 

 the cabin. While they were hastening toward 

 the elevator there was an unusual tremor of 

 the whole valley, and the upheaval of mud 

 was greater than ever. The entire lower end 

 of the valley appeared like a steaming caldron. 

 Every one of the little party was now thor- 

 oughly frightened, and, with various exclama- 

 tions, rushed for the elevator. This frail home- 



made apparatus would carry but two persons, 

 and Alfaretta and Alamantapola were sent up 

 first. While the rest were taking their turns 

 under the doctor's directions there were more 

 seismic manifestations. The surging hot mud 

 was engulfing every thing. The doctor's cabin, 

 recently so pleasant with life, had disappeared. 

 The boiling mud became more violent, the 

 fumes mere stifling. The doctor and Fred were 

 the last to leave; and as Fred was stepping 

 from the elevator there was another violent 

 tremor, and the elevator tackling gave way, 

 and the apparatus, with some rock from above, 

 went crashing down. Fred came near falling 

 with it; but the quick hand of Alfaretta saved 

 him. But what a terrible view was before 

 them! The whole of the beautiful valley was 

 breaking up. The little party seemed spell- 

 bound at the fearful scene before them. Fred 

 heaved a deep sigh, and averted his gaze as he 

 saw a portion of the apiary slough off into and 

 under the hot mud. 



"All going," said he; "all, all." 



" Yes," said the doctor, " all is lost here. We 

 must away;" but in a moment more there were 

 shouts of terror — the passage was closed! The 

 tremors increased in violence. There was an 

 uplifting of the entire valley; hot mud and 

 sulphur fumes were thrown high in the air, and 

 now any moment the little party would be 

 overwhelmed. 



The two Indian women commenced the 

 death-chant of their tribe, and all waited for 

 the fatal moment. 





We are trying a smoker having the bellows- 

 boards grooved, as stated on page 372. It adds 

 but a trifle to the expense of the smoker, and is 

 a great convenience to the manipulator of the 

 instrument. 



We have just received two lots of imported 

 queens direct from Italy, from two different 

 breeders, by mail, and there was a loss of only 

 4 out of 24. The success of last season, and 

 this so far, would indicate that we shall not 

 have to resort to the expensive method here- 

 after of obtaining these queens in little boxes 

 by express. But in order to attain success we 

 find it necessary to prepare the cages ourselves, 

 and ship them to the breeders in Italy, with 

 instructions to return queens in them. 



W. F. Clarke seems to rejoice in being a 

 heretic in theology and apiculture and in keep- 

 ing out of the beaten track. He believes in 

 sugar honey; that the honey-extractor has 

 been on the whole a curse; he would not join 



