444 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1. 



tracted." Well, try it for comb honey ; it will 

 cost j'ou nothing. 



FRUIT - BLOOM AND SWARMING ; WORKING 

 BUHS IN A THUNDER-SHuWER. 



From all reports it is evident that this is the 

 most remarkable year for fruit-bloom and 

 swarming that bee keepers have known for 

 many a beason. I do not remember a time 

 when swarming was raging in the middle of 

 May around Medina as it has been this spring, 

 and my time of active experience in the apia- 

 ry goes back — let me see ; how old am I ? 

 Well, it goes back twenty years. 



I never expected much from fruit-bloom, 

 and certainly did not this year have the re- 

 motest thought that there would be any 

 swarming. As a matter of course, our apiary 

 at our out-yard (like every year) was just as it 

 came from its winter quarters, or, rather^ it 

 had not got out of them, for the colonies were 

 in their packing-cases, just as they were put 

 up last tall. When neighbors reported that 

 our bees were swarming 1 could hardly believe 

 it. "Never mind," 1 said; "the queens' 

 wings are clipped ; the swarms won't go off ; 

 and, besides, this fruit-bloom will not last 

 very long, and the swarming will soon let up." 

 But it didn't. As it rained nearly every day 

 it was not easy to go down on the bicycle and 

 stop the rumpus. Finally, when the roads 

 did get a little better one forenoon, I started 

 off, notwithstanding the sky was black, indic- 

 ative of an approaching thunder-storm. Ar- 

 riving at the yard the big drops of rain began 

 to fall. But I was not going to turn back 

 then. I proceeded at once, rain or no rain, 

 to pulling the colonies apart to destroy the 

 queen-cells, and scatter the brood in two sto- 

 ries. I had fixed up a few colonies, and the 

 drops began to come faster ; but I knew I 

 should be drenched in the rain, and thought I 

 might as well " make a job ot it." I singled 

 out the colonies that were clustered out in 

 front ; went through them, destroyed queen- 

 cells, and scattered the brood in two stories, 

 putting empty combs between each alternate 

 pair of combs containing brood. In shaking 

 some of the combs, the raw honey spilled all 

 over my shoes, and into the grass ; and, ex- 

 cept for the taste, it appeared to be about as 

 thin in body as that from basswood. The 

 ominous clouds began to fulfill their predic- 

 tions. It thundered and lightened ; but for 

 the fun of it I thought I would see what I 

 could do in a drenching rain, and I did see — 

 or, rather, it was difficult to see through my 

 glasses as the water streamed down over the 

 lenses. The poor bees clustered on the combs 

 in such a way as to shed water, and seemed to 

 be reconciled to their fate. I knew a warm 

 shower would not hurt them, and so kept on 

 with my work until it began to pour so hard 

 that it was almost impossible to see or do any 

 thing. Of course, I was wet through. Final- 

 ly, in desperation, I grabbed up my gear-case 

 Cleveland, hobbled into the saddle, and then 

 proceeded to ride down the clay hill leading 

 from the yard ; but the wheel slipped as if it 

 were on a big cake of soap, and I had to dis- 

 mount and paddle through the mud, whtel on 



viy back. I went over my shoe-tops in the 

 puddles — tan shoes at that — and — 



Just this very minute sister Carrie, flushed 

 with her wheelride, and who has been up to 

 the out yard, comes in to tell me while 1 am 

 writing these lines that there is a big swarm 

 hanging on the bushes, and asking i I could 

 not come and take care of them. I had sup- 

 posed that swarming was all over at that yard, 

 as the honey-flow had stopped. 



A feiv hours later. — Let me see. Before the 

 interruption I was telling you of my experi- 

 ence in plodding through the mud with my 

 bicycle on my back, homeward bound. I 

 need not tell you all the details. Suffice it to 

 say, I did not get struck by lightning nor en- 

 tirely covered with mud, to say nothing of 

 being wet; but when I arrived home, I was, 

 according to all accounts, "a sight for gods 

 and men." I hived the swarm on my last 

 trip, and came home without any casualties 

 worth mentioning. 



SAD DE.-^TH OF OUR VETERAN FRIEND C. F. 

 MUTH, OF CINCINNATI. 

 We take the following (considerably abbre- 

 viated) from the Indianapolis Journal : 



MoRRiSTOWN, IND., May 10. — Charles F. Muth, of 

 Cincinnati, was found dead this morning in his sum- 

 mer home, on his 600-acre farm, just a mile west of 

 town. 



Mr. Muth was always very jovial; but yesterday he 

 seemed morose, and told one of his )o mer tenants, 

 and, later, a neighbor, that there was a spot in his 

 head that was paining him a great deal. He could 

 always feel it throbbing. Fourteen years ago he suf- 

 fered a sunstioke, and at times since then his head 

 has pained him. In case it was suicide, it is quite 

 probable that the pain caused temporary insanity 

 There is nothing else known that could have caused 

 him to conamit the act. He was about sixtj'-five years 

 old; and besides the large farm, which was held joint- 

 ly i.etween him and his wife, he was the owner of a 

 large seed and honey store and other property in Cin- 

 cinnati. He was supposed to be worth several hun- 

 dred thousand dollars. 



He spent a good deal of time on his farm, going 

 back and forth to Cincinnati almcst every week. He 

 was much interested in raising potatoes and sugar 

 beets, and made a great many experiments with the 

 farm, especially with sugar-beet culture, in which he 

 was very successful. 



A wife and six children, all grown, suivive. They 

 have been summoned from their Cincinnati home. 



The latest evidence points to suicide. About 3 

 o'clock this afternoon Coroner Booher found the fol- 

 lowing letter on a tablet in the dead man's desk: 



" If I should die on my farm, it is my wish that I be 

 buried in the same graveyard with August Miller, and 

 in the same simple manner. My honest debts must be 

 paid. Chas. F. Muth. 



" Morristown, Ind., May 1.5, 1898." 



It is impossible to get at the correct records now to 

 find the amount of the mortgage on his six-hundred- 

 acre farm here, but it is known to be about S20,000. 

 His farm is worth about S-10,0(X). No one here knew 

 of the extent of Mr. Muth's financial trouble. He has 

 often tried to sell his farm here, and about a year ago 

 was offered .$82,000 for it, but would not take less than 

 S8S,000. Mr. Muth was president of the German Prot- 

 estant Orphan Asylum; al.so trustee of St. John's 

 Church, and last year was elected a member of the 

 boa:d of control of Cincinnati. He made a large for- 

 tune in the honey business in Cincinnati. 



Our friends may remember that, when I 

 first became interested in bee culture, I very 

 soon made inquiry in regard to the various 

 bee-journals published in the United States or 

 other parts of the world. I think my first ac- 

 quaintance with Mr. C. F. Muth came through 

 my desire to know something of bee-keeping 

 in Germany. Friend Muth was very willing 



