<i(t. 15 UUl 



62) 



ligation of 

 that Bigelow 

 hen-house. 



Now, hen- 

 liouse, apiary, 

 house for my 

 jiets, all were 

 moved two 

 years ago to 

 Sound Beach, 

 >everal miles 

 away, but, ac- 

 cording to 

 Highlantl Av- 

 enue, the smell 

 of that hen- 

 liouse lingers 

 there still. It 

 comes about 

 in this way: 

 Those same 

 neighborswith 

 the sensitive 

 nostrils be- 

 came interest- 

 ed in honey- 

 bees, and my 

 apiary left its 

 trail on that 

 street in the 

 form of three 

 en th usiastic 

 c o n V e r t s to 

 bee - keeping. 

 < )ne who in 

 }) articular, 

 with the mem- 

 bers of his 

 family, was 



zealous in comi)laining, has not yet got rid 

 of the smell; but now that he knows the 

 cause, he appreciates tlip joke. There is a 

 fact unknown, even by many bee-keepers, 

 unless it is revealed by the proximity of the 

 apiary to the house. In September and Oc- 

 tober tlie bees gather qviantitiesof goldenrod 

 nectar; and while this makes good honey, 

 it has an odor that is pleasing to some but 

 disagreeable to others, and it was especially 

 >o to some of the jiresent bee-keepers of 

 Highland Avenue before they becanie bee- 

 keepers. The offensix e odor was from the 

 goldenrod and the bees, and not caused by 

 the biddies nor by their owner. They were 

 guiltless. 



This reminds me of another marked ex- 

 ami)le of the influence of a natiniilist who 

 is at the best regarded as a little queer, and 

 is expected to do things difTerently from or- 

 ilinary people. Nearly two years ago it was 

 announced that the bee-house was to be mov- 

 ed to Sound Beach, and to be placed in the 

 center of the village and near the postoffice. 

 The entire neighborhood was alarmed. ' ' We 

 shall all be stung to death!" But the bees 

 :irrived; they prospered, and so did the peo- 

 l>le of Sound Beach. There were no stings 

 except in the remarks made about the new^ 

 natural-history establishment. The boys 

 and girls learned to like the honey-bees, and 

 so did other visitors. But some of the neigh- 



1- iff. 8.— C)rton"s hoine-niade rip-saw. 



bors did not. They remarked that the bees 

 were puncturing their fruit, sjjoiling their 

 blossoms, and, I suppose, were upsetting 

 the general equilibrium of the home. 

 Some of these complaints began kindly 

 but firmly during the first year. They in- 

 creased a little in the second. Wherever in 

 all Sound Beach were seen honey-bees, 

 bumble-bees, bee-llies, horse-tlies, and I am 

 not sure but flying ants and other members 

 of the hymenoi)tera, they were laid to the 

 charge of Bigelow's apiary. But here is just 

 one little fact that has a' bearing upon the 

 situation, and that has been known to verj^ 

 few outside outside of Arcadia, and those 

 few are not residents in the vicinity. The 

 entire apiary was discontinued early last 

 spring, and the building since then has been 

 used for other puri)Oses. There has not been 

 a bee in Arcadia during this entire season. 

 But the ghosts of Bigelow's bees plundered 

 the flower.j and pierced the fruits of Sound 

 Beach during this entire season. Dictum 

 sapicntifiat est. "Overhaul your catechism 

 till you find that passage, and, when found, 

 turn the leaf down." 

 Sound Beach, Conn. 



[There have been several repo Is regavil i g 

 the disagreeable odor when bees an- work- 

 ing on certain fall flowers. The aster s -cins 

 to be the principal offen ler — Eu ] 



