244 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



The way of the transgressor is hard, for troubles rarely come singly. 



AS GLIMPSED THRU THE CAMERA 



The Best-laid Plans o' Mice and Men Gang Aft A-gley 



BY H. H. ROOT 



Here is a oommon picture of an uncom- 

 mon sight. I tried hard to write an article 

 on the subject; but after saying that mice 

 do much damage to honey, and that every 

 beekeeper ouglit to set traps, I could not 

 think of anything more, and yet the article 

 did not seem finished. But I have decided 

 to write an article any way, not on any 

 particular theme, and then if I ramble 

 somewhat no one can accuse me of getting 

 off the subject. 



The picture itself is suggestive. It re- 

 minds one that some mice are like some 

 people in that they get into trouble, no 

 matter which way they turn. It reminds 

 one also of the old saying that So and So 

 jumped from the frying-pan into the fire. 

 In the picture I am not sure which is the 

 frying-pan and which is the fire. I believe, 

 however, that this particular mouse, feeling 

 himself hugged tightly about the neck from 

 ^bove, attempted to move away by using 

 that part of his anatomy not so held, and. 

 unfortunately, stepped on the trigger of 

 the other trap. I think this is what hap- 

 pened, for I cannot imagine an intelligent 

 mouse caught in the small trap (especially 

 across the stomach) showing any great 

 amount of interest in tlve cheese on the 

 trigger of the larger trap, and so I believe 



the larger trap should be labeled the fry- 

 ing-pan, and the smaller one the fire. 



This picture reminds me of the time I 

 attempted to use a butcher-knife for un- 

 capping. It worked quite well, but on the 

 second comb I cut a large piece of myself 

 from one finger. While observing this un- 

 expected result, I decided to move away 

 from there, and then discovered that I was 

 standing in honey. The pail under an eight- 

 frame extractor had overflowed; and, altho 

 the time had been short, there was a thick 

 layer of honey gradually spreading itself 

 over the floor and finding its way thru the 

 cracks to the ground beneath, where the 

 bees outside could get it. This was during 

 a honey dearth. If we had had a better 

 floor in that honey-house the bees would 

 not have got to robbing, or, better still, if 

 I had not cut my finger I probably should 

 not have let the extractor-gate remain open 

 so long. If this mouse had not been too 

 nervous to think, he would have reflected 

 that if he had not got his chin caught in 

 the large trap he could easily have avoided 

 the other one. Troubles rarely come singly. 



Job had several troubles all at once. Mr. 

 Holtermann has only one among his bees — 

 European foul brood, and for this reason it 

 seems to me that he should not have likened 



