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GLEAJ^INGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Grace Allen 



THE DIXIE BEE 



Nashville, Tenn. 



Locust came, with all its inviting- 

 sweetness, in late April, and white 

 clover so early in May that they 

 lapped. Right now (mid-May) the 

 honey prospects are very bright, 

 tho of course city backlotters al- 

 ways remember their limited pas- 

 e and keep their expectations modest. 



turag 



Prof, Baldwin, it was long before you 

 came into the Gleanings family that I 

 wrote my protest against your advocacy of 

 the separate-shelf policy. Now I do most 

 heartily join my welcome to the others, and 

 hope you will make yourself at home on 

 any shelf whatsoever in the apiarian library. 

 « * * 



Dr. Miller, I wish you could see me work- 

 ing among the bees this spring, for I do it 

 sitting on a new really-truly hive-seat, ap- 

 parently thru forever with merely kneeling 

 by the hives. And I admit it is comfy. 

 Along with the other useful things stored 

 away in the yawning boxes on either side I 

 keep a note-book and pencil, and jot down 

 different memoranda as I go — like this. 



* * * 



Those moldy north-side combs, mentioned 

 May 1, are all cleaned up now and filled 

 with either honey and pollen or honey and 

 brood— all, that is, but one. That one the 

 record of March 24 refers to as " very 

 moldy." And on May 14 about two-thirds 

 of it has disappeared, evidently cut out and 

 ground up, for on the bottom-board beneath 

 was a thick deposit of fine, dry, brown 



powder. 



* * * 



What Dr. Phillips is reported as saying 

 about the beekeepers of the South Atlantic 

 states, page 259, April 1, reminds me that 

 right here in enlightened Nashville, that 

 calls herself the " Athens of the South," 

 because of her many schools and colleges, 

 a young lady who was recently told that we 

 kept bees mentioned with considerable in- 

 terest the necessity (!) of informing the 

 bees of the death of any member of the 

 family. Amazed, but certain that she must 

 be playing, I replied that as we had no 

 deatlis, I was unfamiliar with either the 

 recjuirements or custom or etiquette of the 

 occasion in its relation to the beeyard. 

 Whereupon she solemnly assured me of the 

 genuine necessity of this procedure ! 



* * * 



When I quoted, page 263, April 1, from 

 the letter of Mr. 0. J. Jones, giving his 

 method of clipping queens, I liked the way 



it read, but had not yet tried it. Now that 

 I have tried it, I like it still better, for it 

 works beautifully — more easily, for me, 

 than the more orthodox method first men- 

 tioned, the one I had always used till this 

 spring. Of course if ever a queen should 

 pull away, minus a foot or two, left be- 

 tween my grasping thumb and finger, I 

 should be greatly distressed. But so far no 

 such eatastroiDhe has occurred. Not only 

 did I somehow do it with far less nervous- 

 ness than previously; but the queens them- 

 selves took it with entire matter-of-factness 

 and coolness, two that I watched going- 

 right on laying as soon as returned to the 

 frame, tho one of these did act a trifle 

 flighty, perhaps, for she deposited her eggs 

 on toi^ of sealed brocd and on the edges of 

 cells and just anywhere at all. I watched 

 a worker take up one of these misplaced 

 eggs with her antennae; but before she had 

 a chance to carry out her plan, pulf ! came 

 a little breeze, and the tiny egg blew quite 



away. 



* * * 



Claiming Life's Flowers 



(Written after a recent illness — hospital, 

 operation, etc.) 



Around my quiet days and hours 



My joys were blossoming like flowers, 



Flowers of love and deep content 



And shy, quaint flowers of wonderment. 



One by one I drained their sweet. 



So close they grew about my feet. 



Then sharp across one startled day 



A sudden voice from far away 



Came shrilling; and at once I knew 



Some field where strange, wild flowers grew 



Had bloomed, and called, and I must go, 



Like bees when clover blossoms blow. 



Dread — dread — grew there; but, close beside, 



Courage, erect and laughing-eyed, 



Pain, and the will to smile at pain, 



And love of life thru sun or rain; 



While in their midst, with haunting breath, 



Blew eager fearlessness of death. 



And here m^' gay bravado shrank; 

 And yet I drank — aye, deep I drank, 

 Of every drop my soul could press. 

 Whether from joy or bitterness. 

 (I want the flowers by the friendly wall 

 And the brave wild flowers and the thorns 

 and all!) 



Today I watch ray bees take flight, 



Unafraid across the light, 



And pray ray heart may never quail ., 



In its quest for something akin to the Grail-;- 



A glory in life and the grace divine 



To drain each drop like holy wine. 



