JULY 1. 1016 



535 



laugh, is a character who keejis others at 

 bay by threatening to release a hive if they 

 advance on him. These stunts are compara- 

 tively easy for the director to put over, tho 

 not so pleasant for the players who have to 

 carry them out. 



Not all lilms olTer pure entertainment. 

 The motion-picture producers, like the pop- 

 ular magazines, often put out a pleasing 

 combination of entertainment and education. 

 These educational films, so called, deal with 

 all conceivable subjects; but were you to 

 ask the ^motion-picture producer the most 

 difficult kind of film to take he would inform 

 you that they are studies of insect life. 



All a magazine writer has to do is to in- 

 terview a bee-farmer and obtain a few still 

 photographs, perhaps already at his com- 

 mand. The film producer, however, in order 

 to secure a convincing picture, must cover 

 his subject in actual reality. He is accus- 

 tomed to temperamental actors, but finds 

 that bees will not stand for any rehearsals, 

 and often refuse to act in the way required 

 of them. 



A producer about to take a film of bee- 

 life will read up a book on the subject and 

 prepare a scenario therefrom. This will 

 in'obably take several months to produce, 

 and yet at the most will yield only sufficient 

 negative to occupy the screen ten minutes. 



A motion-picture photographer of my 

 acquaintance, who makes a specialty of ecl- 

 ucational work, told me that the hardest 

 task he has ever been up against was filming 

 a swarm of bees in action. He started by 

 establishing a real apiary in the studio yard. 

 Some incidents he obtained with compara- 

 tive ease; but whenever he wanted to 

 " catch " the bees in action they swarmed 

 around him as soon as he began operations, 

 so was compelled to beat a hasty retreat in 

 the interests of safety first. He had the 

 patience of a saint, and deserved to succeed. 



The one and only cinematographer who 

 has achieved a reputation for bee-films is 

 J. C. Bee Mason. He has in'oduced four 

 motion pictures of the honeybee, the royal- 

 ties from which have netted him $10,000. 

 Tn the true way of a pioneer. Mr. Mason 

 had many set-backs before he succeeded, and 

 is now quite hardened to stings. 



The normal speed for the taking of pic- 

 tures is sixteen to the second. Some time 

 ago Monsieur Lucien Bull desired to show 

 the movements of a bee's wings, and had to 

 resort to his electric spark. Had he not 

 done so the results would have proven as 

 indistinct as an electric fan in motion. To 

 accomplish his aim he set free a bee from 

 the contrivance attached to his camera, 

 which attained a speed of two hundred 



pictures per second. The bee, however, was 

 such a hustler in regaining its balance that 

 only twenty pictures were necessary to re- 

 cord the stunt — the only time it has been 

 accomplished. 



•»-«'-» 



THE SILE NT S ALESMAN 



BY ED SWENSON 



I find that a sign that tells what I liave 

 to sell is a great help to me in selling my 

 season's crop of honey. I live on a well- 

 traveled road right in the edge of town, and 

 I find that this sign brings me many safes 

 tliat would otherwise slip by. 



The silent salesman. 



If the goods are satisfactory, my custom- 

 ers tell their neighbors, who will also come 

 to the place wliere they see the sig'n, as that 

 is the mark the neighbors tell them to go by 

 in finding- the {jlace. The sign should b? 

 about 4 rods from the road, so people can 

 read it without stopping. But remember 

 that, in order to work up a business, you 

 must produce the best, as quality will be 

 remembered long after the price is forgot- 

 ten. 



Spring A'alley, Minn. 



[See editorial. — Ed.] - 



