QLEAJIINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



DECEMBER 15, 1916 



Fifty-first 1 



you know it was the wires that melted your 

 combs?" 



" How did I know ? Well, what else 

 could hev done it? Never had no others 

 melt, and you know 'swell ^ I do thet them 

 wires attracts heat!" This was said with a 

 finality that brooked no dispute. 



" But how can honey be extracted from 

 frames that are not wired?" I asked, won- 

 dering what possible reason be could offer; 

 and it was a typically Johnnie remark, 

 given with a grin which showed the absence 

 of a couple of front teeth. 



" Well, ma'am, I'll tell ye. I ain't never 

 done no extractin'; comb honey's good 'nuff 

 fer me !" 



I must have looked either convinced or 

 beaten, to judge by the smirk of self-satis- 

 faction he gave me. 



This was my first lesson from Johnnie, 

 but not the last. His smoker talk was to 

 me a keen bit of enjoyment, altho to this 

 day he doesn't know it, and I hope he'll 

 never find out ! 



" Now, ma'am," Johnnie's usual ap- 

 proach, " never try to light thet smoker 

 frum th' top, fer she jest won't ketch, and 



ntion of the Michigan Beekeepers' Association, lieli 



ye'U fiddle away a hull forenoon, may be, 

 'fore she gits again'." 



" No, Johnnie," I said, " I always " 



I had forgotten for the moment that 1 knew 

 nothing. "I'll try it from the bottom;" 

 and to bear out my statement I tried to in- 

 sert a match in the air-hole at the base. 



" Here ! here !" he cried in alarm ; " ye'l) 

 spoil thet whole contraption if ye do thet. 

 Them smokers is funny things — jess like 

 my ole mule, contrary as n'thing. Now 

 this thing here," taking hold of the bellows, 

 " fills up with air;" and when I looked in- 

 nocently up and inquired, ' Hot air, John- 

 nie?" he answered: 



" Oh! no, ma'am, any kind of air," altho 

 he is not usually slow at a joke. When he 

 is giving instructions, however, he is too 

 much in earnest to pay any attention to such 

 feeble attempts as this. 



He continued, " Well, ye pull them sides 

 together this way, and it blows air inter the 

 can part ; and ye see if ye light her from the 

 top all yer fire goes out the snoot 'stead of 

 lighten' the rest of it. Now I takes a chunk 

 of gunny sack " — who in California would 

 be guilty of saying burlap? — " and I lights 



Eapi.ls Nov 



the fringie place on the edge, then drops 

 her in quick and pumps like all Sam Hill on 

 them bellers, and fore ye know it ye've got 

 some smoke." 



This whole performance had been acted 

 out for my benefit; and if Johnnie ever 

 made the hit as a clown that be made with 

 me I can't understand his escape from the 

 circus manager. 



"What's this little jigger on the side of 

 the bellows?" I asked him. 



"Oh! thet— well, I'll tell ye. I ain't 

 never been able to find no real use fer thet._ 

 It's always in (he way, and I've threatened 

 to take it off, but knew it must've beeu put 

 on there fer somp'n'." 



" Wouldn't it be to hang it up by? Looks 

 to me as tho it might just hang beautifully 

 on the side of a hive." 



" By jings ! I bet ye've struck it, and here 

 I've ben a bustin' my back reachin' fer the 

 thing when it orter ben right there all the 

 time." 



On raising queens and controlling swarm- 

 ing Johnnie has his own ideas — or, rather, 

 lie believes in letting " nater " do it for him. 



" But, Johnnie," I protested, " you must 



lose lots of swarms. You're not always 

 here to see to things, are you?" 



" Well, now, I'll tell ye. Sometimes I do 

 lose a swarm; but. Lor' bless ye, what's 

 losin' a swarm to dislurbin' the poor eril- 

 ters every few days? and I'll tell ye I don't 

 hev much faith in this business of keepin' 

 bees from swarmin'. 'Cordin' to my notion 

 (he more ye fuss with 'em the more they 

 swarm! An' look at lliet feller over here, 

 fiddlin' away raisin' queens" (contemptuous- 

 ly) : "why, they ain't no good after he's 

 raised 'em, fer it's good deal better to let 

 nater raise yer queens 'stead of putlin' in a 

 stranger thet may be will be erosser than 

 ra m !" 



Johnnie takes off no honey until fall, and 

 then has nothing but section honey, which is 

 so cheap here that it seems a crime to waste 

 the bees' time making it; for wax is as high 

 as it is anywhere, and he could increase his 

 bee income four fold by extracting. Years 

 when other people get a big crop of ex- 

 tracted. Johnnie complains of a poor yield, 

 and shakes his head unbelievingly when he 

 heais of some other fellow's big crop. 



Hughson, Cal. 



