Septembkr, 191' 



G L K A N I N G S IN BEE CULTURE 



ever, and do him tlie kindness to fertilize 

 his fruit-trees, but that is all. Indeed, what 

 more could one exi:)eot? 



Mr. Merriman, on the other hand, tho he 

 says he is " getting along in years," makes 

 sure in October that his colonies are strong 

 in bees and stores, puts single winter cases 

 over them on their summer stands, and 

 keeps them sung and dry. Last year he 

 cai'ried off first premium on fifty sections 

 of comb honej' at the Worcester fair ; second 

 on the best ten sections, and first on one 

 quart of pure honey vinegar three years old. 

 Small wonder he thinks it pays to take care 

 of the bees. 



Leominster is a little new city, and Mr. 

 Merriman writes that there are about 150 

 colonies of bees there, of which 25 are his. 

 He has also the only extractor in town, 

 home-made but satisfactory. Being a car- 

 1 enter by trade, of course he is at a great 

 advantage when it comes to being handy 

 with tools. 



Last summer he broke his right Avrist, 

 which kept him from his regular work the 

 rest of the season, and also interfered seri- 

 ously with his bee work. But on pleasant 

 Saturdays he would take long tramps with 

 a neighbor, hunting bees. They located 

 six swarms, of which they destroyed one that 

 they thought diseased, brought home four, 

 and left one standing, to be taken later. 

 Tlie broken arm did not prevent such out- 

 door exercise — with the neighbor along to 

 help — and it was fascinating work. 



Some day I'm going bee-hunting myself. 



ing down the front and into the entrance — 

 at least they got that far, but there, of 

 course, trouble began. 



A few days after that, the firemen tele- 

 phoned that there was a swarm right back 

 of their hall, probably ours, as they came 

 from our direction. As I was working in 

 the yard at the time, I knew it was no 

 swarm of ours ; but as it was reported to be 

 a good big one, I went over to investigate. 

 In the alley back of the flre-hall, some one 

 had thi'own a tin can, not quite emptied of 

 syrup, and that " swarm " was merely a 

 jubilant neighborhood picnic in the alley! 



I read recently of a man somewhere in 

 the West who has 165- colonies of bees, 

 producing $1400 worth of honey in one sea- 

 son. Then T read furthsr, "All work was 

 performed mornings and evenings, with the 

 co-operalion of an industrious and sympa- 

 thetic wife." Do you remember the story 

 of how "me and Betsy killed the ba'ar"? 

 Somehow I have a stubborn fancy that that 

 industrious and sympathetic wife co-oper- 

 ates around those 165 colonies at some 

 other times than just mornings and eve- 

 nings. I have a further fancy that her 

 name is quite likely Betsey. 



It was Edward Everett Hale, I have read, 

 who first declared that Noah had bees, too, 

 along with his other side lines, and kept 

 them in th^ ark-hives. 



Several comments have been made as to 

 the continuous swarming in 1916. In spite 

 of the disadvantages, illness, etc., under 

 which we worked that summer, we lield 

 it down pretty well till the latter end of the 

 season. Then not onlj^ did we have a few 

 teentsey late swarms of our own, but we 

 have also entertained strange swarms within 

 our gates. One of them, an insignificant 

 swarm of blacks from somevvliere unknown, 

 clustered one early morning on a i^each-tree 

 in the garden, then broke and clustered 

 again on another peach-tree in the apiary ; 

 so we chucked it into a box and set it off 

 in a corner. Presently we set about intro- 

 ducing a few queens; and while one hive 

 was open, quite suddenly we were surround- 

 ed by black bees. They were settling on 

 the frames, down the sides of the hive, and 

 nil over my skirt and box-seat. Of course 

 they were repulsed, and their queen lost in 

 the fracas. Another time I found the top 

 of one hive covered with an apparently 

 peaceful settlement of blacks, quietly f lawl- 



To Mr. John M. Davis, 

 Who presented me with a. young Italian queen. 



What did you give, when you gave to me 

 This beautiful queen, so graciously ? 



A life I could crush with a care'ess hand. 



Yet no one at all can understand; 



A mystery, shaped, thru world-old laws. 



By the God behind the first great cause; 



A life come down thru age on age — 



Of countless lives the heritage; 



A wee, slim creature with wonderful wings — 



Such daintily gauzy and delicate things — 



Her story a tale for poets to tell, 



AVoven of words with magical spell, 



Romance and Beauty and Pride of Place; 



One breathless flight thru bewildering space; 



One princely mate, who wins — and dies — 



Young and strong, in the sun-swept skies; 



Within the hive, proud royal ways 



Thru round on round of loyal days; 



And cradled there in her shadowy room, 



Lives in love with sun and bloom ! 



My thanks for the gift you gave to me 

 Of miracle, marvel, and mystery. 



