Septkmber, 1917 



GI. EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



713 



HEADS OF GRAIN I gpOJ ^ Q Qi DIFFERENT FIELDS 



Lessons Learned Late last winter L. E. 



in the School ofl Webb, of Morganton, 



Experience. talked to me so often 



about bees that I 

 caught the fever. I purchased one colony of 

 five-banded Italians. Soon after that I was 

 taken to the hospital and underwent an oper- 

 ation for appendicitis. I had a very serious 

 operation, and for three months was hardly 

 able to walk out. Mr. Webb came down and 

 hived a swarm for me, and a few weeks later 

 the original colony swarmed again, cluster- 

 ing on the limb of a tree some twenty feet 

 from the ground. I was still unable to help, 

 so a neighbor cut the limb and the bees 

 dropped to the ground, killing thousands of 

 the bees. The rest arose, went to a little 

 bush, and clustered again. We had the hive 

 placed under the bush and knocked the bush 

 with an ax. The bees fell and then took 

 wing and left. 



Soon after that the new colony swarmed 

 and I decided to save them. I put on a veil 

 that seemed bee-proof, walked into the 

 swarm, shook the limb, and — ran. A neigh- 

 bor told me to knock on the hive with a 

 knife to charm the bees. Before I could do 

 that some bees had found a way under the 

 veil. There were hundreds on the outside, 

 and these few inside. The physicians had 

 told me not to run, owing to my condition, 

 but I shamed a bee in speed. A few stings 

 in the face and neck told the story. I was 

 getting experience. I needed a better veil. 

 I knew that, especially after the bees showed 

 me the leaks in the old one. 



On the Fourth of July I had my greatest 

 celebration. I live on the lot adjoining the 

 graded-school lot, and my bees observed the 

 Fourth by swarming on a peach-tree near the 

 school building. I hired a young fellow to 

 hive the bees. He told me he was an expert 



— he knew all about bees, how they worked, 

 how they swarmed, how they traveled, how 

 to manage them — in fact, everything about 

 a honeybee. I put a small veil over my face 

 and stood some fifty feet away to see the 

 fun. This young fellow needed no veil — 

 bees never stung him, he said. The bees 

 were quiet on the peach limb, nine feet from 

 the ground. The tree was small. The limb 

 on which the bees were clustering was about 

 the size of your finger. There was a peck — 

 moving, shining in the sunshine — so gentle, 

 they seemed! The hive was placed by the 

 tree, and the young fellow, this exj^ert, with- 

 out veil, picked up a fence-rail, gave it a 

 swing and hit the tree with all force. What 

 happened? In four seconds the "expert" 

 was making tracks down the hill, fairly fly- 

 ing. The bees never bothered him. They 

 could not catch him. But they called on me. 

 I quickly pulled down my veil, arranged it 

 all around and thought I was all right; 

 but a hole opened up and the bees 

 streamed in. I ran at a dangerous speed; 

 but when I reached the house more than fifty 

 stings were in my chin, face, and on my bald 

 head. I thought my time had come. I was 

 ready to go out of the bee business. I de- 

 cided to sell my bees at once, but the next 

 day I changed my mind. I found that the 

 fault was not with the bees but with me. I 

 decided to try again. 



The rainy season stopped the honey-flow, 

 and the last of September I decided to feed 

 all three of my colonies. About dark I made 

 a syrup of sugar, put it in a dish, and ar- 

 ranged it before the super; but in my haste 

 I left off the inner cover, and the outer cover 

 left an opening about half an inch all 

 around. I did not know this then. The next 

 noon a neighbor told me robbers were after 

 his bees. I went down to see, and you never 



Mr. Abbott's out-apiary at Palms, Miili. 



