GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



November, 1920 



mile' away was one apiary of 20 colonies, 

 and there probably were still others around, 

 and that bees thought nothing of flying a 

 mile or two. However, we shut them in, 

 partly to show that they were not chiefly 

 responsible, and also that the Fair manage- 

 ment might assure complainants, that they 

 had done what they could, and that there 

 Avere no bees flying from any exhibits. 

 Friday and Saturday the bees were as thick 

 as ever around the different eating and 

 drinking stands. One excited man and one 

 much worried pie-lady came to me Friday 

 morning entreating me to whistle my bo ■=■ 

 home to their hive. Distressed tho I hau 

 been the night before over having to con- 

 fine them for the next two days, it was 

 really a satisfaction to be able to show my 

 complaining visitors that not any of our 

 bees, nor any in the entire apiarian exhibit, 

 were flying. • 



They really were troublesome, tho. I 

 felt particularly sorry for the little girl 

 who was stung in the mouth, even tho she 

 may have been eating her pie not daintily, 

 but too fast. But no one felt much sym- 

 pathy for the woman who stormed the otEce 

 with the threat of a lawsuit because a bee 

 stung her, or for the plump and healthy 

 young girl who, because her stung hand 

 swelled in a perfectly natural way into a 

 thing of no beauty and some discomfort, 

 called the family doctor the next morning 

 and wore her hand in a bandage for still 

 another day! But I don't think full hives 

 of bees will be included among the entries 

 next year. 



We were particularly proud of the plac- 

 ing of that hive of bees, too. The four- 

 teen-ounce bottles of honey — and all the 

 honey in this section was very light and 

 pretty this year — were ranged along on 

 shelves across the windows at the back of 

 the booth, with a clear, empty s])ace in the 

 center large enough to show easily the hive 

 of bees placed just outside on a little plat- 

 form that brought it to the right position. 

 The hive was close to the window glass, 

 and facing it, so that the entrance showed 

 plainly, with the bees flying in and out 

 (until Friday!), and it was a most pleasing 

 feature of the exhibit. We had wished we 

 might confine the exhibit to one hive and 

 its ])roduct, but as it takes about 200 pound* 

 of honey to make a creditable display, and 

 our two highest records were 95 and 110 

 pounds, Ave exhil)ited one of tliese liives 

 and the output of the two. On tlie front 

 of the hive, where it faceil tlie window. 

 was a sign reading, "This liiAC, and one 

 other, j)roduced all the honev shown in this 

 exhibit." 



rt certainly innxcd an iiitercsting tea 

 tnre. "Your heclvccpintr friends will huigh 

 at you," warned Mr. Allen, "if they think 

 you're boasting about that yield." (It 

 was his idea, by the way.) "Let them 

 laugh." I retorted. "This exhibit's not 

 for onr boekeejiiug friends. It's for the 

 general public. And the general public 



won't laugh, it will gasp." Gasp it did, 

 too. "All this honey?" it cried, and call- 

 ed its wife and children to come look. 

 Part of it, however, said "Hm!" skeptical- 

 ly and shook its head and walked away, 

 unbelieving. 



And still, as always, we jiointod out the 

 queens in the observation hi\es, and assur- 

 ed everyone that the round yellow cakes 

 were not cheese, but beeswax, and that 

 there Avas no such thing as artificial comb, 

 and that ' ' the honey you buy at the stores ' ' 

 is pure, and what they got once from Ala- 

 bama was sweet clover honey and not glu- 

 cose flavored with vanilla and cinnamon, 

 and that beekeepers don't feed sugar to 

 their bees to be made into honey. 

 * * * 



How almost unbelievable it seems that 

 Dr. ]\Iiller has gone. He was so alive. 

 And so wholly our beloved leader. I shall 

 never forget that day in Chicago when I 

 met him. It will always be one of my 

 great days. I was quite too stirred to 

 speak, just held to his hand and said his 

 name over two or three times and looked 

 at him, Avhile he himself said so sweet a 

 thing in greeting that I have folded it aAvay 

 among my precious memories. He was just 

 what I knew he must be — only more so — 

 wise and witty and sweet-smiling and gen- 

 tle-mannered and keen and old and young 

 and winning and lovable. Dr. Phillips as- 

 sured us later that Dr. Miller 's w^as the 

 youngest mind there. And now he has 

 gone. Gone? We all know his own strong 

 faith in a finer, nobler life to come. And 

 even here on this earth, in the hearts and 

 affectionate regard ami re\erent esteem of 

 countless men, he will have achieved some- 

 thing akin to immortality. For OA'er all 

 this world, wherever men love bees and 

 read books, his name is known and loAcd 

 and will be passed doAvn thru the ages. 

 * * «■ 



IN MEMORIAL. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 

 How you -would love this liour! Tlip niornitiy: uiist, 

 All toucli(>cl with gold and blue and amethyst, 

 Goes risinsr slowly, lost somehow in lislit. 

 .\nd lo, tlio sun-tipped hills break into siu'ht ! 

 Does Deiith ronie so? Do tender eartli-ljoiii tliinss 

 And human love, however close it clin^.s, 

 Dissolve at last and rise and pass away 

 And show great hills of light, and God, and ])a\ .' 



The golden jieace of autumn lies around. 



^'ou loved it. loo. and most. perha])s, this sound 



Of bees that hum, whose frail undaunted wings 



Fill wondering souls with strange imaginings. 



T.s peace around you now, so great, so deep. 



Tliat we wlio do not know it call it sleep? 



Are wings Ilu-re. too. God-made of dream and fire. 



'I'liat leave ungarnered no divine desire? 



Today this earllily lieauly grips me so 

 I wonder what new radiance you know. 

 Such haunting music tills our quiet places — 

 AVhat symphonies ring down unbounded spaces? 

 Not ours to ask — ours but to dream the dream. 

 Ours but to keep the high-held torch aglcain. 

 Ours but to walk in reverence and pride 

 Because you lived, and loved, and smiled, and diid. 



