July, 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



443 



media used to test for the. growth of the 

 spores of BaciUiis larvae suitable for the 

 growth of that organism, so far as acidity 

 is poucerned. Tliis was determined by meas- 

 uring the reaction of normal bee larvae, 

 which are the natural food for this bacillus. 

 As pointed out by the authors, killing the 



spores of Bacillus larvae suspended in water 

 is a different matter from killing them when 

 embodied in masses of wax or other foreign 

 matter, but it is of value to know that tiie 

 spores were destroyed in less than five min- 

 utes boiling in the lye solution wlien sus- 

 pended in water. — Editor.] 



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The Bees Greatly Benefited Hank Wetherljee. 



HANK WETHERBEE has discountined 

 beekeeping and gone to work. In a 

 statement to a representative of the 

 Star, he said that, while the business as a 

 whole had many points of interest, he had 

 about decided that some sedentary occupa- 

 tion — like taming bulls, or blasting with 

 nitro-glycerine — is much safer and quieter 

 for a ma^i of his retiring disposition. 



It was from Mrs. Wetherbee, however, 

 that the reporter was able to gather the 

 full details of the surprising change that 

 has occurred in Hank and his son, Web, and 

 of Hank's sudden determination to dispose 

 of his apiary and carry on the widow Per- 

 kins' hen farm. 



It appears that some time ago Hank 

 bought a hive of bees from a farmer and 

 set it up in the back yard — with the inten- 

 tion of adding hives as the colony increased 

 until he had a fair-sized apiary; then all 

 he had to do was to put up a sign in front 

 of the house, advertising the honey, and he 

 could sit in a rocking chair on the front 

 porch and dispose of the whole crop with- 

 out further effort. 



He had it all figured out that in 25 years 

 or thereabouts, he would have enough sur- 

 plus cash to buy the National Bank in the 

 village, and foreclose the mortgage on Bill 

 Prentiss who called him a durned lazy mug- 

 wump, back in '82. 



Hank had an affliction of the legs and 

 back which he called "rheumatiz." This 

 allowed him to hobble slowly around with 

 the aid of a crutch but absolutely prohibit- 

 ed the use of a bucksaw, hoe or any imple- 

 ment which he had to grasp with both 

 hands and move up and down or sideways 

 with any degree of force or continuity of 

 action. 



Web w-as learning to emulate his father 

 as nearly as he could, but suffered the handi- 

 cap of not being the possessor of anything 

 closely allied to "rheumatiz." He was 

 tall and loose-jointed, with a foot like a 

 summer squash and a deep and sincere aver- 

 sion for work, which manifested itself at 

 an early age and grew into a sort of mania 

 as he advanced in years. 



It seems that Mrs. Wetherbee had often 

 labored with her husbajid and son both oral- 

 ly and physically when in need of firewood 

 or help with the washing, and she showed 

 Severn 1 bndly deranged flatirons and a hard- 

 wood rolling pin engraved with honorable 



scars as evidence of her efforts along that 

 line. 



Hank and Web up to that time had suc- 

 cessfully resisted all her blandishments 

 tending toward manual labor: Hank, by 

 calling attention to his pitifully crippled 

 condition, and also by the skilful use of 

 his crutch in warding off stray missiles; Web, 

 by absenting himself with great speed and 

 diligence whenever it was noticed the con- 

 versation was veering toward the danger- 

 ous subject known as "work." 



A short time ago it became necessary, 

 owing to the natural increase of the col- 

 ony, to transfer a part of the bees to a new 

 hive; and, as Hank considered himself in- 

 capacitated by his infirmity, he handed the 

 job over to Web, but occupied a chair 

 placed at a safe distance so he could com- 

 fortably supervise the transfer. 



The boy had never had any experience 

 with bees up to that time but felt himself 

 equal to any honeybee that ever flapped a 

 wing; so he draped several yards of mos- 

 quito netting over his hat, drew a pair of 

 socks over his hands, and thus equipped, 

 went out with a hatchet and bee-smoker to 

 move a family of about 4000 busy honey- 

 bees who hadn't the slightest intention of 

 looking for a new apartment until the first 

 of May. Arriving at the scene of action he 

 squirted a fevv^ puffs of smoke into the en- 

 trance to let them know the rent w^as due; 

 then, inserting the blade of the hatchet un- 

 der the cover, he ripped the roof" off and 

 laid bare the domestic secrets of the whole 

 bee family. 



No self-respecting colony of bees could 

 be expected to stand having greasy smoke 

 blown in their eyes, together with a sudden 

 loss of their upper story, without getting 

 somewhat "het up" over it, so they 

 swarmed out with a noise like a circular 

 saw and, surrounding Web on four sides, 

 poked their stings hopefully into every hole 

 and crevice in his clothing and glared an- 

 grily through the squares in the mosquito 

 netting, daring him, in bee language, to 

 come out and fight like a man. 



Web got a little excited when he saw 

 how mad they were, and in trying to side- 

 swipe a few of them tore a gaping hole in 

 the mosquito netting, allowing a handful of 

 enterprising bees to enter and muss up his 

 countenance some. 



He wasn 't exactly prepared to receive 



