August, 1922 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



525 



children, home from school by that time, 

 went running off after them, but they soon 

 lost sight of tliem and of course ^vill never 

 see them again. 



"Well, we have one of them," comforted 

 Mrs. M., and she took us out to see her 

 flower garden. Tliere, a little later, I heard 

 bees. And hurrying to the orchard fence, 

 discovered tlie hived swarm calmly leaving 

 their new home and actually going over into 

 the old one, the parent hive! It sounds in- 

 credible, but it happened. We all saw it. 

 And I took my beehive and my company 

 and went home. 



Yes, assuredly I would have written this 

 into my journal last May, if I'd had one. 

 For while the countless times that one hives 

 swarms successfully and without incident, 

 all according to Hoyle, are interesting to 

 experience, yet it is these other times when 

 everything goes witchy, that are so funny 

 to remember. 



There really are two sequels to this tale. 

 One could not have been written into the 

 diary until a 

 few days later. 

 For then Mrs. 

 M. telephoned 

 that the bees 

 h a d swarmed 

 again and Mrs. 

 M. was coming 

 after the hive, 

 while the elev- 

 en-year-old boy 

 was trying to 

 get the bees. 

 She described 

 the cluster, we 

 decided on saw- 

 ing off the 

 branch, and he 

 hived them suc- 

 cessfully. 

 You 're a bet- 

 ter man than I was, William M. 



The other sequel was what Mrs. S. and I 

 did the rest of the day. When we finally 

 reached home, instead of going in, Ave 

 walked back along the elderberry bushes; 

 climbed the old rail fence where wild roses 

 were just passing out of bloom; crossed 

 patches of pink stonecrop, resting a moment 

 on flat rocks in the thick of it to count the 

 bees on the blossoms; picked our way on 

 stepping-stones over the little wet weather 

 branch; climbed the rock wall; and made 

 our way up the gentle ridge to the dead 

 finger-pointing oak that marks our rear 

 boundary. It was after climbing the Avail 

 that Ave heard bees. "They are Avorking on 

 something here," I said; "let's see Avhat." 

 We started looking. We looked; and we look- 

 ed; and Ave looked. Over here, we decided; 

 no, over here, Ave reversed the decision; or 

 no, it sounds loudest doAvn there. Strong and 

 steady Avas the humming; but for all our 

 searching, we found no bees. Se Ave gave it 

 up and gathered daisies instead. Then we 

 sat doAvn on the Avarm sparse grass, with 



Bees. floAvers, vegetables and 

 wliifh broadens the interest of 

 to the variety of his table 



Jock at our feet, and talked about life. 



One day, some two or three Aveeks later, 

 I heard Mr. Allen call to me, from down by 

 the rail fence. "Come on out here," he 

 urged; "and bring my hat." When I joined 

 him, what Avas he doing but trying to locate 

 humming bees! With Jock at his heels and a 

 quart of cherries — or what was left of them 

 • — in his hand! He had first lieard the 

 sound, he said, when up near the house, and 

 had Avandered doAvn to locate it. But he had 

 not been able to find anything. So we tried 

 it together. But Avith no better results than 

 on that other day when I lunched my lunch 

 guest at my neighbor's. It is still the mys- 

 tery of our little ridge. 



How happily sideline beekeeping combines 

 Avitli other outdoor home activities. Peo- 

 ple Avho live "half in the country, half 

 in the toAvn," and who therefore have plen- 

 ty of yard space, are the ones who oftenest 

 find a few hives of bees an attractive, inter- 

 esting and perhaps profitable addition to 

 the home grounds. How well they combine 



Avith both veg- 



e t a b 1 e and 

 flower gardens. 

 How charm- 

 ingly flowers 

 and shrubs, 

 smooth green 

 grass and 

 young trees 

 harmonize Avith 

 well-kept 

 w li i te painted 

 beehiA^es. While 

 the homey 

 look of a flock 

 of fine chick- 

 ens is made 

 even homier 

 and more allur- 

 ing by half a 

 dozen or more 

 beehives by the fence. For quite Avith- 

 out question, the hives add to the artistry 

 of the owner 's surroundings, as Avell as {o 

 tlie broadening of his interests; to his health 

 as Avell as to the variety of 'his table; 

 and perhaps even to his bank account. Yet 

 tojhs real bee loA^er that last item is usu- 

 ally a matter of minor importance. Even 

 as he does not ask his tramps through Avoods 

 to bring him pocket money, nor his tennis 

 or golf to make him a bondholder, so, of his 

 bees, their true lover asks first, and chiefly, 

 for the charm and beauty of their setting 

 and the delight and wonder of their ways. 



chickens make a combination 

 the owner, adds to his health, 

 and to his bank account. 



THE SILENCES. 

 The silences came creeping near 



My penny-trumpet day. 

 And I stood \-ery still to hear 



Whatever they might say. 



The things they said were holy things, 

 And Avhen they slipped aAvay, 



.\ tented wonder, like great wings, 

 Was all about my day. 



