1881 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



47 



named just that exact amount. As for the bees, 

 no time was to be lost ; and as the offer was 

 immediately accepted, he started in pursuit, 

 while his neighbor resumed his occupation 

 of nailing up the hog-pen. Somehow that 

 hog-pen seemed to need a great amount of 

 tixing to make it so the pigs wouldn't get 

 out and make a general raid on the neighbor- 

 hood every now and then. 



Off goes' friend M.\s coat and vest; and, 

 with his eye on the l)ees and his feet any- 

 where but on solid ground, lie starts off, 

 down the hill back of the church. 



3rR. 3iekky];axks after the bees. 



Now, since friend ]M. has become a bee- 

 keeper he has improved in health l)y out- 

 door exercise, until you would hardly recog- 

 nize in him the same individual that he was 

 when we first met him. In fact, so robust 

 has he become, that, when his foot hit on a 

 round stone which turned over, he tumbled 

 flat, and rolled clear to the bottom of the 

 hill. 



''nUKKAir FOU THE IJKESi 



As he picked himself up at the bottom of 

 the hill, and rubbed the sore places, looking 

 first one way and then the other, to collect 

 his ideas and get the points of the compass, 

 the first words he heard were,— 



"Hurrah for the bees I'' 



These words came from John, his neigh- 

 bor's boy. xVs he heard his father selling the 

 bees to friend M., he set down his hive on the 

 top of the swill-pail, and watched earnestly 

 to see what M. was going to do with them 

 after they were bought. As he doffed his 

 coat, John viewed the proceedings very in- 

 tently, and was not slow in following after 

 the decamping swarm. "With his light sum- 

 mer clothing, he very soon outran the owner 

 of the bees, and the shoutthat friend M. heard 



was occasioned by the sight of the whole 

 swarm of bees settling upon a leafy limb of 

 one of the highest trees in the woods. John 

 had caught a portion of the bee fever from 

 our friend ]M., and the fit was on, after his 

 exercise of the brisk run. On the impulse 

 of the moment, he climbed a small tree that 

 stood near Avhere the bees were swinging 

 from the end of a limb, and. with a 10-cent 

 jack-knife that friend M. had made him a 

 present of, he cut the limb, slipped carefully 

 down the tree with his prize, and, by the time 

 Merrybanks had found out Avhere the boys 

 and bees were, he was standing on the 

 ground, the center of an admiring audience 

 (of two), while he held up his prize. Our 

 artist has tried to depict the expression of 

 pride and joy that shone in John's eyes (and 

 mouth(V) ) as he held the limb containing 

 that whopping runawav swarm up to view. 



JOnX WITH TIiE BEES, AFTER CLIJIBINCt 

 XnE TREE. 



Now you know why John and friend M. 

 were fast friends, and why just the sight of 

 friend M.'s rosy face and round figure 

 brought relief to John that wintry morning. 

 Next month Ave will try to tell what hap- 

 pened to that bee-hive John left sitting 

 on the swill-pail, when he started after the 

 bees. 



MRS. COTTON. 



At the request in our last No., for facts from 

 those who had seut Mrs. Cotton money, from which 

 no returns of any kind had been received, it seems 

 there were, after sifting it all down, very few such. 

 If her fault has been one of sending goods that did 

 not give satisfaction, rather than not sending goods 

 at all, it is quite likely we have been too severe on 

 her. It is true she did not send me goods for the 

 money I sent her, but she claims now the money 

 was returned to me. Although I never got it, it is 

 quite possible it was sent, and if she has settled sat- 

 isfactorily with all others, I will cheerfully drop my 

 complaint. Now, friends, is the time to speak out, 

 if you have aught to say against Mrs. Cotton ; if not, 

 forever hold your peace. 



