1881 



GLEANINGS IX BEE CULTURE. 



323 



TAKING BEES OX A PICMC, DOWN 



SOITH," AND THE PliEASlKES (?) 



THEREl JNTO PERTAINING. 



A TIMF.LV WARNING TO THOSE WHO PIJOPOSE TO 

 TAKE BEES TO FAIRS. 



(g((g /p^JOOD MORNIX:" 



ng?) "Hallo, Lamb, how?" 

 "'-^'^ Neighbor L. had come over to consult me 

 upon taking- a colony of bees to a picnic at Point 

 Caswell, some 15 miles from us. 



"Well, I'll take a colony. Oh! I'll take my im- 

 ported queen's stock, and, don't you know those tar 

 heels will just stare at a Simplicity tec-hive filled 

 with them 'golden insex' ?" 



" You bet," says I. 



The next day he had his bc^s smuggled on board 

 the steamer, and at an early hour was on the picnic 

 grounds. Some 3000 people were present during the 

 day, and neighbor Lamb just spread himself— like 

 the turkey hen that sat on 68 eggs. Oh yes I he gave 

 the rustic's " information " that was not only new to 

 them but -to me too. He expatiated wildly upon 

 the old " king bee." as the people around constantly 

 styled the queen. He exhibited the bees frame by 

 frame, without veil or smoker, which elicited great 

 applause and clapping of hands. 



" Jerus8?a»i .'" said one "yaller-jeans " checkered 

 seven-footer; " mister, you jest hold on till 1 run 

 and git Sal and mammy." 



"When mammy and Sally did get there, you should 

 have heard the " Ohs" and " Jerusalams." 



" Now you jest look a yonder, Sally Mariar." 



"O mammy! Is^e; did you ever?" 



" Say, mister, what mout your name be? " 



"My name is Lamb," modestly replied neighbor L. 



" Them ain't bees, are they? " 



" Oh, yes!" said friend L., just then rubbing off a 

 " dyspeptic" bee from under his right ej"c, but leav- 

 ing the sting behind. 



" Wal," said a little cross-eyed man on the out- 

 skirts of the crowd, " I could handle them just that 

 way myself. My par used to have 60 gums. I don't 

 like these new-pattern fixin's for bees." 



" Say, mister, what'll you ax far that gum and 

 bees?" says another. 



"Ten dollars," says L., wiping a bee, but leaving 

 the most important part, the sting, on his left eye- 

 lid. 



I had told Lamb, previously, if the bees stung 

 him he must take it cool, reach up, oh so gently! 

 and brush the bee off by gliding the hand over it, 

 and thus remove it without attracting attention. 

 " For," says I, " what would the dear people think 

 to see a live bee-man jumping, slapping, and shout- 

 ing like mad, as you do when stung at your apiary 

 sometimes?" 



"All right," says he; "I'll boar it: but 1 r?o hope 

 the bees will act pretty." 



The inquirer seemed perfectly amazed. "Ten dol- 

 lars! why. feller, I only meant that one gum, not all 

 you've got at home. " 



"Well," says Lamb, who by this time I could plain- 

 ly see was getting worried, " I just mean what I say; 

 this Root Simplicity bee-hive, with frames, combs, 

 honey, and all the flxin's— even the alighting-board 

 and bees— can be had for— phew! confound that 

 bee! Run here, somebody, and get it out of my eye." 

 . " How much? " says the fellow, still persisting. 



"Five dollars!" yelled Lamb, who had severely I 



jarred the comb', and those "insex" were "play- 

 ing," oh so beautifully! among his raven locks. 



By this time the would-be purchaser had come a 

 Iittlenearcrthebces.and.zip: one took him on his 

 lengthy nose. That settled the purchase. He didn't 

 run; oh, no! he Hew, shouting "dingoation! wb'^opl 

 take 'em off me! dod rot yer hide, le'me loose," all 

 the while slapping wildly with his hat. 



This created a fearful stampede, and the great (?) 

 Carolina bee show closed for want of an audience. 



After giving several dodging inquirers the address 

 of Gleanings, and its delightfully cheerful editor. 

 Neighbor L. wandered off' into the darkness of the 

 forest, and sat chewing the cud of discontent the 

 remainder of the day. After awhile I found him. 



"Say, neighbor, how's picnicking with bees?" 



"Oh, bZast the picnic I blqst the hees! Say, wou't 

 you please write Root, and tell him to send down a 

 thousand provisioned pound cages, and I'll ship him 

 millions of bees and pay the expressage on 'cm my- 

 self, and thank him to take the plagues." 



"Take it cool; you'll feel better when j'our face 

 goes down." says I. 



I had to make tracks then. Because the youn? 

 ladies laughed at his big face coming home, he went 

 below and tried to persuade the engineer to blow 

 the "blasted oil steamer sky high; " but he wanted 

 time to get his bees oft" the boat before this catas- 

 trophe occurred. 



P. S.— I saw neighbor L. this morning. He looks 

 better, and has changed his mind. He says, only for 

 those " tar heels " every thing would have been 

 O. K. K. C. Taylok. 



Wilmington, N. C, June 10, 1881. 



HOW 



FRIEND iniLLER CARES FOR HIS 

 EMPTY COMBS, ETC. 



ALSO SOME THING ABOUT HIS TCSSLE WITH THE 

 DWINDLING. 



fi HAD a large number of empty combs this 

 spring, some of them very nice ones, and I was 

 quite anxious to save them. I had no room, as 

 perhaps I shall have this fall, in which to brimstone 

 them, and at any rate they must be brimstoned rcrj/ 

 heavily, or some of the large worms will still live. 

 I looked over each comb carefully, and with the 

 point of a p?n-knife picked out all the worms I could 

 find. I did this two or three times, but it was a 

 great deal of work; and the best I could do, there 

 still seemed to be worms left. I thought of putting 

 them in supers over the hives containing colonies. 

 In that case the bees would take care of them, but it 

 would waste the heat of the colony, allowing the 

 warm air to ascend into the super. Then I took the 

 contents of a hive,- frames, bees, and all,— and put 

 into a super, filled up the hive with empty combs, 

 and set the super containing the colony over the 

 hive. Thus the bees were obliged to pass through 

 the hive of empty combs in going to and from their 

 brood-nest, and the plan has worked to mj' great 

 satisfaction. In some cases I have set a super of 

 empty combs on the hive of combs, and then set the 

 super containing the colony over all. Of course, I 

 have used the strong colonies for this purpose. If 

 the combs contained honey, as some of them did, I 

 don't know of any better place for them. 



You say you want to see the old veterans own up 

 how helpless they are in the matter of 



DWINDLING. 



I don't know whether you call me an old veteran 



