1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



i.v; 



'PointEts fromthereac end of 



One night the phone rang. "Say! is this 

 that Jay, the liee crank ? " 



•'Aye, aye, sir." 



"Well, i am in a tix. I just bought five 

 glims of bees and moved them only two 

 blocks, and most of them have gone l)ack to 

 their old place, and thei'e is a bunch of bees 

 hanging on the fence as big as a bushel bas- 

 ket. What can I do ".' " 



"Think you have done a little too much 

 already."" 



"Haven't you any thing to offer me ? " 



"Nothing I can think of at present ex- 

 cept my sympathy. You might put an emp- 

 ty hive there and give them a queen."" 



"This was considered the best plan, so in 

 the morning 1 went over with a virgin ([uecn 

 about three hours old. We let her run into 

 the hive and she was kindly received. She 

 was the only thing that was kindly received. 

 Never ])efore had I seen such a mess of angry 

 bees. They were all fielders that had re- 

 turned to their old home, so of course the 

 whole fighting force of the five hives was 

 there. Smoke had little eft'ect upon them. 

 as they had no honey to eat. A 1)ee wcmM 

 alight on my face with criminal intent. I 

 would swat her one, sometimes before she 

 stung— usually just after. My friend said: 

 " You mustn't strike at the bees that way. 



That makes them angry. Never make any 

 quick movement when you are among them 

 or they will be sure to sting. Be quiet. Do 

 not wink. Do not smile " (I hadn't so far): 

 "hold your breath and cultivate a pleasant 



"My bees and I are very much aiiaclieil to each 

 other."— The Jay. 



disposition. Here I Let me show you how." 



"Very well," I answered. "I should be 

 delighted to learn. Just take this smoker 

 and drive them off from the fence into the 

 hive." 



Before he had gotten near them there was 

 a score of angry bees dancing in front of his 

 face. Still his courage was undaunted. Sat- 

 isfied there was going to be a scene I got 

 well back out of range and sat down to pick 

 out stings and enjoy the sport. 



Now, my friend is an intelligent man. All 

 who know him say there is nothing the mat- 

 ter with his upper story with the exception 

 that it has no hair on top of it — not a serious 

 objection in the ordinary walks of life, but 

 on extraordinary occasions like this it was a 

 matter not to be passed bghtly over by the 

 bees. His head was bald from his eyebrows 

 to his coat-collar. 



On he went. A bee stung him on the 

 hand. He took no notice. i)ne stung him 

 on the neck. Still his stolidity was main- 

 tained. Another took him on the ear. His 

 sweetness of disposition still remained in- 

 tact. At last one got him with one of those 



