1136 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 1 



count for the dilapidated 

 condition of his one and 

 only smoker. 



One can scarcely im- 

 agine the charm of Mr. 

 Pratt's manner of de- 

 scribing his system un- 

 til he hears him talk and 

 sees him go through with 

 some of the more diffi- 

 cult "stunts" that have 

 puzzled some of his fol- 

 lowers. Mr. Hooker told 

 me he had visited him 

 many a time, and that 

 he fairly revels among 

 his bees. He watches 

 them by the hour; and 

 after hearing our friend 

 Swarthmore describe in 

 detail his system I be- 

 came thoroughly con- 

 vinced there is hardly an- 

 other man in the United 

 States, if in the world, 

 who understands the ac- 

 tual habits — that is to 

 say, natural history— of 

 the bee better than he. 



His yards devoted to 

 queen- rearing are locat- 

 ed in the rear of some 

 pleasantly located sub- 

 urban property. I took 

 several snap shots, and give three of them 

 which will explain themselves. Mr. Pratt 

 has a very comfortable rustic seat in the 

 shade of some trees in one corner of the 



W. E. FLOWER HIVING A SWARM OF BEES. 



W. E. FLOWER WITH A SWARM OF BEES ON HIS HAT. 



yard, and close to one of his bee-rooms. 

 Three of us seated ourselves on the afore- 

 said seat. What did we do ? Why, we 

 talked bees, of course; and you would think 

 so from the snap shot 

 taken by Mr. Selser, for 

 this was too good an op- 

 portunity for him to let 

 go by. When I in turn 

 desired to ''return the 

 compliment," and re- 

 quested him to take my 

 position between two of 

 the leading lights of 

 beedom, he stoutly pro- 

 tested. As may be sur- 

 mised from the picture, 

 Mr. Hooker was talking 

 to both Mr. Pratt and 

 myself. We have al- 

 ready shown views of the 

 Pratt bee-yard ; but I 

 had retired to the back 

 end of the pathway, 

 looking over into the 

 main yard just beyond, 

 where the strong colo- 

 nies are located. From 

 this and the other pic- 

 ture it will be seen that 

 the babies are located on 

 stakes in the tall grass 

 out in the open. The 

 other view shows Mr. 

 Selser and Mr. Hooker 

 in one corner of the ba- 

 by - nucleus yard. Mr. 



