AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



205 



Youthful Bee-Keeper's Story 



Here is a story that is told by that vet- 

 eran beekeeper, Mr. I. A. Root, in Glean- 

 ings in Bee Culture. Quite a young boy 

 in the neighborhood of San Jacinto, Cal., 

 evinced a liking for bees. He read every- 

 thing he could lay hold of on the subject; 

 watched beemen; listened to their talk 

 until he was ready to put his knowledge 

 to some practical use. His father, how- 



BRINGING HOME THE BEES IN HIS TROUSERS. 



ever, objected to purchasing a coiony, say- 

 ing they would find plenty of stray swarms 

 at the proper season; and so our friend 

 watched and waited. 



At length a swarm came one day when 

 he was at work in the fields, quite a way 

 from home. He threw sticks and dirt 

 among the bees, as he had read about, in 

 order to make them alight, and finally 

 scooped water with his hat, from a puddle, 

 threw it among them, and was at length 

 rewarded by seeing them alight and 

 cluster on a bush. What should he hive 

 them in? If he went somewhere for a box 

 he feared they would start off again before 

 he returned. It was hot weather, so he 

 took off his trousers, tied up the ( js and 

 hived the bees in them. They evidently 

 considered this a very fair hive, for they 

 stayed in the trousers while he trudged all 

 the way home with them. His good 

 mother saw him coming and helped him 

 hive them in good shape. 



By the way, boys, is there any truer or 

 kinder friend to a lad of thirteen than his 

 mother? After the bees were hived, ti en 

 the mother looked after the boy. Thr 

 weather was hot and the road dusty, and 

 poor Willie's bare legs were covered with 

 a mixture ot" perspiration, dust, and occa- 

 sionally a bee sting. His enthusiasm, how- 

 ever, was enough to help him hold on to 

 his prize, and now he has a rousing colony 

 of bees in a movable comb hive, and bids 

 fair to be, in due time, one of the shining 

 lights. His name is Willie Guthridge, 

 and here is a sketch of him, as he brought 

 home his first swarm. 



On Important Subjects. 



Basswood as a Honey-Plant 



DR. 6. L. TINKER. 



It is now July 15, and we have as yet 

 not a single section of sealed honey, nor 

 has any honey come into market, and 

 the calls for it are numerous. 



Up to July 1 the bees were nearly 

 starving when the basswood opened, and 

 yielded bountifully for two weeks. 

 There are, however, but^ few trees left 

 here in this county, and the same may 

 be said of the whole State of Ohio, and 

 the strangest thing is, that so many bee- 

 keepers have sold what few trees they 

 had to the sawyer, and thus have cut off 

 an almost never-failing supply of nec- 

 tar for the bees ; and to this cause alone 

 — the cutting down of our basswood 

 timber — is due the frequent failure of 

 the honey crop of late years. 



In the years that have gone by, the 

 farmers always had plenty of honey all 

 over this State. At the present time I 

 know of farmers who have hardly had a 

 taste of honey for the last four years, 

 but have had to feed to keep their bees 

 alive. This is because of the failure of 

 white clover, which is now the only 

 source of a large crop of honey we have 

 left ; but it fails to produce a crop every 

 other year, and sometimes for two or 

 three years in succession, so that often 

 the bees must be fed in the fall for winter. 



Now, these are unpleasant facts to 

 contemplate, that every farmer and bee- 

 keeper well knows, and it is useless to 

 blind our eyes to truth longer, but if the 

 industry of bee-keeping is to prosper, 

 there must be found a remedy, and it 



