1898. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



405 



this unjust opinion, but, unfortunately, he feels a strong 

 tickling on his right leg. Furtively, Antony feels over 

 the affected part, and in so doing brushes against his next 

 neighbor, a big, Jewish butcher's wife. 



"Don't let that happen again," she snapt out. 

 Antony reddened to the ears anew ; but the next Instant, 

 with a wild look, he sprang into the air. 



" You ought to be ashamed of yourself, to come among 

 decent people in your present condition," said the old gentle- 

 man with threatening looks. "Such things ought not to be 

 tolerated. It's an outrage !" he growled from his corner. 



At this moment Antony feels anew a violent stinging. Sum- 

 moning all his courage he bravely plunges his hand into his 

 pocket. Mercy ! he is not mistalsen ; the box was broken, 

 and the cover crusht at the time of his fall when entering the 

 coach, and there is no trace of either queen or workers. 



And now that sting in two places ! Antony utters a sav- 

 age cry and leaps anew into the air. 



" Mercy on us ! He's going crazy," says the butcher's 

 wife. 



"Conductor ! Conductor ! let us out. There's a madman 

 here," cry all the passengers. 



Antony Bumke emits piercing yells. 



" In the name of heaven ! he's going into a furious de- 

 lirium !" says the spinster. 



"Silence! silence!" commands the old gentleman. Then 

 turning to Antony, he says, " What's the matter? Tell us." 

 "I can't stand it any longer," cries Antony, " they are 

 gone— every one of them I they sting — I am stung already 1 

 Leave the coach ! It is very important that I should be left 

 alone. Otherwise you may all be stung." 



" He is mad I An escaped madman! Conductor!" cry 

 all the passengers, beside themselves. 



The conductor appears at the window. " Presently, ladies 

 and gentlemen ; the train is just going to stop. What! An 

 escaped lunatic ? The matter shall be lookt into immediately." 

 The eugine shrieks — station N. Full of affright they all 

 precipitate themselves from the coach ; and the station-mas- 

 ter, informed by the conductor, slowly approaches; and when 

 the passengers are all out but Antony, he carefully closes the 

 door, posts himself before the open window, and commences 

 his examination. " So this is an escape. You acknowledge it.'' 

 "Without doubt — certainly; they've all escaped," de- 

 clares Antony, very much agitated. 



"All?" says the station-master. "How many of them 

 were there ?" 



"Five," says Antony, groaning; "four workers — their 

 loss wasn't much — but the queen is gone, too. 



" What ? A queen ? What was she like ?" said the station- 

 master in a bantering tone. 



" Oh ! she had eyes of gold, and the back part of her body 

 was covered with rings of yellow and black." 



"Beautiful queen!" said the station-master, laughing. 

 "And what were the others like?" 



"Why, just like all workers. One bee is just like 

 another." 



"Come, now, keep your thouehts together, young man, 

 and don't go to getting bees in your head again," said the 

 station-master severely. 



" I haven't them in my head," said Antony, groaning, 

 "but in—" 



"And where then?" said the station-master, laughing. 

 "In my — in my — pants!" This last word Antony whis- 

 pered in the ear of his interlocutor. "I had a hole in my 

 pocket — they slipt through it." 



"What slipt through?" askt the confused station-master. 

 "Why, the queen and the four workers." 

 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! a queen and four workmen in his — ha ! 

 ha! ha!" laught the station-master. " Come, be quiet. What 

 are you crying about still ?" 



" Oh ! oh !" cried Antony ; " I can't stand it any longer." 

 The bell rings. Laughing as he goes, the station-master 

 directs his steps to the telegraph operator to give orders to 

 the next station concerning " the lunatic." 



The train is in motion. Antony is alone. He can no 

 longer stand those stings. Rapidly taking his determination, 

 he takes off his pantaloons and approaches the window. 

 Three bees gaily soar aluft into the air, but two stick tightly 

 to the pantaloons. However, they must be got off, and Antony 

 shake his pantaloons out of the window. "A pleasant jour- 

 ney to you, miserable queen," said he dolorously, when, at 

 that instant, whiz ! went the express train by on the other 

 track. It seemed to the poor fellow, more dead than alive, 

 that his head was torn away, but it was only his pantaloons 

 that the express train had carried away triumphantly, and 

 for good. 



Antony Bumke stood petrified. It was night in his soul. 



He remained some time without thought and without . 



The muse itself, horrified, veils Its face. 



Again a whistle, piercing, to make one shiver to the mar- 

 row. To Antony it sounds like a funeral-knell. The train 

 stops boldly before a platform filled with people. They are 

 there, his intended, his future mother-in-law, with many of 

 their acquaintances. Ashamed, he hides himself, for the door 

 has just been opened. The conductor appears ; he makes a 

 sign, and the station-master approaches with two officers. 

 They seize him. 



"He has drest himself up now," said the conductor, 

 laughing. 



"Silence!" said the officer. " Bring a cloak." The sec- 

 ond officer takes off his cloak and puts it on Antony. A strug- 

 gle ensues, and the miserable youth succeeds in jumping out 

 of the coach. The officer seizes him ; he tears away, and the 

 cloak remains in the hands of the officers. A cry escapes 

 from two mouths. Blushing with shame, his intended turns 

 away her head ; the future mother-in-law is turned into a 

 pillar of salt. Before their eyes Antony is again seized by his 

 persecutors, and shut in with them in a charitably closed 

 carriage. 



By mall the thing ought to have been explained away at a 

 later date. But Antony Bumke never had any further desire 

 to try new races of bees, nor to attend bee-shows, and equally 

 he never revisited his enamorata, for she wrote him that she 

 had no desire to marry a sans-culotte. 



Ah, yes ; he was a bee-keeper in bad luck. 



CONDUCTBD By 

 DR. O. O. Mn^LBR. MARENGO. ILL, 



[Questions may be mailed to the Bee Journal, or to Dr. Miller direct.l 



What Cau§cd Tlieir Actions t 



1. One of my colonies of bees came rushing out of the 

 hive one morning about eight o'clock, on the alighting-board, 

 and there were enough bees for a swarm, but it did not swarm, 

 and went back into the hive at night. It has been 10 days 

 ago, and they have not shown any more sign of swarming. 

 What is the trouble? 



2. Another colony laid out around the hive for !<• days 

 and went back, but the hive is full of bees. I put supers on 

 both hives to-day, as they did not seem to be working to suit 

 tne. Did they kill the queen, or what is the trouble ? 



Missouri. 



Answers — 1. I don't know. If they didn't get any farther 

 than the alighting-board, it hardly looks like swarming. 



2. It is possible that they prepared to swarm, and then 



the weather or the honey-flow was so unfavorable that they 



gave it up. 



— ^ — ' — ■ 



Two Queens in a Hive — Cell-Protector§ — Trans- 

 ferring;. 



1. I sent for some queen-cell protectors awhile ago, but I 

 got uo instructions for using them. How are they used ? 



2. Some, time after getting the protectors I had a capt 

 cell, but did not know just the age of it, and waited for some 

 days to see about it, and when, sometime later, I went to ex- 

 amine it, it was broken open, and I thought it was done by 

 the bees, but judge of my surprise when some 10 days later I 

 lookt again, and there were two queens walking around on 

 one frame, and the young one laying eggs before my eyes. I 

 did not know what to do with them, as none of ray colonies 

 were strong enough to take any brood away to start a nucleus, 

 so I concluded to leave both in the hive, where they still are. 

 The young queen must be now about 15 days old, if not more. 

 The old queen has her wings dipt, and the young one has 

 her flying gear all right. 



3. I askt some time ago about the best time to transfer 

 bees. Mine were not strong enough in fruit-bloom, and as the 

 weather was very bad at the time I did not attend to it. If I 

 I do not want any increase, would It be safe to do it now ? 

 Would the young brood remaining in the old hive be safe after 

 drumming out the queen and bees? Illinois, June 2. 



Answers. — 1. You will hardly need any special instruc- 

 tions for use of cell-protectors, after understanding the 



