THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee - Idyl. 



MBDOKA CLARK. 



He lies in his hammock under the trees. 



In the hush of summer hours. 

 And he hears the voice of plundering Ijees, 



Down there on the bed of tlowers. 



The restful, mumurlng music of bees 



In their buzzinK, monotonous note, 

 On memory's board of ivory iieys. 



Has 'wultened a muffled note. 



And he tries to drown, in an Idle dream, 



To-d ly with its livinj: prose. 

 And glide to that past, which will always seem 



A poem of gild and rose. 



Though hours be as sweet as an angel's thought. 



And slcies wear a tender hue — 

 We yet dream of days whose heavens were wrought 



From a turquoise of finer blue. 



An hour tlies by, oq the pinions of time- 

 He's resting, "Ah, bless those bees!" 



He rest^s and dreams to their rythm and rhyme, 

 And the stir of the summer breeze. 



Now his slippered feet on the turf are tlung; 



He yawns and essays to rise. 

 A smothered oath— a crushed white flower-" I'm 

 stung! 



Confound those bees!" he cries. 



Madison, Wis. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Bee-Keeping in France. 



ARTHUK TODD. 



Some years ago, I made the acquaint- 

 ance of Monsieur Georges De Layens, 

 of Paris, wlio then was earnestly ad- 

 vocating the merits of the movable 

 comb hive, and had put before the 

 French bee keepers a book replete 

 ■with scientific, practical knowledge. 

 Many pleasant and profitable hours 

 have I spent in his company, and 

 worked in his apiary, which is some 

 40 miles from Paris. My coming to 

 this country ; for some time put an 

 end to the discussion of our favorite 

 topic, but, appreciating his love of 

 knowing all going on in bee culture 

 of a progressive nature, I sent him at 

 various times, journals, catalogues, 

 etc., which contained illustrations of 

 bee appliances of a novel character. 



Finding my location, he has lately 

 sent me a copy of his new book on 

 bee keeping entitled " Letters to a 

 Friend " and a photograph of his 

 apiary. Thinking it may interest 

 some to see it, I send it to the Bee 

 Journal as the surest means for one 

 and all to have a peep. On the occa- 

 sion of my first visit to this apiary, 

 Mr. Layens was not able to accompany 

 me. Armed with his introduction, "I 

 started at 5 a. m. on a Sunday morn- 

 ing from Paris, visiting the historic 

 town of Dreux on my way. Arriving 

 at the station, I found I had a country 

 walk of some 2 miles before me, but 

 this I soon covered, and presented 

 myself tired, and weary at the hour 



of liigh V2 at the door of Monsieur 

 le Cure— who was temporarily caring 

 for Mr. Layens' bees. 



My mission explained, the good 

 Cure welcomed me in the most hospi- 

 table manuer ; the best in his house 

 was set before me, and bee talk ran 

 riot, (ireat was the surprise to see 

 me come armed with a smoker, bee 

 veil, thermometer, etc., and each arti- 

 cle was carefully examined by the 

 visitors, for one" by one the whole 

 village seemed to learn that an Eng- 

 lish bee keeper had arrived, and (acci- 

 dentally of course) they called in to 

 see the Cure, and found me and my 

 interesting exhibit. At 2 p. m. the 

 good Cure, myself, and a few others 

 went to the apiary. It was then as 

 now seen in the illustration. 



We opened hive after hive, taking 

 out frames (large and deep) loaded 

 with honey. There, just behind that 

 hive where stands Monsieur de Lay- 

 ens did the deargood€ure, exhausted 

 by excitement and physical weakness 

 sink prone on the grass. We revived 

 him, and when rested we returned to 

 the village. Those among us who 

 were of tlie old-school, having com- 

 pletely changed their minds, after the 



dire Franco-derman war, and afford- 

 ing all the material aid he could, to 

 the wounded and the last sad offices 

 of religion to tlie dying. Alas ! this 

 nolile man, whom to know was but to 

 love and honor, had lost his health 

 and strength in trying to serve his 

 brethren. This nobie brother bee 

 keeper had in him that day, the con- 

 suming fire of " consumption." As 

 he told me of his weakness I thought 

 of the packet of tiuinine in my pocket, 

 and begging liim to use it, and cure 

 himself. I parted from one of nature's 

 noble men. lie died in the arms of 

 my friend Mr. Layens, and dying his 

 thoughts went back to the Sunday in 

 the apiary, the quinine, etc., and he 

 charged Mr. Layens to present me 

 with his love, and good wishes. Good 

 and true men are few, but in the 

 ranks of bee culture they are to be 

 found. 



Mr. Layens being of independent 

 means has been able to give his scien- 

 tific researches full scope, without 

 being hampered by any thoughts of 

 the having to make liis apiary pay a 

 profit on the capital invested. He 

 has taken up at times certain special 

 points in apiculture, and at great 



ocular demonstration afforded them 

 of the facility with which the honey 

 might be taken, and no bee lose its 

 life. 



The Cure sung vespers while I 

 rested myself, and then the old horse 

 and chariot was brought out. Seated 

 in it, I found the Cure wished to speed 

 me on my return journey all he could, 

 and at the same time show me a sight 

 never to be forgotten. He drove me 

 through a forest where the heather 

 was in full bloom, and, in a secluded 

 hidden spot, he showed me some half 

 dozen large straw hives (certainly the 

 largest I have ever seen.) They were 

 crammed full of bees and honey. 

 Thousands of bees, idle for want of 

 room, and around me such a mass of 

 floral wealth as I think I have never 

 seen equalled. Those only who have 

 seen the heather in full bloom, in all 

 its glory, can appreciate the reasons 

 for tlie annual migrations of bees and 

 hives that take place in France and 

 (Jermany. 



There, seated on a rock, the Cure 

 told how he had helped like a true 

 man, to do his duty to his country, by 

 following the French army in that 



personal cost and labor, set himself 

 the task of unfolding its hidden 

 mystei'ies. On one occasion he estab- 

 lished apiaries at certain points on one 

 of the Swiss Alps. Each apiary being 

 at a higher level than the one immedi- 

 ately beneath it. The deviation of 

 honey yield in each zone was careful- 

 ly noted, and by chemical analysis 

 the constituents of the honey from 

 each zone were looked into. The 

 moment of the departure of the first 

 bee at the beginning of each day's 

 toil at each successive altitude was 

 taken, and an inspection of the note 

 book recording the results of these 

 "before breakfast studies" showed 

 me the intense love of the science of 

 bee keeping that animates Mr. Lay- 

 ens. 



The relation between the number 

 of bees fanning at the door and the 

 necessity for a greater or less evapora- 

 tion of moisture was another of his 

 studies. Foul brood has per force 

 been of late one of his studies, and I 

 propose to translate, and in a later 

 number of the Bee Journal give in 

 his own words his own method of 

 treating this dreadful disease. 



