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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Xhc Merry Hum of Bees. 



ROSALINE E. JONES. 



As some sweet scrap of an old poem strays 

 Back from oblivion and gladdens me. 

 So steals upon my heart the memory 



Of you and the old days. 



An echo echoes back a song unheard. 

 Telling unwritten romances to me; 

 Idylls unsyllabled in poetry. 



Of dates unoalendared. 



A-maytime lilac blooms and hum of bees, 

 And birds' and breezes' myriad carolings. 

 And all the springtime's fugitive sweet 

 things. 



Commingling ecstasies 



That once we shared, but ne'er again shall 

 kni >w. 

 Save in the vague, mysterious realm of 



d reams. 

 Where heart keeps sacred tryst with heart, 

 and seems 

 Threading the long ago. 



Today I know not where your footsteps wend; 

 The world is large; our ways, meandering 

 However deviously, yet never bring 



Our paths to the same end. 



Where'er you face your way winds to the 

 heights 

 Beyond my rea/^h, I keep the valley path. 

 And glean the sweet late summer's aftermath, 



Fragrant with dear delights 



That you would scarce count worth your gath- 

 ering; , 



You, who must win upon yotir upland ways, 



A hero's laurels and a poet's lays: 

 Yet, while I try to sing, 



I wonder if, perchance, some fledgling song 

 Of mine may, one day, fluttering tremulously, 

 Warble in love spun lays ecstatically. 



The words unvoiced so long. 



And reach your heart, like a dove messenger, 

 And rouse regret and waken memory- 

 That song should be my dearest song to me. 



My heart's interpreter. 



Sometimes 1 think of you as one who passed 

 Beyond the shadows to a bourne unknown. 

 And then I dream you are my very own. 



My very own at last. 



In the dream realm there are no laws, forsooth. 

 And happily, lest in some wilding mood 

 The vagrant dreamer should o'erbend its 

 code. 



Or break it without ruth. 



But from the trysuuR place in fairy lands. 

 The dreamer's yearning heart no trophy 



brings; 

 Not e'en the memory of a kiss that clings. 



Or touch of loviue har-ds. 



And so I joy in thus remembering yet. 

 And sending aftar vu» this raveled strand 

 Of song, half honev sweet with memory and 



Half bitter with regr^'t. 



Come to the Chicago feast, on Nov. 19. 



Wavelets o! News. 



Uniting" Colonies. 



If I had small colonies that wished to 

 unite, I would move them together, and 

 let them get well established^ In their 

 new location before disturbing' them. I 

 would move them in the evening, after 

 all the workers had returned from the 

 fields, and put grass or straw in front of 

 the hive entrance, so that they could not 

 leave as usual ; a board in front, to 

 bump their heads agaln.st, will cause 

 them to notice a cange in their location, 

 and take their bearings. 



When established in their new home, 

 I would remove all their queens but one, 

 and cage them, choosing the best one to 

 remain .with the colony. 



When wanted to unite them, I would 

 remove the hives from their old stand, 

 and place a new hive in the center of 

 the place where they stood, placing a 

 smooth board in front of it to brush the 

 bees upon. Then I would remove the 

 frames containing brood from all the 

 hives, brush off all the bees, and put the 

 frames promiscuously into the new hive, 

 and pour all the bees together in front 

 of it, and drive the bees into it with 

 smoke. 



As neither of the colonies can lay 

 claim to this home, they accept the con- 

 ditions, and unite peaceably. — Exchange. 



When to Put Bees in the Cellar. 



Many suppose it better to leave them 

 out as long as possible — say, until the 

 holidays. I do not concur. With bees, 

 as with other animals, hardships do not 

 harden them. It does not pay to leave 

 an animal out until it is " Spring poor" 

 before you stable it. Neither does it pay 

 to leave the bees out after the warm 

 days have gone. They eat more outside, 

 and this is the very thing we wish to 

 avoid, both on account of economy, and 

 health of the- bees. 



If you could put them into a reposi- 

 tory of just the right temperature, and 

 if it could be maintained from Oct. 15 

 to April 15 at so nearly what the bees 

 require, that they would consume not to 

 exceed ten pounds per colony for the 

 six months, I should say it was economy 

 to house early. 



I have been in the habit of commenc- 

 ing to carry mine in in the latter part 

 of October, and usually finish in Novem- 

 ber, but have sometimes taken the last 

 in as late as Christmas. I find the ones 



