GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb 



Ol R 0\V> APIARY. 



"AN. Is! — The new year was ushered in dii- 

 _ rinff a beautiful star-light night, and what 

 is very queer for the first day of Jan.. the air 

 is almost as warm as a day in 3Iay or June. 

 We had planned some electrical experiments 

 lor the Sabbath School children last evening 

 j^roviding the weather was frosty, and as it 

 Avas qniic warm about Christmas, we had ev- 

 ery reason to think it would be cold before 

 New Year's, but it was not, and the experi- 

 ments had to be postponed. You may remem- 

 ber that we have been rather vehemently rec- 

 ommending submission to the weather lately, 

 and in fact to all events beyond our control, 

 and here was an excellent chance to .see 

 whether we could follow our own teachings. 

 This morning as the sun arose on a cloudless 

 .>iky with air^as balmy as summer, we must 

 coiifiss that we were inclined to be a little in- 

 dignant at such weather in the midst of winter, 

 especially as we had decided not. to set our 

 bees out. AVell, about 9 o'clock we got a little 

 uneasy, and when we saw bees coming out of 

 the ventilator to the bee house, we were consid- 

 crnhhi uueas}'. There was no help for it ; they 

 must be set out. We rather hui-riedly went 

 into the honse and called for some old clothes, 

 although the temptation was great to "hustle 

 them out" Avithout taking the trouble to "dress 

 for the occasion." After hastily divesting and 

 waiting iu some impatience, we wei'e told that 

 no old ones were to be found ; so we patiently 

 imt on "our things"" again, and just then the 

 *>M clothes turned up and were intruded on our 

 solitary meditations. Patience is a manly vir- 

 tue, and we finalh^ Mere rigged out in clothes 

 that could not well be spoiled. The bee house 

 door Avas swung Avide open and fastened, while 

 Ave mentally discoursed : 



"Now loek here old fellow I you know you 

 alAvays used to 'get mad" Avhen you carried out 

 yonr bees, but after all the talking you have 

 done lately, guess you had better consider it 

 one of the luxuries not to be thought of, so 

 prepare to "keep cool" and 'go slow." " 



No Avonder they were getting out the venti- 

 lator ; the air was hot and close inside, and 

 the minute the door was opened a fair swarm 

 rushed out, and commenced taking their 

 points around the door Avay. 



Things Avent very well for a while, and the 

 number of stings was no greater than usual. 

 But the hives Avere awful heavy, and iu spite 

 of the number of dead that strewed the floor, 

 they seemed to be pretty Avell tilled. The bees 

 that flew out. we judged would be mostly 

 saved, for they had been housed scarcely 40 

 days, and soon gave evidence that they knew 

 very well where their hive should be, for they 

 formed in considerable clusters on their old 

 locations. We must go back here a little, to 

 explain ; during the honey harvest, as we 

 Avrote last July, on account of the rain, Ave 

 Avere obliged to give an unusual number of 

 hives an upper story: and to do this without 

 bringing a lot of ucaa' hiAes into the apiary — 

 Avc have learned to get along with just as few 

 hives and fixtures as wc can, by some lessons 

 in sad experience with a multitude of traps — 

 Ave changed places with quite a number of 

 ' '■ - during the season. Well, wlieu the bees 



were housed Ave cither forgot to number them 

 anew, or were too busy to attend to it, in fact 

 Ave made no calculation at all about taking 

 them out in only six Aveeks, and as soon as wc 

 saAV that it Avas really important that each 

 should have its own location, we began to get 

 "sv.amped" in regard to the order in Avhich 

 they were put in. 



"Let me see, where did I carr,v No. 18 to 

 Avhen I made that division? and AAhat is the 

 number on that next hive "/"' 



While Ave Avere pulling one hive out on the 

 shelf, and dodging a bee that had a fondness 

 for one's eyes, and then twisting a second hive 

 a little to see it' we could not recognize some 

 familiar "knot hole"" to indicate its locality, 

 all of a sudden the upper shelf tipped and two 

 hives turned a somersault, and on their way iu 

 their downward fall, knocked down a third. 



'•Steady my boy ! as you have laiely taught, 

 any body can be cheerful Avhen things go 

 smoothly, but it takes a hero to be mild Avhen 

 the time of trial comes : yon can now show 

 your skill and self control all at once." But 

 the old tempter seemed to think perhaps now 

 wa-j a time for him to put in a word, and as 

 one AA'icked sting struck us on the no.se, and 

 another on the temple, then on the ear, wicked 

 thoughts irould Avell up and Satan whispered 

 "I would stamp them all to atoms, if I pleased : 

 and I Avouldn"t be obliged to keep my mouth 

 shut either, and bear it all Avithout any respite 

 What pay do you get for all this any way? / 

 would let the bees all go and take the world 

 easy as others do. What is the use working 

 all the time T 



'You will go right ahead and do the best 

 yoii can,'" says another A'oice. "all this trouble 

 is the result of your besetting sin of negligence 

 and carelessness.'" 



"Its no use trying." says the other, "you 

 have always had jusl such Avork all your life, 

 and you always will. No body cares how 

 much you sweat and sutfer. Just hear them 

 laughing and joking in the house now. I 

 Avould teach them." 



"Mortal you are sinning to CAen listen to the 

 voice of the tempter I You know full well that 

 your friends give you far moie credit than you 

 deserve. You muxt rise above this, nay. cA^en 

 if far greater trials be still iu store for you. 

 Answer pleasantly the individual who is now 

 asking you if your bees are 'sAvarming." Pos- 

 sibly you would show no more 'sense" in regard 

 to his business than he docs in regard to yours. 

 Look cheerful! You can and must. Keep at 

 Avork, if you see where you have failed, remedy 

 it. 'There is no excellence A\-ithout great la- 

 bor.' Are the bees robbing 'i All the more 

 ' reason AA"hy you should push along. Is even 

 the broom handle sticky Avith houe\- like every 

 thing else? And the floor a sticky mass of 

 ; bees, honey and candy '? Does j'our back ache 

 [ and do stings and stickiness meet your hands 

 at every touch ? Push ahead and don't get 

 yourself into another such a muss. All this 

 ruin and loss of property comes from your just 

 i neglecting to change the marks on your hives 

 when you moved ihem." 



More trials did come dear reader. Three 

 colonies were found dead because they had 

 been given the candy that was slightl.v burnt, 

 but the rest were iu fine condition. On taking 



