She Sign of the Shad-hush 
Tue shad-bush is open! My bees have seen the 
sign. They are dropping down upon the alighting- 
boards of their hives and running with little bags of 
gold into the still half-closed entrances. During the 
sunny hours of the last three weeks there has been 
a quiet buzzing about the hives: the bees have been 
visiting the early alders, the soft maples, and the 
dusty-catkined willows; but not before to-day, the 
first day of the blowing shad-bush, have things been 
busy at the hives, — have they hummed. 
Off along the meadows I can see large patches of 
garnet against the purple of the sky, —the bloom 
of the red maples. As I approach, a soft murmur 
around and through the misty garnet fills the air, 
like the murmur of a million tiny tongues. Nearer 
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