FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 101 



keep it sweet, and pievents it from being a breeding-place for 

 mosquitoes. 



CORK-CHIPS FOB WATERING. 



But I hit upon something that is so effective, so cheap, and 

 so little (rouble, that I can hardly imagine anything better. Go 

 to your grocer and ask him to save you some cork-chips, such 

 as he gets in kegs of grapes, and probably throws away. Take 

 a pail or other vessel (I use a half-barrel), put in as much 

 water as you like, and on this put on so much of the cork-chips 

 that the water will barely come up enough for the bees to reach. 

 A bee can not drown in this. When the water gets low, a fresh 

 supply can be poured in, and it does no great harm to pour it 

 directly on the bees. They climb easily to the top of the cork 

 after their bath. The cork remains effective throughout a whole 

 season. 



It is important to start the watering-place early in the 

 season, before the bees make a start at some pump or other 

 place where they will be troublesome. 



LACK OP SYSTEM. 



I would like to say that I am very methodical about over- 

 hauling and seeing to the building up of colonies, from the time 

 they are i)laced on the summer stands till the honey harvest 

 begins, but it would hardly be in accordance with facts. Con- 

 ditions of bees or weather may make a difference in the courise 

 of action. Possibly some other duties aside from the direct 

 care of the bees may make a dii^'erence. So when I attempt to 

 tell things just as they are, my want of system confronts me, 

 and makes the task somewhat difficult. 



At this point I fancy I can hear some of my good friends 

 saying, " Why don't you keep a smaller number of colonies, so 

 that you can have system enough to be able to tell a straight 

 story, and derive more pleasure and profit? " I know it would 

 be more pleasure; as to the profit, I doubt. If I had so few 

 that I could at all times do every thing by a perfect system, I 

 am afraid I should have part of the time a good deal of idle 

 time on my hands. Neither is it fair for me to charge my lack 



