212 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



and persistent that it seemed impossible to open a crack without 

 their immediately forcing their way in. My wife was provided 

 with a smoker in full blast, and a big bunch of goldenrod or 

 other weeds. A robber-cloth covered the pile. With one hand 

 I lifted the cloth and with the other took out a frame of sections, 

 then quickly dropped the robber-cloth in its place, my wife 

 keeping a cloud of smoke in the way of any robbers which 

 should attempt to enter the pile while the cloth was raised. 

 Instantly the frame was out of the super, the robbers made for 

 the frame of sections. I made for the wagon and my wife 

 made for me. Running in a zig-zag, circuitous course, my wife 

 followed me, pufHng and switching at every step, and by the 

 time we got to the wajjon the robbers were lost, the frame was 

 slipped quickly into the super on the wagon, and the robber- 

 cloth dropped over it. The Scotch folks at the house had a 

 good laugh over the crazy couple chasing one another through 

 the orchard, but we beat the bees. Under ordinary circum- 

 stances it would be better to take an easier plan or wait till 

 dark. 



PROTECTIOX FROM STINGS. 



I have been a beekeeper since 1861, and since 1878 I have 

 made the production of honey my sole business, aside from 

 writing about bees, and yet I have not reached that point where 

 I care nothing for protection from stings. When I first com- 

 menced keeping bees, a sting on my hand was a serious affair, 

 swelling to the shoulder, and troubling fully as much the second 

 day as the first. Now, if I receive a half-dozen stings or more, 

 I cannot tell an hour or two later where I was stung, except as 

 a mtitter of memorj'. Yet I think that a sting gives me fully 

 as much pain for the first minute now, as it did fifty years ago. 

 Sometimes the pain is so severe that it literally makes me groan, 

 especially if no one is within hearing. I sometimes wonder at 

 those who scout at any sort of protection, and query whether 

 there may not be just a little of a spirit of bravado about it. 

 I think I could go through a year without any sort of protection, 

 but I do not think I ever shall. A bee inside my clothing makes 

 me very nervous, and I cannot go on in comfort at my work 

 with a feeling of uncertainty as to where and when its little 



