FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 55 



poke a little fun at me in convention, because I acci- 

 dentally admitted that I sat down to work at bees. If I 

 were obliged to work all the season without a seat, I 

 am afraid I would have to ^ive up the business from 

 exhaustion. Moreover, if I had the strengfth of a Sam- 

 son I don't think I should waste it stooping over hives, 

 so long as I could get a seat. I generally have three or 

 four seats about the apiary, and they may not all be of 

 the same kind. A common glass-box is more used than 

 any other. To make it convenient for carrying, a strap 

 of leather or cloth may be nailed to two diagonally oppo- 

 site corners on the bottom. Or the cover may be nailed 

 on the box with a hand-hole in the middle. The box 

 being of three different dimensions, one has a choice as 

 to height of seat. It is a little curious to know what a 

 difference there is in this respect as to the preferences 

 of different persons. My assistant never uses the high- 

 est seat the box affords, while I never use the lowest. 



Fig. i8 shows a hive-seat with a strap-handle, the 

 kind I prefer ; Fig. 19 shows one with hand-hole, which 

 my assistant prefers. 



A DIGRESSION. 



Perhaps I ought to digress a little, and tell you about 

 my help. Years ago, my wife, her sister Emma, and 

 sometimes my boy Charlie (I have no other children), all 

 worked with me at the bees. Those were delightful days. 

 T think Charlie would have made a very bright bee- 

 keejier, but somehow he did not take kindly to the busi- 

 ness, and has spent his later years in the army and gov- 

 ernment service. My wife is one of the sort who is 

 never happy unless she is doing something for someone 

 else, so for years she has been confined to the house so 

 as to help make a pleasant home for others, sometimes 

 of my relatives, sometimes of hers. At present, in this 

 year of our Lord 1902, as well as for several years past, 

 there dwells with us my wife's mother, Mrs. Margaret 



