THE AUSTRALIAN BEEKEEPERS’ JOURNAL. 
blithely, as they hovered among the flowers ; and 
any one who had shut his ears to the frightful din 
below might have thought this spot the most 
peaceful in the world. 
And now Lizzie, catching up a whole armful of 
bandages,- hurried away into the church, where 
she was soon so busy among the wounded men 
that she hardly noticed that the noise of the 
battle was growing louder, seeming to roll nearer 
and nearer every moment. 
But suddenly a fearful cry from without made 
her look up. and through the nearest window she 
saw the Germans crowding wildly into the one 
small gate of the churchyard wall, while behind 
them the dark Turkish faces and snow-white 
turbans were eddying like a flood among the 
houses. The Turks 'had taken the village, and 
were coming on to attack the church itself I 
Luckily it could only be attacked on one side, 
for on the other the rock was so steep and 
slippery that no man alive could have scaled it. 
So the brave village bailiff though bleeding from 
several wounds, ranged his men along the side of 
the wall that faced the enemy, and encouraged 
them to stand firm and fight it out to the last. 
On came the Turks with hoarse yells of tri- 
umph. and in a moment the whole space outside 
the church-yard wall was a sea of grim faces and 
flashing steel. 
And now the swarming assailants made a third 
charge, which brought them right to the foot of 
the wall that sheltered all who were left of the 
defenders ; and while some thundered upon the 
gate with axes, others planted ladders against the 
wall or tried to clamber up it on each other’s 
shoulders. 
Another moment and all would have been 
over ; but just then Lizzie, struck with a bright 
idea (which came to her from an old story she 
had heard one winter evening), darted back to 
her little garden, seized two of the bee-hives, one 
in each hand, and springing upon the low r wall, 
hurled them among the swarming assailants. Two 
more instantly followed, and then other two, until 
the whole dozen hives had been flung down upon 
the heads of the clambering Turks. 
The bees, enraged to madness at being sent 
whirling through the air so unceremoniously, fell 
like furies upon the shaven heads and hare arms 
of the Turkish soldiers, and gave them such a 
pricking that the Saxon arrows which had been 
falling so thick among them, seemed a mere 
nothing in comparison. Every man in the front 
ranks was literally black with the infuriated 
insects, which kept stinging the more fiercely the 
more the bewildered Turks tried to beat them 
off. 
There was no more thought of battle or assault ; 
for who could wield a sword or climb a wall with 
his head covered with a perfect nose-bag of en- 
raged bees, and every exposed inch of his body 
smarting as if pierced by a thousand ret! -hot 
needles? Away flew* the enemy, and away flew 
the bees after them, while the yells of pain of the 
discomfited Turks were answered by the up- 
roarious laughter of the triumphant Saxons, who 
might well laugh to see a whole Turkish army 
put to flight by the device of one little girl. 
BEE-KEEPING. 
Considered as a Pursuit for Farmers. 
Written for the Maryland Farmer. 
The progress of this pursuit since our boyhood 
days is something wonderful, and even now it is 
quite evident that still greater progress is in store 
for the bee-keeper of the future. Men. women, 
and children are now in the business of skilful 
bee-keeping, and the honey production of the 
country is becoming of vast magnitude. 
THE BRIGHT SIDE. 
That bee-keeping has a bright side is a fact 
which everyone realizes. At the farmer's home it 
speaks of the delicious sweets gathered from the 
flowers, and reaped and enjoyed with the smallest 
degree of labor and care. All day long, while 
the farmer is toiling in the fields, these industrious 
providers are gathering the very nectar of the 
crops for his delight, and for the healih and 
happiness of his household. 
THE DARK SIDE. 
But it has a dark side, also. Not so heavy in 
the farmer's home, as when the bee-keeper, who 
has made this the one great business of the year, 
meets with a failure of the honey crop, and after 
a season’s labor, places all on the losing side of 
the ledger. This is indeed a dark side. But with 
the farmer, the only dark side is the slight addi- 
tional labour, and the natural dread of stings ; 
with the study necessary to make bis venture a 
success. 
SMOKE. 
Among the protections perhaps none is actually 
superior to smoke— a good smoker skilfully used 
w'ill often prove a great blessing, ami without 
injuring the bees, will enable the operator to 
handle them to his entire satisfaction. It is very 
true that in time of swarming very little danger 
may be apprehended as a general thing from bees, 
unless some accident should happen ; for they are 
then too busy about important things of their own 
to trouble any one else. Vet the greatest care 
should be taken to move in the most moderate, 
cool, and quiet way in their midst. We used to 
think that certain ones — when we have seen them 
taking up swarms in their naked hands, and 
pouring them into a prepared hive — were proof 
against bee*stings or were almost supernaturally 
protected. But we have learned that such persons 
were protected only by a perfect self-possession 
and fearlessness, which beekeepers must cultivate, 
and if possible acquire. Meanwhile, we do not 
advise any one to run the risk of arousing an 
angry colony *nd suffering when by a little fore- 
thought and care he could have all needed piotec- 
tion. 
PLANTING FOR BEES. 
The whole domain of nature, rich in flowers, is 
the treasury from which bees gather their sweets; 
but it should be the aim of bee-keepers to help 
out the supply by especial care. It is true that 
bees cannot generally reach the honey in the red 
clover ; but in white clover and Alsike they find 
