1871.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
187 
toy s ft mm* 
Among* the Bees. 
BY “CARLETON.” 
Very amusing ave some of the recollections of my early 
childhood and of later years, especially of my experiences 
among bumble and honey-bees. I remember of climbing 
up into an old pear-tree, and running my arm into a hole 
to see if the bluebirds had built a nest there. I did not 
find any eggs, but there was a tremendous buzzing, and 
my arm came out a great deal quicker than it went in, 
and I slid down the trunk of the tree in a twinkling and 
took to my heels with two big bumble-bees after me, and 
a lot more swarming out of the hole to see who it was 
that had knocked at their door so unceremoniously. I 
did not get stung that time, but the hired man who was 
at work in the garden laughed so loud to see me run that 
the people who lived on the other side of the meadow, 
a half mile away, heard his loud haw-haw-haw, and won¬ 
dered what he was laughing at. What fun we boys used 
to have in taking bumble-bees’ nests! Sometimes we 
found them in rock-heaps, sometimes under old stumps, 
and in old mouse-nests, where the mowers were cutting 
the hay. I remember how William and John, two of my 
mates, joined me once in a grand bumble-bee hunt. We 
sallied out with shingles and bunches of oak-twigs for 
weapons. We took ofl the stones from a rock-heap, one 
by one, very gently, until we reached the nest, and then 
gave it a poke. There was a fine biz-biz-biz, and then, 
as we poked it again, a louder booz-booz-booz, and in a 
moment a bouncing fellow in buff and black made his 
appearance. We knocked him on the head, but there 
was another fellow creeping out; a third—a fourth—a fifth 
—a dozen. Spat-spat spat went our shingles, but the 
bizzing and boozing became louder each moment, and 
before we were aware of it a dozen bees were about our 
ears. They had crept out at the backdoor of the nest, 
and had taken us in flank. While fighting those in the 
air, those in front of us rose from the nest and we had 
the entire swarm about us. The bmnble-bee is no cow¬ 
ard. O, No ! He drives straight at the enemy, be it a man 
or an ox, and sticks his sharp dagger in wherever he can 
get a chance. One crept up William’s trowsers, and we 
laughed to see him dance about, like a Dandy Jim, slap¬ 
ping his thighs. They buzzed around John’s head, and 
he off with his cap and swept them away. 
He put his cap upon his head again, but took it off a 
good deal quicker than he put it on, for his hair was full 
of bees. How he made the hay fly ! for it was in a mow¬ 
ing-field, and the mowers laughed until the tears ran 
down their cheeks to see us run, and cried, “ Go it! ” 
“Scratch gravel!” “Put in, or they will tuck it into 
you I ” We dived under the hay-cocks with the bees after 
us, and did n’t take the nest. 
I remember of coneeiving the idea of collecting all the 
bumble-bees I could find, and putting them into a hive, 
and having a tame swarm. I went into the garden and 
caught those in the hollyhock flowers, and those in the 
squash blossoms, and put them into an old hive; but 
when I let them out to gather honey, they never came 
back again—the ungrateful creatures! The attempt to 
colonize them was an igiominions failure. 
It was pleasant to watch the honey-bees at work, com¬ 
ing and going all day long, making the air musical with 
their humming. It was delightful to creep up to the 
hives after sunset on a summer evening and henr the low 
murmuring of the hees inside. I remember wondering 
if they were singing a hymn, and saying their prayers 
before going to bed 1 
Honey-bees are teachable insects. If you treat them 
kindly, you can do almost any thing with them ; but if 
you abuse them, they will take terrible revenge. I once 
knew a man who had a swarm of bees so educated that 
he could call them from the hive and they would alight 
upon his hands, or hang in a great bunch upon his beard 
and creep all over him; and then, when he gave a low hiss 
they would rise in a cloud and go back into the hive. He 
traveled over the country exhibiting his educated bees. 
But one of the most laughable scenes I ever saw was 
down in Virginia, during the war. It was early one 
morning in midsummer. The sun was just appearing, 
and the soldiers, who had had a hard march the day be¬ 
fore, were rising from their bivouac in the fields near an 
old farm-house. The men were stretching out their 
arms and shaking their legs, and yawning and wishing 
that reveille had not come so early. Some were washing 
their faces in the little brook that trickled through the 
meadow. Gimp-fires were lighted, coffee-pots were 
steaming, and all hands were getting ready for breakfast. 
The soldiers suddenly discovered a half dozen or more 
bee-hives in the garden. A squad rushed toward them, 
each soldier bent on having honey with his hard-tack for 
breakfast. One soldier seized a hive and gave it a shake. 
The bees fell upon the ground, but the hive was heavy 
and dropped from his hands, falling upon some of the 
bees and crushing them into the earth. The air was filled 
in an instant with the remainder of the swann. The 
other hives were seized by other soldiers, who suddenly 
found themselves enveloped in a cloud of bees. They 
swung their hats, struck wildly into the air with their 
hands, flapped their coats, and danced about like mad¬ 
men. “He-he-he, ha-ha-ha, haw-haw-liaw!” shouted 
the soldiers in camp. You could have heard it a mile. 
Louder grew the humming as the bees began to widen 
their circle. Now they swept over the fence and attacked 
the soldiers around the camp-fires, but the laughter took 
a sudden turn as the angry insects settled upon colonels, 
majors, captains, lieutenants, and soldiers alike—prick¬ 
ing their cheeks, dabbing into their eyes, creeping up 
their nostrils, and buzzing in their hair, and working 
their way under their shirts and creeping up their trow¬ 
sers. All over the field men were swinging their arms 
like wind-mills, rubbing their heads, slapping their 
thighs, throwing themselves upon the ground, and curling 
up in heaps and covering themselves with their blankets, 
or running as fast as they could to escape the fury of their 
tormentors. There was a sudden rearing and plunging 
among the mules and horses, a breaking of halters and 
pulling up of tether posts, and then a grand stampede of 
the entire camp. Away went donkeys and horses with 
their tails in the air, kicking, and rearing, and leaping 
over the fences. Suddenly there was a dab in my face, 
and a buzzing around my ears, ns if the fellow was say¬ 
ing, “ How do you like that?” I did not like it at all. 
And then another one came, another, and another, all ask¬ 
ing the same question ; and, without stopping to answer 
them, I took to my heels and ran with the soldiers, cap¬ 
tains, and colonels, horses and donkeys, and left the bees 
masters of the field. 
The bees resented snch wholesale robbery and murder 
as the soldiers had engaged in, and I did n’t blame them. 
Aunt Sue’s PnzzIe*Iiox. 
Well, the folks seem to have enjoyed themselves over 
the March puzzles, and I have enjoyed their kind letters 
on the subject. Many sent answers to the entire list., 
but were incorrect In their solutions of the sixth anagram, 
the first Latin name, and Hautboy’s Rebus. 
W. H. Otis ( Sherwood , Cayuga Co., -V. Y.) has cor¬ 
rectly answered all the March puzzles, and wins the prize 
offered. 
THE ANAGRAM PRIZE 
has been drawn by E. Goff, Sewickley, Alleghany Co., 
Pa., Box 8G. 
I offer the same prizes again this month, and I want the 
little ones to distinctly understand that the one who 
sends the largest list of correct answers, gets the prize; 
should there be more than one answering the require¬ 
ments, the prize will be decided by lot. Some of the 
children seem to think that they are entitled to a prize 
for answering one or two puzzles. 
Answers to these must reach me by the first of June; 
those received later will not be credited. 
Address Aunt Sue, Box 111, P. O., Brooklyn, N. Y. 
408. Illustrated Rebus .—A common proverb, drawn 
from household experience. 
substitutions.— (Change one letter.) 
1. Change a mineral into herbage. 
2. Change what young ladies like to do into the lad 
that likes to hear. 
3. Change a young lady into what she often is. 
4. Change a country into a backbone. 
5. Change condemnation to recommendation. 
0. Change gluttony to truth. 
CROSS-WORD ENIGMA. 
7. My first is in pudding but ’tis not in pie. 
My next in horizon but not in the sky, 
My third is in act.or but not in the play, 
My fourth is in battle but. not in the fray. 
My fifth is in kitten but not in the cat, 
My sixth is in bonnet but not in a hat, 
My seventh is in lion but not in fox, 
My eighth is in hamper but not in a box. 
My ninth is in platter but not in the dish. 
My tenth is in oyster but not in a fish: 
And now what I tell you may greatly astound, 
But my whole is a place where contentment is found.. 
SQUARE. 
8. Square the word “ POWER.” 
DOUBLE ACROSTTC. 
9. The initials and finals form two French cities. 
1. A range of mountains in Europe. 
2. A city of Australia. 
3. A river in Texas. 
4. A lake in Minnesota. 
6. A country of Africa. 
Adolph M. Nagel. 
409. Illustrated Rebus.—A saying which has been at¬ 
tributed to Washington. 
CROSS-PUZZLE. 
10. 1. Something heard in thunder. 2. In animal. 3. 
The capital of Henderson Co., III. 4. A river in 
North America. 5. A city in Michigan. 6. One of 
the patriarchs. 7. Something seen in chalk. The 
outside letters (commencing with item No. 1, and 
reading downward on the right, then upward on 
the left, and adding the final letter of the second 
item,) will name something that should be in every 
house. Belle. 
pi. 
11. Hereit dantss a seltac yb het ase, 
Hitw na canteni peke dan stuterr ether, 
Dan ni ti swelld a dyla rear, 
Chir dan volley thiw nogled riha, 
Yb het dwil vesaw shapglin raweily. 
transpositions no. 2. 
(Fill the following blanks with the same words trans¬ 
posed.) 
12. They fired a-into the-village. 
13. The-was closely followed by the- • 
14. His -told him to wash in the-. 
15. The-will-an impression. 
1G. The-began to-with the rain. 
17. -and-are both cities. 
SPECIAL NOTICE TO PUZZLERS. 
I have been asked by several of my nieces and nephews 
to explain a “ square word.” I comply with pleasure. 
Suppose I tell you to sqnare the word “ Clan ; ” you 
get your slate or paper and write the letters across and 
downward, thus: 
CLAN 
L 
A 
N 
Now yon must find three words to fit the rest of the 
square. We want first a ward of four letters beginning 
withL: shall we try “lean?” No, because that would 
bring two N’s together and we could not find a word be¬ 
ginning with double N. Let us try “ LORE.” 
CLAN 
LORE 
AR 
NE 
Now you can finish the square with “Arts” “ Nest,” or 
“Area,” and “ Near,” or “ Neat.” 
Some ef the little ones do not understand concealed 
names : let them look at the questions and the answers 
to them together , and if they don’t understand then, it 
will be useless for me to attempt to explain. 
I am much obliged f»r complimentary enigmas, but 
modesty forbids my using such, so please don’t mako 
any more on my name or on the title of the paper. Many 
thanks for kind interest and affectionate greetings, to E. 
A.. Johnnie C. Watson, E. W. W. Ben, and D. F. T. 
ANSWERS TO PUZZLES IN THE MARCH NUMBER. 
Anagrams.— 1. Preventive. 2. Geographical. 3. Mos¬ 
quito. 4. Caterpillars. 5. Collapse. 6. Enthusiasm. 7. 
