The RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
743 
Bees for Grandma 
Perhaps but. few readers of Tiie R. 
N.-Y. have thought of bee-keeping as a 
hobby for a grandmother. With a little 
assistance when lifting is necessary or 
at. swarming tim<\ our grandma has found 
bee-keeping an ideal out-of-door occupa¬ 
tion. In the Winter, when she must stay 
indoors, tbo hees are indoors, too, requir¬ 
ing no attention from November till 
April. On rainy days the bees not only 
do not need attention, but let her know 
plainly that they will have no intrusion. 
On the bright, sunny days, when grand¬ 
ma likes to be out, work with the bees 
may go on peaceably and interestingly. 
Grandma had never handled bees, al¬ 
though her father had a few when she 
was a little girl. But any living creature 
is interesting to her, and she had often 
wondered if she could learn to care for 
them. Of late years gardening required 
too much stooping, and chickens required 
exposure in all kinds of weather. One 
July day a swarm of bees flew low over 
our garden, and we all joined in creating 
as big a noise as possible (up-to-date bee¬ 
keepers tell us noise will not cause bees 
to alight unless they want to, anyway). 
The bees settled in the low branches of 
a tree in the yard, and an immense 
swarm ! As though sent by Providence, 
a neighbor drove in at that moment and 
offered us the use of an old hive. The 
bees went int^i it joyfully, and that night 
we placed it where grandma wanted them, 
about 50 ft. from the kitchen door, in the 
garden, with an eastern exposure, where 
grape arbor and berry rows meet. Grand¬ 
ma subscribed for a bee magazine and 
bought “A B C and X Y Z of Bee Cul¬ 
ture,” and we all talked bees and studied 
those bees as enthusiastically as any 
family ever did the first Ford. That 
Fall the lower or brood box was filled 
with honey—so many pounds of bees and 
honey that one woman could not lift it. 
But there was no honey in the comb sec¬ 
tions above, and that in the brood cham¬ 
ber was so hopelessly cross-built and 
joined by spurs that we could not take 
any without messing up their house ter¬ 
ribly, and probably drowning hundreds of 
bees. Grandma decided to let the bees 
keep all their honey that Winter, and 
so be a strong colony the next year. 
They were ! Beginning in April, they 
sent out five swarms, and try as we would 
we could not catch one until the last one. 
They seemed to know just where they 
were going, and as soon as they left the 
hive they circled a few times and then 
took a “bee line” for their new home. 
Grandma was much distressed. She de- 
t< rmined to remove that colony from the 
old, cramped hive to a new, roomy one. 
But could we do it? Every time we 
uncovered it and looked at that criss¬ 
cross mess of comb we gave up in despair. 
We had not known, when we first put 
them into the old hive, to have the frames 
wired and fitted with starter comb to in¬ 
sure the bees building their own comb 
in straight sheers that could be easily 
removed. But the more grandma thought 
of it and those runaway swarms, and the 
more she read about crowded quarters 
causing swarming, the more she disliked 
that old hive. 
One day, when the bees were busy in 
the field with a good honey flow, we* de¬ 
termined at least to make an attempt, 
grandma and I. There were no bee¬ 
keepers around us to go to for help. 
There were bees, but they were not 
"kept”: they just existed or died, as the 
case might be. So We had to go it alone. 
Armed with the long bread knife to slice 
the comb clear to the bottom of the hive, 
with pans to place it in, with veils and 
smokers, we attacked that hive. We 
found a surprise. The frames were joined 
criss-cross at the top in as straight and 
orderly sheets as any good housekeeper 
would care to see. The terrible task 
turned into a frolic. The frames were 
lifted from the old hive into a new, roomy 
one. which was placed where the old one 
had been, and the bees soon settled down 
to housekeeping in their new quarters as 
quietly as could be. We had success¬ 
fully accomplished our lirst big “stunt.” 
I’rev ions to this we had been practic¬ 
ing frequently, first merely uncovering 
the hives to look in, then taking out a 
frame to study the bees at work and be¬ 
come acquainted with the queen. After 
our successful transfer, grandma said she 
felt sure that handling bees was after all 
a simple matter, when you under¬ 
stood them and their habits. Her bee 
book and magazines are her favorite read¬ 
ing, and from them she learned that 
roomy quarters will so satisfy the little 
workers that in many cases they will not 
swarm at all. So she purchased Jumbo 
hives for her pets, and as soon as the 
busy time came in the Spring added more 
room above. As a result she had last 
Summer but one swarm to come off from 
the two hives, and yet they were un¬ 
usually strong colonies. Being more fa¬ 
miliar with their ways, she recognized 
the “signs,” and was ready for the mov¬ 
ers, and soon had them installed in a new 
hive. Later she took in a stray swarm 
that settled in our vines, and so had 
four colonies last Summer. It was a 
very poor honey year in our locality, 
but the bees managed to fill their large 
brood box and about -10 lbs. besides, 
which we have been enjoying this past 
Winter. 
One colony was not so industrious as 
the others; in fact, had a plain case of 
“blues.” Investigation showed no eggs 
and no hatching bees. We hunted and 
bunted, but no queen could be found. 
Wo never knew what became of her. But 
they must have a queen, so grandma de¬ 
cided to unite this motherless colony with 
another. At the beginning of her bee¬ 
keeping this would have seemed like a 
task which would bring up all kinds of 
difficulties—maybe a free-for-all bee tight. 
But the bee magazine again reassured her. 
In it various writers, both amateur and 
professional, had told of their special 
methods' for uniting swarms, so she se¬ 
lected the plan easiest for her to manage 
and again ventured a big step. It was 
a success, and the two families became 
united into a busy, contented group of 
workers. _ Last Winter there were three 
colonies in Jumbo hives. So far as is 
possible grandma will prevent swarming 
this Spring; but i'f they do swarm she 
hopes to catch the swarm and put them 
back with their own folks or another col¬ 
ony. and keep her number of hives down 
to three. 
Now, grandma does not put on the 
latest and most becoming bee costume 
and go out and tell some paid assistant 
how to do all these things. She puts on 
a big hat and homemade veil and wades 
into it herself. She really keeps bees. 
But to her they are wonderful little work¬ 
ers. little pets, with rights to be respected, 
whims to be catered to, and desires to be 
fulfilled. And grandma believes that any 
other woman who loves animals, loves to 
do for them, would find bee-keeping a 
profitable and a most enjoyable pastime. 
She especially recommends it. to grand¬ 
mothers. MRS. E. E. L. 
Something Different for Spring Days 
Creamed Salmon.—Two tablespoons 
butter, two tablespoons flour, one pint 
milk, one can salmon. Blend butter and 
flour in a saucepan and add the milk, 
stirring until smooth ; then add one can of 
salmon which has been picked to pieces 
and the bones removed. Let heat through 
and serve. 
Salmon Mold.—One-half envelope gela¬ 
tine. two tablespoons cold water, one can 
salmon, two teaspoons salt, one teaspoon 
mustard, yolks of two eggs, one and one- 
half tablespoons melted butter, three- 
fourths cup milk, two tablespoons vine¬ 
gar, pepper to taste. Soak gelatine in 
the cold water five minutes. Mix egg 
yolks with dry ingredients, add butter, 
milk and vinegar. Cook over boiling wa¬ 
ter until mixture thickens. Add gelatine 
Embroidery Designs 
SOI. Design for border or towel end in 
cross-stitch style. Transfer ^0 cents. 
and shredded salmon and turn into square 
mold. Garnish with olives or cucumber 
pickles. 
Escalloped Salmon.—Grease a baking 
dish and put in a layer of bread or crack¬ 
er crumbs, theu a layer of the fish, a few 
slices of cold boiled potato aud a little 
chopped onion, another layer of crumbs, 
and so on until the disli is filled, making 
the last layer of crumbs. Pour over it 
sufficient milk to moisten well aud bake 
in it hot oven until browned. The onions 
may be omitted if preferred. 
Tuna Fish Loaf.—One large can of 
tuna fish, one cup bread crumbs, one tea¬ 
spoon lemon juice, one teaspoon chopped 
green pepper, two eggs, salt and pepper to 
taste. Mix all the ingredients well, shred¬ 
ding the fish. Mold into firm loaf, roll in 
flour and place in greased bread pan. Dot 
with butter and bake 30 minutes in mod¬ 
erate oven. Serve on a warm platter, 
with the following sauce: Melt one table¬ 
spoon of butter in saucepan, add two 
tablespoons flour, blend well and slowly 
add one cup milk, stirring constantly. 
Cook for two minutes; remove from fire 
and at once add one beaten egg yolk. Stir 
well. Pour around the loaf, instead of 
the higher-priced tuna fish I use the Cali¬ 
fornia alba core, which is a species of tuna 
and well liked by many people. 
Sardine Canapes.—Make a cream sauce 
by melting two tablespoons butter in a 
saucepan : add two tablespoons flour, and 
when well mixed pour in slowly one pint 
of milk. Stir until it begins to thicken. 
Then add one can sardines from which 
bones have been removed and fish picked 
to picoes with silver 'fork, and two 
chopped hard-boiled eggs. Let boil up 
well, pour over pieces of toast and serve 
immediately. 
Spanish Soup.—Soak one pound of 
white beans over night; next morning boil 
until tender: add one small white cab¬ 
bage. chopped fine, a bit of bacon, a whole 
red pepper and some salt. Boil for an 
hour. Heat some butter in a saucepan 
and fry in it a sliced onion ; put in the 
soup a little at a time. A little garlic 
may be added to make this a perfect rep¬ 
resentative of the favorite soup in Spain, 
but we prefer it without. 
Savory Nut Loaf.—One cup chopped 
walnut meats, four cups bread crumbs, 
one chopped hard-boiled egg, one beaten 
egg. one-half teaspoon salt, one-half tea¬ 
spoon powdered sage, one medium sized 
onion, grated, milk or water to moisten 
the mixture. Mix all ingredients and form 
them into a loaf. Bake in moderate oven 
for half an hour. This walnut loaf is a 
good substitute for meat, and may be 
served either hot or cold. If desired, the 
mixture may be made into croquettes in¬ 
stead of tile loaf. BETTI W. GORDON. 
You Can’t Get 
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WE PAY THE PARCEL POST (within 300 miles) 
(Add 4c. per lb. postage for distances further than 300 miles from New York). 
JAMES VAN DYK CO. 
50 BARCLAY ST., NEW YORK, N. Y. 
100 Van Dyk Stores in Thirty Cities. Reference:—Your Own Bank. 
TEAS 
High Quality—Delicious Flavor 
3 lbs. VICTORY TEA for $1.00 
2 lbs. QUALI-TEA “ $1.00 
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Breakfast, Uncolored Japan, Young 
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6 lbs. PEANUT BUTTER $1.50 
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Freshly Roasted—All Pure 
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4 lbs. SAN BO for $1.00 
San Iio is a special blend of excellent 
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A Genuine Maracaibo Coffee. 
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The finest Coffee in America. 
4 lbs. COCOA for $1.00 
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511 Sunset Avenue Syracuse, N. Y. 
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30 
DAYS’ 
FREE 
TRIAL 
POULTRY BREEDING 
AND MANAGEMENT 
By JAMES DRYDEN 
A standard book by an eminent 
poultry authority. Price $ 2 . 00 . 
For Sale by 
THE RURAL NEW YORKER 
333 West 30th St., New York City 
When you write advertisers mention 
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a quick reply and a “square deal.” See 
guarantee editorial page. : : : 
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