File:American bee journal (1915) (18117615875).jpg

Title: American bee journal
Identifier: americanbeejourn551915hami (find matches)
Year: 1861 (1860s)
Authors:
Subjects: Bee culture; Bees
Publisher: (Hamilton, Ill. , etc. , Dadant & Sons)
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: UMass Amherst Libraries

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November, 1915. ^^^^Of?^ American 'Bm Journal j to quiet down. I called for some cream and proceeded to put everybody in good humor by serving a dish of honey and cream. There were just seven daughters in the family, so I had a splendid time. At the height of the hilarity the mys- terious man in the butcher's cart hove in sight, then hitched up his horse to the post at the gate, which was at least 50 yards from the house. Then he swiftly advanced to the door carrying a few books in his hand. Guessing what was likely to happen I jumped to my feet to give him warning, but at that instant he suddenly stopped, whipped off his straw hat, and fran- tically fanned the air in all directions. Then he rushed towards the house, but at this moment his horse commenced to plunge and kick, so he reversed his engines and raced back to his worried steed. All we saw for a moment was a streak, above which something white was waving vigorously. I wish I could describe the unhitching. .\11 we saw was a jumble of horse's head, heels, and a straw hat. How he managed to untie the rope and keep the hat going at the same time is more than I can understand. As the rope was set free the horse started, the book agent tum- bled into the cart; then we had the finest imitation of a horse race my eyes have ever witnessed. He held the hat and whip in his right hand, and plied them both unceasingly and unneces- .sarily. At the upward lift of the whip he waved the hat around his head, on the downward stroke he hit the horse. Crouched like a jockey, he yelled to encourage his horse which to my way of thinking had incentive enough. We watched hira cover a mile in awfully fast time, an i then he vanished from our sight. Afterwards I learned he was peddling Pastor Russell's books on the millenium, but he departed from the district the same night. Moral: To get rid ot book agents, let loose a col- onv of vicious bees. My own getaway was hardly so ex- citing, but the bees followed me for nearly a mile. 1 know that certain colonies of bees are vicious all the time, but on the other hand I have >et to learn why some are occasionally so. Sometimes I have wondered if the material used in the smoker made any diflference. I pick up what I can get as I go along, and so have used cedar bark, sacking, both new and rotten, old dresses, and even old shirts, but I must confess I cannot see much difference. Again and again I thought I had found something definite, but at the very next apiary my theory would be upset. But speaking of old shirts reminds me of an experi- ence, the recital of which always brings a chuckle of satisfaction to the most serious minded femininity. One day while I was overhauling an apiary belonging to an old bachelor, rather noted for his dirty habits, I ran short of ammunition for the smoker, and on asking for some he handed me one of his old shirts, which in many ways was rather remarkable. The next apiary was less than a quarter of a mile away, so without taking off my bee re- galia, I cut across the fields to the house. Setting the live smoker on the front porch. I rang the doorbell. When the lady of the house appeared I ex- plained my errand. She listened quietly until I had finished, then casting her eyes to the smoker she asked, " What do you burn in that thing ?" "At the present moment I am burning one of John Smith's old shirts," I meekly an- swered. " No wonder it smells," came the crushing comment. I have told the above tale many times, but never to John Smith. Once I thought I was a hoodoo. It came about in this fashion. One day I visited an apiary consisting of only one hive, but the farmer was away. His better half, a finely educated and inter- esting woman, was very anxious to see the inside of the hive, and of course I was equally willing that she should. She had two children, one a baby, the other a boy about 5 years old. Of course, I advised that both should be kept in the house. We had just started to work when the bov broke forth into a loud yell, and on looking around we saw him in the middle of the road cut- ting up many kinds of antics. The mother rushed to his aid, and I went on with my work. Soon she called to me that a bee was in the boy's nose and she could not get it out. I got both into the house, but just as soon as I began operations the boy gave one big, healthy sneeze and ejected the invader, who, by the way, had never attempted to sting. Back we went to work, but soon the boy was yelling again. Once more he had broken bounds, and this time two bees had stung him. Two months afterwards as I came to the gate to see how the farmer was making out. I heard a lusty yell from the same boy, ne.xt an anxious enquiry in the mother's voice, then " a wasp stung me" in a wailing tone from the child. I decided this was no place for a nervous man, that may be the mother
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BEE DEMONSTRATIONS BY F. bUNDAS TODD. NORTH VANCOUVER-APIARY OF GEORGE DENNIS

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