Eastern times., 1855-10-25
Bees.
uiAe Times.

Any body can manage bees. It is the easi-
est thing in the world 10 do it, just as it is TO
make an egg stand on end d,-after one knows
how. A man who knows their nature, and
habits, and can avail himself of their instincts,
can make them do Just what he pleases. Ten
thousand men have kept bees for thousands Of
years, aud have watched their doings, and
many have written learned treatises upon the
economy Of their Commonwealths But it has
fallen to Humber and Llngstroih and a few
others 10 discover the few simple secrets which,
while they are unknown, have rendered their
movements so mysterious. Any body can move
hive of bees from its stand, invert it and call
them out, and handle them as he pleases, and
restore them to the hive with perfect safety,
and the bees will be all the&ime perfectly good
natured, and not an individual among them will
offer TO sting him, and yet very few persons
dare make the attempt, and still fewer know
how to do it with safety. The object of the
miser is 10 lay up treasure. This occupies his
thoughts and his hands day and night. His
heart is with his gold. l, is the god of his
worship. He has no place in his mind for any
other thought. Upon the slightest alarm, he
grasps his money bags. If he hears step at
the door in the darkness Of night, he deems his
treasure in danger. He believes all others at.
tach the same value to it, and that when they
approach his premises, they can have no other
object but to gain possession of it. The bees,
in their way, are perfect misers. They labor
necessarily for about eight months in the year,
to amass honey. They undergo the severest
toll to search it out, and transport it to their
storehouses. In the early spring, from the
flowers Of the willow, of the alder and the ma
pie, from the blossoms Of the cherry and the
nectarine and the peach, and through the heat
of summer, from the beau and clover, and
thousand sweet flowers, and as the autumn ap-
proaches, from the mature juices of the plum,
the peach, the pear and the apple, they suck
the sweet nectar, and bear it with unfailing in
stinct to the storehouse which their fellows
have built TO receive it. This is the great
work of their lives, the one end of their being.
To lay up, secure and defend their treasure all
their instincts are directed. When engaged in
their daily work, they have no other purpose.
When attacked, all their movements have ref
erence to the security of their honey. When
bees are alarmed, they believe with the miser,
that their treasure is the object of the invader !;
as it is the only treasure of any object to them,
they act on the belief, that 1t is of equal value
to Others If the alarm is repeated, each one
drops all other employment, whether he is con-
structing cell, or filling it with honey, or in
whatever work he may be employed. and sets
himself at once to secure as much honey as bis
honey bag will contain. Each one secures a
share of the pure limpid nectar. Each sucks
in his drop of honey, that at least so much may
be secured from plunder. 1t is surprising with
what rapidity bee will fill himself with hon
ey, when alarmed. He draws it in, in con-
,inued stream till he can hold no more, and then
quietly awaits the result of the alarm. Having
secured as much of his treasure asne can, the
instinct of his nature is satisfied. He has done
all he can. And now comes the secret by the
knowledge of which the operator can handle
and manage them as he'chooses. When bee
is full Of honey he nerer stings, unless pincfed
or otherwise injured. The operator has only
to induce them to fill their bags with honey,