The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1871-08-11
Another Bee Story.

A story is going the rounds of the
newspapers to the effect that a swarm
Of bees lately 1T upon a boy in Mis-
souri,, and that the father of the boy
got him off with but one sting,
lgiven by bee that the child bit to
keep it out of his mouth J, by telling
him to stand perfectly still, and then
removing his hat, which was covered
with bees, and placing it on a bush,
to which the other bees Immediately
swarmed. This is pronounced ''gam-
mon" by some ignoramuses, but to
every person who knows anything of
bees it viii be the most probable
thing in the world. Bees are not
offensive creatures, and a million Of
them might settle upon the naked
person of the Kentucky giant, and
he not be stung evea once, were he
to keep perfectly quiet; but were he
to moYe,o or endeavor TO remove them,
the bees would Immediately assume
the offensiye-defensive mode OF max
ing war-that is, they would defend
themselves by offending him-and
propably sting him to death in few
minutes. Many, many years ago,
we lived hard by Squire s., in the
town of Blank, Blank State, who kept
a dozen hives of bees-We hadn't
got learned enough then to have
apiaries-all of which stood on long
shelves under a monstrous palm-tree
that was in the yard in front of the
'squire's house; and we never think
Of Plato and Thyme, and Hymettus
and the droWsy hum of bees, without
being reminded of those dear honey
makers of the long, long ago-for
the window at which we sat at school
looked right out upon the hives, and
there was always a delicious MUIR
mur going on among them that was
as sweet as the aemOrUns n1UTB5AT of
the neighboring woods. Well, one
hot summer day, the old squire was
standing before his hives, bare head
ed, like Elisha the prophet-but with
bees, not boys (or bears), near him
and with nothing on him but his
shirt and shoes and trousers, when
the inhabitants of one of the hives
suddenly swarmed, and lit upon the
venerable mans pate,which they Gov
cred in layers two or three inches
deep, making his head-piece the most
comical looking piece of humanity
we ever gazed upon, so we never
think of it without laughing, though
the worms ate it some forty years
ago, creeping in and creeping out, as
their manner is, and as they will
with yours, madam, handsome as it
is. We suppose the bees mistook
the 'squire's face for gigantic full
blown rose of a new pattern, which
required to be looked into immedi-
atelv. for it was Of a most beautiful
new rum color, which the squire
heightened by twelve daily applica
tions of internal paint, proper (or
rather, a common) practice enough
in these ante and anti temperance
times. when rum was rum and punch
was perfect. The Squire was
thoroughly up to the dodges Of the
apes. and so he stood still, as stiff as
an iron ram rod that had stood the
inspection of the great Frederick.
Just then Mrs. s. came to the
door of the house, and seeing her /
husband in such a plight, gave the
usual feminine speech for such cases
made and provided, and then said to
him. "Keep where you are, while I
90 and get the broom tc brush 'em
off" "Pm dead if l do" thought
the squire. He then managed to
grope his way to a large tub that he
he had just previously filled with
water from a neighboring brook for
rinsing purposes, and which stood
on a high bench. Into this water he
dipped his head slowly until it was
entirely immersed, and held it there,
holding his breath at the same time
till every bee was made sufficiently
stingless to have satisfied Mr.. Eu-
gene Wrayburn himself The water
swarmed with bees, and the old gen
tlsman swarmed into the house, with
the only white face he had worn for
almost half a century, and which he
never repeated till he lay in his coffin.
If reader,you ever should be swarm
ed upon, do as the squire did, and
prove the excellence Of the water
cure. If you could contrive to have
the water iced, so much the better
for you-and so much the worse for
the bees.-BGstOn TrGUeLer.