Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1876-01-05
Romsnce.of alive Of Rees.
From the Cincinnati Commercial.

ROmumcesOf q Hive Of BeeS.
: From the Cincinnati Commercial.
Contrary to the excellent Dir. Watts
the busy little bee does not improv,
each shining hour by any means
( Whether The hours be shining o
clouded, the busy little bee only work
, in the flower season. AT all othe
, times il stays at home and eats, from
| which an excellent moral may he dc
dueed for the benefit of those sour olt
, crabs who insist that the whole dut,
of man is TO work like a steam engin,
night and day, Winter and Summer
If we are to initiate the busy littl,
bee. as matter Of fact. we should b,
idle two-thirds of the time.
Away out toward the hill, on on,
of the principal streets of our city
dwells gentleman who devotes mucl
!. of his life to the poetry and romano,
of bce- Secping. He makes an arts
tic study of bookkeeping, and his fact
glows with enthusiasm when he talk,
: about his bees, as u painter might
when he talks about the ideal Of thu
noble picture he is one day to pro
duce. The smells which salute YOU
nose just before YOU reach the bee.
artists home, are not exactly suggest
i've of white clover honey, to be sure
but the contrast makes the honey nj
the more fragrant after you get to it
is well enough after all.
1 Had the gentleman time to show u'
his bees and talk bee talk awhile
1 Certainly" said the gentleman, and
4 led the way directly to the second
story roof. which constitutes his apia.
j ry. When a man happens to hit upon
his true vocation in this life, from thai
moment a halo of beauty gilds his
1 work for him, he becomes an cnthn.
siast, and labor is no more a wcari.
/ ness to him, but delight. And
whenever you meet man who
has found his true vocation and
loves il, whatever the work may be
the mans spirit will always be pa.
patient, modest, enthusiastic, and as
simple-hearted as a child's. The
harmony between the man and his
So it work makes il so.
Such man was the bce-keeper who
discoursed to us that day. He took us
out upon the roof and lifted the COW
er off his pets that we might look.
The hives were simple two-story box
es, the lower story being the bees
brood chamber, the upper one the
honey-chamber. In the winter the
upper story Is taken off, and the low
er story covered with two or three
straw mats, which again are covered
| by board, space being left between
for ventilation aud circulation of air.
Circulation of air is as important in a
bees house as in a human beings
house, and for exactly the same rea-
sons. When there is no circulation of
air in hive, the moisture given off
by the bees bodies causes the hive to
become mouldy, and then the bees die
of dyaentery, aud, so far as appears.
no bee-doctor has yet been discovered
i'll the medical profession.
Here they are, said the bee-doc-
tor, taking of the last mat.
Perhaps two double handfuls of the
dainty little creatures were there.
huddled all tocether in a cluster to
keep warm. In the Winter the bees
shrink away To about half or one
third of their usual size i'll Summer.
The cold makes them wrinkle up
somehow. As the cover was taken oil
perhaps half a dozen bees buzzed out
in the air and rested upon the neck
and shoulders of the bee-Eeeper. Then
The bee-keeper did something which
folks don't often do in this world. He
| lifted each bee up tenderly in his
iirgers, as If it had heen grain OF
corn, and laid il back affectiona,cly
upon the cluster in the hive.
tWhy. won't it--isn't its little foot
hot p Everybody would ask such
a question. under the circumstances.
mo-" said the bee-keeper. They
never sting me. scarcely. Bees will
sting some people. when they won't
sting Others"
"Somc say bees will sting mean
person. when they won't touch an
honest man. How is that :"
! The bce-kecper smiled. Il don't
think that's the case" said he thought
fully. They always sting nervous
people. A person who is not nervous
can go among them and handle them
as he chooses, and they will hardly
ever touch him. have been stmg a
good many times in my life, but oil
late years bee sting never swells on
me or hurts me. ] suppose il is be.
cause | have become so inoculated
with tn bee virus that il does not af-
feet ME any more.
New-fangled bce-hives and fancy
glass hives are only SO much rubbish
in the eyes of the bee-keeper. Tic
uses only the Langstroth hive. and tho
secret of the Langstroth hive is this
frame which holds the honey q
l space of one-quarter of an inch is left
There seems to be some kind of magi,
or something of the sort about the
exact space of one-quarter of an inch
because. curiously enough, if a larger
space than this is left for the bee IL
pass through and through the hive
then she fills the space up with comb
and fistens herself out. If less than
Il quarter of an inch is left, the be,
CLUES il all up just the same. and fast
lens the frame to the hive. The magi,
passage way must be "A quarter of al
inch. no less, and certainly not Owe
an eighth of an inch larger, and thel
! the bee will thrive. and work unit
she dies. There is something yer,
curious about il.
Applying DIR. Watts bee theory {,
people again, we find that facts abou
: the age of bees knock the breatl
completely out OF all gaady-good,
, theories, thai q man must work nj
, his life ia order 90 live long time
A queen bee who never works any
will live four years, while Your work
lug bee in the honey season, lives onl,
,, from four 10 six weeks. There's
comment on the healthfuiness of In
Dor. Even through The Winter, whel
the bees cannot leave their hives, til
: working bee only lives about 81,
months. Ihe working bees win IL
, as far as four or five miles to get hon
ey. They are uncommoniy strong 10
their size.
Italian bees are considered supcrio
/. to all the rest. They are gentler, NOR
prolific. and more industrious tina
! the native American, or black be,
The Italian bee has three yellow band
!. about It's body. which distinguishes
from the common or black hee.
: A cnriously, intensely f.,scinatin
employment is the rearing of bee
and studying their habits and law
q Part of il actually seems like witci
craft. Bees build three kinds OF cont
I called worker comb. drone comb, an
honey comb. the difference betwee
them consisting in The size OF the Gel
The honey comb Is TO store honey il
and is built in the upper part OF til
' brood combs. All the rest except III
honey comb i brood comb, for til
rearing of young bees. There ar
three kinds OF bees in hive. a quee
bee. the working bee, aud the drone
!. and, strange to say, the bees kno'
when they build the brood cell, es
! actlv what kind of bee will l
y hatched out OF that cell. The quee
: bee is the only perfectly develope
female in the hive, and lays all III
! eggs for the new swarms. The worl
y er cells are quite small, the drone Gel
considerably larger. and a cell Tor
lqneen bee is about the size and shal
Of a peanut. A queen bee cell iool
y very odd in among the rest.
a a bees egg is about the size OF
!" nnalIa nniut aud IL thp auaau Ia.