Northwest enterprise. [volume] (Anacortes, Wash. Ter.) 1882-1887, 1885-09-12
SALLY ANN JONES' PAPERS.
"REMINISCENCES OF FARM LTFE-
How JEREMIAH DID NOT MAKE HIS
FORTUNE KEEPING BEES

One day jeremiah was looking over an
agricultural paper, and happened on an
article setting forth the great profits to be
derived from raising bees; so he conclud-
ed that if he could only get possession of
a swarm of bees, his fortune would cer-
tainly be made.
why, Sally Ann" says he, "you know
they are neither trouble nor expense
All you have to do is to get hive ready
for them, and they'll go into 1t and go
to work; then there'll be your honey
ready for you to sell or to eat, while you
have been going ahead with your work
as usual.
Says I: Jeremiah, don't like bees
and bees don't like me- A bee stung nae
on top of my head once, and almost killed
me, and don't want bees around, for I'm
afraid OF them.
"Oh," says he, "rll put them in the far
therest corner of the yard, and there'll be
no danger"
didn't say anything more about the
bees, for there was nobody with bees to
sell within less than five miles OF US, and
know that jeremiah would keep talking
about going after them, and putting it off
until he forgot all about it unless kept
reminding him, and had no such inten-
tion. But, unfortunately, the very next
day, stray swarm of bees came right
past our front door. The boys and Jere-
miah took after tiem pounding tin. pans
and rattling q COW bell, and the hired
man grabbed the water bucket and COM
menced throwing water on them, and to
my sorrow, saw them rettle on the limb
of an apple tree. jeremiah was as highly
delighted as il he had discovered a gold
mine. He succeeded In hiving them in an
old nail keg, after they had stung him in
about dozen places.
A few days afterward "a peddler came
along with patent bee hives to sell. Jere-
miah said he would buy hive, it would
look SO much nicer, and weuld only cost
"a. The peddler told him that the patent
hives would cause the bees to increase so
fast that he would need at least a half
dozen before the summer ended, and then
was his only chance to get them, for no
one else sold them, and he intended to
leave our part of the country the very
next day, and go to place where
where the people raised more bees, so
when he left, be carried away $25 of Jsre-
miah's money. the odd dollar he charged
for showing jeremiah how to put the
hive together.
"Neither trouble nor expense, Jeremi>
ah." says l.
II never went into speculation IN my
life," says jeremiah, "but what you
grumbled about it,"
"That's because you always speculate
the wrong way" says l.
SWELL" says he, "I'm going to have
my own way for once. If I've got the
living to make, it's pity if ! can't
choose my own way to make it, so you
can just stop your eternal clatte-."
"You make the livinga" says I. But
/ saw that Jeremiah was already far out
toward the barn and had left the gate
open, ,as usual, 50 went and shut it with
cut saying another word.
The men folks had another exciting
time over transferring the bees from the
keg to the new hiye, and Jeremish, IN
stead of g0ng ON with his work while
the ices made fortune for him, spent
most OF his time standing around the
hive thinking of the bright future, AMI
as consequence, had one eye bunged up
most of the time. This state OF affairs
continued tor about three weeks, then
came to an abrupt termination.
One warm Saturday evening Jeremiah
returned from the post Office inst as the
sun was sinking behind the western hori-
zon. There was luxuriant growth OF
grass in the yard, SO he turned his horse
loose to Craze awhile.
was in the yard seated on
stool milking with both hands, into
bucket nearly fall of foaming milk. Tige
was sleeping peacefully in the yard, and