The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1905-02-24

For several years Lancaster and
had been managing a rather large
aplary in southern Ontario. In 1900
we tried the experiment of establish
ing an "out-apiary" in the wild coun-
try northeast Of Toronto.
The forest had all been numbered
off, and the ground burned over, and
from the charred earth had sprung
miles of raspberry bushes and Grim
son fireweed, growing in an almost i'm
penetrable tangle over and among the
half-burned roots and logs and trunks.
All this furnished thousands of acres
of bloom, that lasted from June till
frost, and there were no bees to gather
the nectar.
The country was quite unsettled, and
we had to ship our bees by express
and then haul them eight miles from
the railway over a coduroy road; but
the experiment was a success from the
start. Out of our fifteen hives that
year we sold one hundred and. twenty
five dollars worth of beautiful comb
honey.
We had now more than hundred
hives on the spot, and this backwoods
apiary had become the larger half OF
our business. We usually went up to-
gether in early spring to unpack the
bees, and then one of us camped near
the hives during the summer, to har-
vest the crop. 1t was generally Lam
caster who did this, for his manage
ment had proved much more success
full than mine, although he disliked
camp life, cared nothing for the woods,
and took no interest in any plant that
did not produce honey. But he was
born apiarist
1t was near the end of July last year
when | received an unexpected tele-
gram from him:
"Apiary half-ruined. Come up at
once"
l went up by the next train, much
alarmed, and reached our station at
about two O'Clock. AS | walked over
the eight miles Of logging road, | was
much relieved to see that neither tor
nado nor forest fire had passed that
way.
The apiary stood long way back
from the road and upon a gentle slope,
where we had cleared little island
in the jungle of vines and weeks.
Everywhere else the ground was
tangled with the raspberry bushes and
the tall freweed, now in glorious
bloom.
AS came within sight of our ranch,
I perceived my partner rushing fran
tically about among the hives, and at
my first glance it seemed to me that
every colony must be swarming at
once. The air was clouded with bees.
Lancaster came running to meet me,
but | could make out little from his
breathless explanations. | put on an
extra veil and gloves and went down
to the hives The apiary was hardly
"half-ruined," but the spectacle was
enough to depress any bee-keeper.
Ten or fifteen hives were upset
smashed and splintered. They had
been TERED up three or four supers
each. full of delicate comb-honey,
which was crushed into a dripping
mass. Over the ruins crawled the
homeless bees, and wherever honey
had been spilled there was a seething
swarm of the insects. They were furi-
ously excited, and pounced upon us as
soon as we came near, but we had to
disregard stings.
Whenever bees obtain access to
honey, thus exposed, they become
greatly excited over the plumber, and
usually end by raiding and robbing
one another's hives.
Lancaster had done what he could,
Int robbing was already going on
merrilly. There was pitched battle in
nrogress at the entrance of almost
every hive between the assailants and
defenders =.
think that ! never saw bees so in
furiated. They attacked us in clouds
when we approached, clustered against
the wells, flew into the burning
smokers, tried to crawl up our sleeves
and trouser-legs, and stung impartially
81 everything they touched.
In spite of this opposition, we filed
nm the entrances of the still standing
hives with wet grass, scraped up all
thu spilled honey and bits of comb.