The Birmingham age-herald., 1910-09-20
TANNING BEES WILL BE
 NOVEL ACT AT THE FAIR

understand the tanning of lion or a tiger than to understand the bridging of the chasm existing between the mind of man and the instinct of a tiny insect Only one or two men have ever sue ceeded at this latter feat and the better known of them is Frank G. Odell, "The Bee Wizard" whose work among sting ing bees will be>one of the drawing free shows of the Alabama State Fair at Birmingham this fall.
 A newspaper writer thus describes the characteristic appearance of Odel1, ''The Bee Wizard" in one of his per formances:
 "As one passes the agricultural build ing a crowd is gathered about a screened cage placarded with the le- gend, "Odel, Bee Wizard Inside is a slight built man with Vandyke beard tinged with gray, who is resting one foot on leather-covered bee hive. He Is about to begin one of his wide ly advertised performances and is ex- plaining to the audience the advan- tages of their location over his. All the ordinary means of protection against bee stings are in evidence and within easy reach-smoker, bee-Yell and bee -gloves-but after explaining the utility of these articles he pitches them out of the cage, and, divesting himself of coat, collar and tie, rolls up his sleeves and starts in by kick ing the hive vigorously to give the bees due notice that the show is to begin as he says.
 "To convince the skeptical that the bees are on the job he pries the cover off the hive and shows the inside swarming with the honey makers. lie says there are 50,000 of them Ihey look like a million. Lifting frame ca autiously from the hive he shows It covered with the insects and explains in interesting terms the various phases of the development of bee life, point ing out the tiny eggs in the cells the larya in various stages or deVelop- ment. the sealed cradles of the young and the bee babies chewing thelr way out of the capped cells. lie reaches down on the frame and scoops a hand ful of bees off and they trickle off his fingers like grains of living sand.
 Mbut of a pocket in the side Of the hive he takes a little wooden cage containing the queen bee, placed there for safekeeping, and pases her out 10 be handled and seen by the audience most of whom have never before seen such creature All the time the wizard is talking, talking like gat- ling gun in full fire. Presently ne graps a frame full of bees said to contain about a thousand or more, ana Jars them off on his bare head and they waltz about over his face and buzz Tn his ears and he keeps on talking. A handful is gathered up and thrown m his face and as he blows them or ne keeps on talking Another frame full IS dexteriousiS shaken into hat bor- rowed from bystander and the wizard nonchalantly clasps 1t on his head and keeps on talking
 whether he gets out of breath or desires to rest the audience, Is not al yulged, but he reaches our and gets a lively bee off the wire netting and nuts if in his mouth, allowing IL 10 explore the interior of his talking ma chine while the audience holds oreatn and the wizard smiles wizaro-ilke smile. After a few seconds his mouth opens wide and the bee Is seen creep ing from between his open IDS anu flies out to join her HlFe iiaeo the worse for her exploration or 'ne department of the interior. Mean wniie , inc bees are still in the hat and the hat on his head. As a fitting finale he shakes all the bees together in the hive and shoWs them to the crowd, a buzzing, creeping mass of thousands of apparently angry insects; his shirt is rapidly unbuttoned' both hands thrust in the mass or bees and quart tucked away on his pare breast. Then he cooly buttons up ms shirt and talks some more, while bees literally pour out around his whlsKers.
 This is the attraction whicn Seere- tarv Chaffee has secured for the state fair at Birmingham, and he says that the recommendations given to this fea- ture guarantee it to be one of the greatest attractions ever brought to the fair.