Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1911-08-29
THE BOY and
The BEEHIVE

Once there was q little boy who bad
beehive without any bees In II
About q mile away there was another
beehive. which stood by picket fence
and, was full Of bees. After awhile 1t
got to be more full Of bees, and after
another while 1t got to be 30 much
more full Of bees that there was not
room for any Of them to turn around.
Then the bees said: This house h
getting too crowded. We shall be
obliged to move. but as 1t Is spring
and everybody Is moving we shall be
quite In the fashion"
80 one bright sunny day half Of
those bees. headed by the old queen
Of the hive, left their home and went
house hunting. Houses were hard to
Hnd that spring. and. though they dew
around and dew around. they could
not seem to come across anything that
just suited the queen TILL at last the
queen got discouraged and settled
down on the bough Of an apple tree
near q pretty white farmhouse.
Then all the other bees settled down
on the same bough till they hung
there like great bunch Of grapes.
and all the bees kept murmuring over
and over again: "Oh. dear; oh. dear;
oh, dear! What shall we do for new
house"
Some Of them said, II wish We hadn't
come" and some of them said. Lets
go back" but the queen said. "Just
you wait till l get my breath and I'll
find you a lovely house." And just as
she spoke out from the house there
ran q man and boy. Both Of them
had mosquito nets on their heads and
gloves on their hands, and the boy was
carrying tin pan and tin spoon, and
the man was carrying long blue box
with a cover at the end. And as they
came the boy beat on the tin pan with
G. spoon in q most terrifying manner,
30 that the bees were afraid to fy
away in the air again.
II wish." said the queen bee, that
that boy would step making that noise.
1t frightens me so that l don't dare
move. And wish that that man
would put down that box 30 that
could have 1t for hive"
But the boy kept Oh beating on the
tin pan. and the man did not let 90 Of
the blue box till they came and stood
right under the branch where the
bees hung. Then the man took the
cover of the box and gently brushed
the bees inside.
"There." said the queen bee, pre-
tending she had expected It all along;
II told you I'd find a nice house for
you. It's much better than our old
one-made Of wood instead Of straw
and painted blue. too. my very favortte
color. Now let's put the house In or.
der and start housekeeping"
While the bees were 30 happy with
their new home the people In the
house were, II anything. more happy.
The little boy was dancing up and
down and clapping his hands. Just
to think that I've got some bees now
In my beehiver he cried And
wanted them 80 much and took such
q lot of trouble fixing up that old hive
found in the cellar!"
So both the little boy and the bees
were contented. and the bees worked
so hard that they made lot Of extra
honey that they did not need, as bees
generally do. So the little boy sold
the extra honey and bought with his
money q lot Of things he had been
wanting for long time and that the
rest Of the family had been wanting
for a long time. and one Of the things
he bought was IN extra beehive. aud
when swarming time came the queen
bee said: How convenient! This time
we can move right over the way"