The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1920-07-05
As IT SEEMS
TO ME
DANA SLEETH

11"0F THE bees attack
nHM1I you. walk slowly
from the hive. hold.
INnRI ing the head down.
as bees cannot fy
upward and sting"
This from standard book on
bee keeping. I desire az this time
10 add. from bitter and bitten expe-
rience. that by holding your head
down you insure being stung right
behind the car. on the tcndcres-
spot between the scalplock and tho
big toe.
have. with some stings and
considerable mental agony. just
looted hive OF some ten pounds
OF new honey. which. az current
rates Is worth 81. and at the prev
aient price OF sugar IL II worth $40.
This was a busting. earnest.
early-on the job hive. that filled up
a super before We knew IL. and
then waited around until we went
20 town for a day. when a swarm
Ms big as a bucket came off. and.
according to neighbor. loitered
about the bee yard for a couple OF
hours. and then vanished into the
woods.
Seeing that a hived swarm of
good. thrifty stock is worth from
$40 10 SIS these days. we are not
happy over that trip TO town.
GXYl It'll expert management.
U~I a hive should give a man .
a net profit OF at least
34 SIS season. at present
honey prices: with any
sort OF care. two or three hives
should supply a family with its
~sweetening." and nowadays.
with sugar 81 cents pound. that
Is no small item.
- Aside from the first cost OF the
hive and bee colony. your honey
, Is almost all profit. and why the
hills OF the Northwest are not
crowded with bee colonies pass
eth understanding. for bees, year
IN and year out. are about the sur
est and most profitable small crop
on the farm.
IL they have an off year and
produce little. they at least feed
themselves. and 70 costs nothing
20 carry them thru the winter.
Geese, that get fat on pasture.
and bees. that heap up golden nee
tar from wild flowers, these two
return more net profit than any
small farm industry. Yet for some
strange reason bees. geese and
goats are seldom seen. while chick.
ems. and hogs. and dairy cattle.
that require extensive and expen-
sive feeding and close care. are
everywhere.
OR the phllosophic spirit.
the bee colony is the
greatest spectacle on
earth. for here IL social
ism carried TO it's fur.
thest apphcation--a feminine. an
Amazon socialism. that kills the
males ruthlessIy when winter
comes and the stored food supplies
are in danger Of depletion.
80 far as we know. the honey
bee is the most wonderful thing on
earth. and II has developed a so
cial state and a system Of govern
nent for the sole benefit Of poster
ity that man, even In the Spartan
democracy, has never approached
for efficiency.
There are many mysteries about
the bee. One mystery is how the
queen can determine the sex Of the
egg she places I'm the brood cell.
But without fail. she places a
drone egg In 'drone cell. and a
female, or worker egg. In a worker
cell. and a queen egg in a queen
cell.
Also, how do the bees, IL de-
prived OF their queen, manufacture
p1rom a worker bee o queen? And
yet they do. and while the egg Is
in the cell. they. in time Of need,
totally change the nature and form
and essential anatomy OF the lar.
va. presumably By the food they
feed larva.
What power in the hive orders
certain bees TO do guard duty at
the entrance?
What power sets other compa-
nies 10 tanning fresh air into the
hive on hot days?
What engineer Of temperature in
the hive so regulates the tanning
Of these tiny wings that the hive
temperature never varies, from the
hottest weather 10 the coolest?
How came the bee TO study geom-
etry and engineering so that from
an Infinite variety Of forms, II
chose the shape that gave the
most strength and the most capa-