Evening star., 1925-10-04

e1lei WHO bN Years pl VI
service have won important places III
the Sam family-but after office hours
and on holidays You will find them
wearing the headdress of beekeepinS
smoker in hand, just ready TO open up
another commercial beehive.
Within d short radius of the White
House and the zero milestone n half
dozen amateur beekeepers are operat
ing commercial apiaries which com
prise approximately $50 colonies and
peak population of 20.e00,000 busy
Italian honey bees. Most of these
men are developing their interesting
bee farms as occupations for their sun
set years. Some time or another in
the future they plan To leave Uncle
Sans service and to devote their fun
time attention To her highness, Queen
Bee and her multitudinouS court of
Industrious workers.
Do not make the mistake Of heliev-
ing that the bees do all the work and
that their owners sit in the shade ana
day-dream about how they will invest
their honey money. There is no
winged insect known to science when
is more Industrious than the bee and
there are few men who are more occu-
pied when the most OF Ms city dWeilrrS
are resting than the anl;lteur bee man.
The bees keep busy collecting flower
nectar and converting. ii into sweet
honey. The apariStS spend their
spare hours looking after the bees.
And this homely task of acting rs
chief factntum on Il model bee lAfht -
no sinsle-barreled assignment.
Reekeeping extends back IL ihe
dawn days of time Even Nergil must
hHve taken a fling at honey cropping
nne time or another, for III these words
he describes api>ry methods of his dE
and age.
II e'er thou wouldst from It's small shelf
The. honicd store first having purified
Thy lips and breath. with water sprinkle well
And watt the wrestling smoke with wave OF
Twice in her year the teeming brood is horn:
Two harvests have they when the Plead
Spurns with her winged feet the ocean rim.
And when in fight before the stormful sign
She sinks from Heaven beneath the wih'rS
This is the season when the wrath of hces
Breaks bounds and If one harm 'h"m 'h'F
iniuse
A venom in each sting and in thy veins
Implant hidden bark. leaving hchlnd
Their own lives III the httc wounds they
If hard winter hodes and fond care
Forecasts their future. pitying what would
Thy spirit broken swarms distrcssful state.
Fear not to smoke them out with "d"r"us
And cut The empty combs. HanlE sonis, newt
Has horef the unseen or IN the Coils
Tho sunbtanl- fearing beetles throug. or they
Who sit unrarned t"asts. the shirkiNE
Or some rude hnrnct with his mi=htor sting
Has forced his way. or moth OF dreadful
Or spder bv Minerva cursed. has hung
Her swinging webs al entrance of thr hives
The NOR the bees feel poverty. III" more
They turn to eager lal,ors and rfirlvr
A fallen peoples fortune. h"apn- high
Their crowded martS ;:nd i"w"ry Sra!i%rirs.
MON, when it comes ri@h; down to
a matter of basic operations. the
bees of today that manufacture honey
from Washington wild flowers trnr.
ton just about as did their r"riN an
cestors. so admirably described 10y Yer
gil. Beekeeping has gone far during
its centuries of specialized practice.
but it still has far to go before ii
solves all the puzzles of the beehive.
For the inmates of the hive. from the
regal queen to the lowly worker and
the lazy drone, are secrecys priced
guardians. They have many secrets.
and they have kept them so we'll that
even today many of the routine doings
of the bee family are unplunbed mys-
teries to creations most able apiar!StS
and scientific Investigators.
Several WashinGtonians have re-
SpoIttt ~ tl1t llilt W ItlitN bi'lltN.
and are now the owners and operators
of successful apiaries. Naturally. you
do not find these modest bee farms
close to the hub of our national poll
tics. But on the outskirts ef the city
and in the suburbs. every once in so
often as you motor about. YOU will
come across a honey for sale sign.
or else Won will see the colony boxes
of the tireleSs bees in dooryard or
sheltered lot.
ont Conduit road are located the
apiaries of several District beekeepers. /
Another honey farmer keeps his bees
nehalf mile beyond bethesda on the
Rockville pike-the main highway !
which leads To the Middle West. AT ,
Forest Glen, not 50 far from the ta.
nous National Park Seminary. am
other successful apiary has its head !
quarters.
The directory of Washington bee |
keepers, ii there We're such Il register, /
would contain the names of a2I'icul- |
tural experts. naval doctors. naval ma /
chinistS, Government clerks. stats |
tcians and business men. for all of |
these practitioners of variegated call |
ings are at least homogeneous in their
love of bees and beekeeping. And |
small wonder that the enthusiasts who
labor with bees fall prey to the in !
dustry, efficiency and indomitable cour |
age of these insects. For the beehive, |
with its inmate bees. is one of the !
most highly perfected manufacturing
plants in existence. Educated man. !!
with all his mecha nical marvels and |
automatic assistants. works no mod !
ern miracles which eclipse the achieve I
ments of the honey makers in produc /
ing the worlds most sanitary and de-
licious food.
w M. AMANN. an expert machin |
ist who has been employed in !
the Navy Yard for 80 years has
60colony apiary near Bethesda. Mr.. !
Amann is son of the Mohawk Val |
ley section of New York State. where !
his father before him worked with !
bees and maintained Il successful com !
mercial apiary. II is just another of
those cases of like father like son. |
The son has been keeping bees close |
70 the National capital for more than
II years. For many wears mis- bee
farm was located in Randle Highland |
where at one time he maintained as
many as SO colonies and approximate
" 8 5000, 900 busy bees. Latterly he |
has moved to the Bethesda district |
and plans to develop there one of
Washington's best apiaries.
Gradually he is eliminating the |
black or German bee and Italian hee |
cross from his hives. The black bees
are surly and ugly. They will sting
on the slightest provocation. -..r |
sting only in self defense, when they |
are thoroughly convinced that their
habitations are in Jeopardy. So if you
can visualize how you would feel with
thousands of mean-mannered bees |
humming around your head as you |