"What are you going to do?" asked Mr. Pertell, who was fretting over
the spoiling of the school scene film.
"I'm going to get my camera," he called back over his shoulder. "I'm
going to make a film of this. Look, there comes the bee man after his
swarm."
Across the field came running several men, and one of them carried a
dishpan on which he was vigorously beating with an iron spoon.
Another had a dinner bell which he clanged constantly.
"Great Scott!" cried Mr. Pertell, "What does all this mean?"
"They're trying to make the swarm settle, so they can put 'em back in
a hive," explained Sandy. "You see, a swarm of bees is valuable this
time of year. There's an old saying, 'a swarm of bees in May is worth
a load of hay; a swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon; but a
swarm in July ain't worth a fly.' That means a swarm in May will
make enough honey to be worth a load of hay, more or less, but in
July th' season is so far gone that th' bees won't make more than
enough for themselves durin' th' winter."
"I see!" said Mr. Pertell. "Well, I guess Russ has a good idea--we'll
get a moving picture of them hiving the swarm. But what do the men
make all that noise for?"
"Oh, there's a notion that bees will settle down in a bunch around
th' queen, and not fly away if they hear a racket.
Pages:
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147