Wilhelm Busch

“ Any one with an accurate ear, who has been so happy as to assist at a chorus of Bull Frogs in full song in the sweet spring tide, sacred to love and melody, must have felt how accurately the great Comic Poet noted down their song. ”

“ Intend to improve these precious hours.
And first, the things most important to mention,
Reading, writing, and ciphering will claim our attention;
For these are the arts by which man rises
To honor and wealth, and wins great prizes. ”

“ This mode of removing a captive would have suited that extinct species of our protective force, that of the Dogberry and Verges order, and may be recommended to our new police as more merciful, and less grating to the feelings of a prisoner than the present mode of "running a man in;" especially as they generally get hold of the wrong person. A police sedan would enable the innocent captive to conceal his features from the tail of little boys and idle quidnuncs, specially if he were carried like our honey thief head downwards. ”

“ For full particulars of this remarkable instance see "My Bee Book," second edition. To regulate, not to prevent swarming should be the Bee-master's aim. More of this hereafter. I here give, by the kindness of Mr. Alfred Neighbour, illustrations of the sort of hive by which alone this can be accomplished, viz., the Bar Frame hive. Originally of German invention, it, with various modifications, has been widely adopted both on the Continent and in America; and every Bee-master in England who claims the title of scientific, would do well to supply himself at once. ”

“ Echoes the teeming hive around.
All gather at the trumpet's clang
To hear their noble Queen's harangue.—
[Pg 14]
"Up children up, to swarm prepare"
"The honey thief sits stinking there."
"And we who love the scent of roses"
"Have stale tobacco in our noses."
"We toil, we sweat from early May"
"To lay up for a rainy day."
"Our cells we fill, and at the Fall"
"He sulphers us, and takes it all."
"So let us one and all deride"
"This honey thief, this Bee-i-cide."
"Up children, up! to swarm prepare"
"Whilst Master Dull sits snoring there."
"A devil he, upon my troth:"
"Buzz! buzz! ”

“ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by
ROBERTS BROTHERS,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington
Copyright, 1898,
By Little, Brown, and Company.
UNIVERSITY PRESS . JOHN WILSON
AND SON . CAMBRIDGE U.S.A.
[3]
MAX AND MAURICE. PREFACE.
Ah, how oft we read or hear of
Boys we almost stand in fear of!
For example, take these stories
Of two youths, named Max and Maurice,
Who, instead of early turning
Their young minds to useful learning,
Often leered with horrid features
At their lessons and their teachers. ”

“ Eau de Luce as it is commonly called, that is, strong ammonia, is another excellent remedy; a small bottle should be kept in every apiary in the box of "needments." But above all, let the Bee-master eschew gloves, specially when delicate operations are to be performed. A cat might as soon expect to catch mice in mittens, as a Bee-master to capture a Queen with hands encased in, and fingers stiffened by, thick woollen gloves, as recommended by some. ”

“ AGAINST WIND AND TIDE. By Louise Chandler Moulton, author of "Bed-Time Stories," etc.
2. A HOLE IN THE WALL. By Louisa M. Alcott, author of "Little Women," "Little Men," etc.
3. A LITTLE KNIGHT OF LABOR. By Susan Coolidge, author of "What Katy Did," etc.
4. CHILDREN'S HOUR. By Mary W. Tileston, author of "Daily Strength for Daily Needs," etc.
5. CHOP-CHIN AND THE GOLDEN DRAGON. By Laura E. Richards, author of "Captain January," "The Joyous Story of Toto," etc.
6. COTTAGE NEIGHBORS. By Nora Perry, author of "Another Flock of Girls," "Hope Benham," etc. ”

“ Each honey comb, it will be seen, is built in a separate bar frame like a picture. [Pg 77] They are ranged to the number of 9, 11, or 13, in a strong box, and each is both moveable and interchangeable with those of any other hive. Swarming may be checked in any particular stock by cutting out the Queen Cells. The great production of drones can be regulated by limiting the amount of drone cell in any hive, and altogether prevented by removing it all from a stock hive, about the purity of whose strain there is the least doubt ”

“ The prelude and refrain offer a fine opportunity for a Buzz-a-Buzz effect. On receipt of a satisfactory production I will forward to the Composer a bound copy of Buzz-a-Buzz, with the translator's autograph. Inestimable reward!
John Dull sits waiting for a Swarm.—Page 11.—as I have done for many an hour, and lost the swarm after all. John Dull drops asleep whilst watching. I have often ceased watching just as the swarm was about to rise. The Bees choose their own time, which is not always that which the Bee master would for them. ”

“ It is, as our readers will remember, the remarkable work that Ruskin placed at the head of the best books.—Baltimore American.
With all the original illustrations, a sketch of the author's life, and a portrait. 12mo. $2.00
RHYMES AND BALLADS FOR GIRLS AND BOYS. By Susan Coolidge. Illustrated. 8vo. Cloth, gilt. $1.50.
POSIES FOR CHILDREN. Selected by Mrs. Anna C. Lowell. With 32 illustrations. Small 4to. Cloth. $1.25. Popular Edition, 16mo. Cloth. 75 cents. ”

“ Any man handy with tools may make them for himself at the cost of the materials, and they will last a lifetime. I can supply [Pg 78] my friends with as many as they require at half a guinea, for which they pay double or treble in the shops; whilst those who think nothing can be good except it is high-priced, and do not like the trouble of making their own hives, may go to any cost they like. The preceding woodcut represents a hive on this principle, but with certain modifications, which may be obtained of Mr. Neighbour, 149, Regent-street, and will suit the class of Bee keepers last mentioned. ”

“ Preface. EXPLANATORY. I must say a few words in explanation of the somewhat novel form which my new "Bee-Book" has taken, and which, doubtless, will be a surprise to the many Bee-Friends who are waiting with exemplary patience for the second edition of my original "Bee-Book," soon about to appear after an interval of thirty years from the publication of the first edition.
I happened last year to be at the Cologne Station, waiting for the train, and employed my spare time in looking over the book stall for something to read on my way to Aix-la-Chapelle. ”

“ Their backs they never rudely turn:
Good manners they by instinct learn.
[Pg 4]
And when night comes she goes to bed,
And on the pillow lays her head;
Whilst by her side her faithful drone
Profoundly snores, for they are one.
They send for letters ere they rise;
For just at ten they ope their eyes. ”

“ I do not believe that in the two thousand years which have elapsed since that time there has been a single note altered in their love ditty. I have never been in Greece, and so cannot testify to the musical powers of the Frogs of Bœotia; but I have had that pleasure both in Spain and in the neighbourhood of Constantinople: in both instances under very favourable circumstances, which I will relate. In June, 1855, during the Crimean war, I was at Constantinople, the guest of Lord Napier, then Chief Secretary to the British Embassy in that city. ”

“ Imitate him, my gentle reader, if you are still young and active, and then you will appreciate his contortions. [Pg 81]
"A Honey Thief, ill may he thrive."—Page 55.—Every Bee keeper will echo this wish. I know no sight more piteous than an apiary the night after it has been plundered. Light Hives upset, and lying, with the combs all broken, on the ground. The Bees crawling about in wild confusion around their violated homes, lately so neat, and now the very picture of desolation. In vain they attempt to repair the damage which the spoiler's hand has created ”

“ No more have I; and perhaps some of my readers may say that I should have done better had I waited for a sleep on Parnassus, and a drink of Hippocrene before I began to write. All I can say is, I hope to take one next year, if I visit Greece.
Fytte I.—Page 1-7.—The fun of this first Fytte will be "real nuts" to every Bee-master. The whole economy of a Hive is viewed from a human stand-point. The sentinels watching with their own stings in their hands as lances; the early labours of the chamber and house maids; the architects setting out the day's work ”

“ Rushed to the Bee-house, found John Dull
Asleep, and snoring like a bull.
"Wake, Uncle, wake" in startling tone
He shouted, "for your swarm is gone."
[Pg 23]
Fytte IV. The Swarm.
John Dull, awakened from his slumber,
Observed his stock's diminished number;
His apple trees he searched, and found
The swarm some ten feet from the ground;
Got his bee dress, his hive, and ladder;
No Bee master was ever gladder.
[Pg 24]
Mounted, and without any trip
Got all the bees within the skip—
"Well done I have them;" ”

“ I pride myself on knowing somewhat of the languages of Birds, Beasts, and (Fishes? No! they are mutum pecus, but let us say) Bull Frogs so I listened attentively, and found the Nightingale and Bull Frog, were each of them serenading his own wife, arboreal, and aquatic. Each wife thought her husband the very best singer in the world: that not a note of his song could be altered for the better; and both Nightingale and Bull Frog thought the other singer a bore. ”

“ When a thing has been done excellently well, it is folly to again attempt the same with a certainty of failure before our eyes. We verse makers do not steal from each other; we are all one brotherhood, and Corbies nae pike out corbies e'en. ”

“ This will indeed protect a hive from anything but a powerful crow bar. But the remedy is worse than the disease, as it prevents your ever changing or cleaning the bottom board, and is, in many ways, inconvenient. The best preservative I can think of is to have a savage dog, savage to all but his master, with a strong chain, not fastened to his kennel, but ending in an iron ring, which can slide along a small pole placed horizontally about a foot from the ground in front of the Hives. ”

“ L. with a twinkle of his eyes, which marked his appreciation of the situation, answered, "A little lower down, Mademoiselle, a little lower down."
"Fetched His Bee Dress, his Hive, his Ladder."—Page 23.—A veritable Guy Mr. Dull looks in his defensive armour! A simpler and equally efficient dress may be made of a black net bag, large enough to be drawn over a straw or felt hat, with a brim sufficiently wide to keep the net away from the prominent organ, the [Pg 76] nose, and long enough to be buttoned into the Bee-master's coat. ”

“ Since I wrote the above, a story has appeared in the newspapers, and is, I fear a true one, as names, dates and places are given, of [Pg 79] a sting having been fatal to a lady accustomed to the management of bees. Any person who has this idiosyncrasy had better give bees a wide berth.
"I Deskiver."—Page 44.—There was evidently a taste of Milesian blood in this learned doctor. 'Tis fortunate that it was so, for "discover" and "liver" would not rhyme.
"Brekekekex, Coax, Coax,
"Coax, Coax, Brekekekex."—Page 46. ”