A Basket of Chips: An Autobiography

Basket of Chips, page 090

A Basket of Chips Some years before I hived a swarm and about a fourth of them were left near the place of alighting. After hiving I moved them to a permanent place, but next day I noticed trouble at the mother hive. Bees were being dragged out and carried off and released in the air, or wherever they landed some rods from the hive. This lasted for days. I suppose that they were the lost ones returning and were not to be admitted. Their rights to the old home were relinquished on leaving. Is that the unwritten law with the bee? And if so how should they know? Had the bees all donned travelling clothes which were recognizable on the prodigals' return? But there they found no fatted calf. THE FIGHT TO LIVE With my wife's apparent return to health we enjoyed a far deeper philosophy of life. And often we wished that our ap- preciation had been greater when she had her health. I think that the first sting of death had never left her entirely. Life meant so much to her. The beautiful hills near us on our east were a delight and were many times explored by us all. The little mother could outwalk any of the family the first summer of our residence, but the second it was forbidden on account of the weak condition of her heart. How bravely she accepted the verdict. There would be "no more climbing." And her opti- mistic reply was "I will enjoy what I can," which she did. Our daughter Ruth's success in winning the poetry contest of the University of California," gave her much pleasure. Other pleasures followed which she lived to enjoy. Today I read her letter to me written a few days after I left to do some judging at the Utah State Fair. She mentioned the poisoning of the bees, and that she weighed one hundred pounds, - that was one pound heavier than her normal weight s The poetry award was the Emily Chamberlain Cook Prize. 90