When it grew dark they carried the hives ashore. The bees were quiet enough now, but the raft was littered with pints of dead from the fighting.
“Got ’em somewhere at last!” said Bob, contemplating the rows of hives on the river-bank. “It did begin to look as if we never would.”
“They’ve got a thousand miles yet to go,” Alice reminded him. “This move has only begun.”
CHAPTER XVIII
THE HARVEST
After the strenuous events of the last week the boys felt that they needed a rest, and they did nothing for two days. Carl had delivered the barge-load of rosin at Harper’s landing; and Harper had agreed to send a check to Joe as soon as the stuff could be remelted and weighed up. In the meantime, Uncle Louis volunteered to finance them a little; and he arranged for a credit at the bank at Shomo, where they were going to take the railroad.
He went over to Shomo himself with Bob and Joe to take the train, and Joe arranged for two large motor-trucks to handle the bees. At the same time he secured a cabin with a large lot just outside of the village for the temporary site of the apiary; and engaged board for the whole party at the local hotel.
The bees made three truck-loads, and Bob thoughtfully suggested that they break up the raft and take a load of the best of the lumber—an idea that turned out very valuable. For the apiary was entering upon a new stage now, in which each colony had to be turned into three, and there was a demand for new hives and lumber at every moment.
It was a race against time now, for it was already nearly the end of April, and unless the bees could be delivered in Canada by the last of May they would be of little use for the clover-bloom. Alice immediately started a vast number of queen-cells to be used for the new colonies, and as soon as these were well under way she split each colony in two by taking off the top story with its combs and bees to make a separate hive, dividing the forces as equally as possible.
To their great relief, Harper’s check arrived at this time, for the amount of $4200. Half of this indeed technically belonged to Mr. Burnam, but Uncle Louis had promised to arrange the matter so that the boys should have the use of it until Burnam’s debt was paid off. Joe immediately presented Sam with fifty silver dollars, a greater sum than the negro had ever seen before at one time.
“Dis yere bee-keepin’ is shorely one fine stunt!” Sam gasped, regardless that the bees had not had much to do with the acquisition of that money.