.
(I) Ideal beekeeper
dressed in cricket whites
& sports jacket
everything he required
within easy reach
every movement
deliberate
& positive
the hive never jarred
& the least smoke used
as was needed
paying no notice when bees
settled upon him
he was a gentle man
(alas! I shall never
see him again)
(after Kelsey)
(II) Pipe
the habitual smoker
may need nothing more
than his pipe for protection
as wafting smoke
in the bees direction
through a tube of india-rubber
is sure to tame them
(after Cheshire)
Edwardes adds:
wise smokers
cut a pipe-sized hole
in their veil
(III) Smoker
what you put
inside the smoker
is of more import
than the smoker itself
(after Davies)
Edwardes adds:
the best smokers
are made of copper
which never rusts
(IV) June idyll
in a nook of old England
there’s a bee-garden
lined with shady linden
in which a keeper’s sat
in quiet thought
on the honey-barrow
drifting a tendril
of blue tobacco
(after Edwardes)
W. Eric Kelsey, The Spell of the Honey-Bee
Frank R. Cheshire, Bees & Beekeeping, Vol. 2
Andrew Davies, Beekeeping
Tickner Edwardes, The Lore of the Bee
Tickner Edwardes, Bee-Keeping for All
dressed in cricket whites
& sports jacket
everything he required
within easy reach
every movement
deliberate
& positive
the hive never jarred
& the least smoke used
as was needed
paying no notice when bees
settled upon him
he was a gentle man
(alas! I shall never
see him again)
(after Kelsey)
(II) Pipe
the habitual smoker
may need nothing more
than his pipe for protection
as wafting smoke
in the bees direction
through a tube of india-rubber
is sure to tame them
(after Cheshire)
Edwardes adds:
wise smokers
cut a pipe-sized hole
in their veil
(III) Smoker
what you put
inside the smoker
is of more import
than the smoker itself
(after Davies)
Edwardes adds:
the best smokers
are made of copper
which never rusts
(IV) June idyll
in a nook of old England
there’s a bee-garden
lined with shady linden
in which a keeper’s sat
in quiet thought
on the honey-barrow
drifting a tendril
of blue tobacco
(after Edwardes)
W. Eric Kelsey, The Spell of the Honey-Bee
Frank R. Cheshire, Bees & Beekeeping, Vol. 2
Andrew Davies, Beekeeping
Tickner Edwardes, The Lore of the Bee
Tickner Edwardes, Bee-Keeping for All
.