In honor of his visit I thought I would do some research about bees and see what I could come up with. Sometime before I had seen a piece or two in The London Times about beekeeping. I sought them out and re-found them. I looked further and found more. An idea began to form about the possibility that Holmes, in retirement, was one of the folks putting small articles in the paper about the hobby. We all know Holmes kept bees on the Sussex Downs when he gave up detecting, so I looked for items from around that time. The snag was determining when he reitred.
I had already come to the conclusion that 'The Lion's Mane' (LION) happened in 1909, which is in agreement with a low number of other chronologists. (Most like 1907.)
Unfortunately, I do not have the original clips, but I did save the text from them. What follows is the entire article I wrote with the exception of the first paragraph. (It doesn't add anything to the piece.)
April 24, 1908
Bee-Keeping As A Rural Industry,
From a "Correspondent"
As to literature which my be recommended for those who wish to pursue the subject, we may mention Cheshire's two volumes on "Bee and Bee-keeping" and Cowan's admirable little "British Bee-keeper's Guide Book." For those who wish for poetry mingled with science there is, of course, Maeterlinck's "Life of the Bee."
May 17, 1910
Proposed Amalgamation of Societies.
From a "Correspondent"
A special meeting of the British Beekeepers' Association will be held tomorrow to consider a scheme for the amalgamation for that association (the parent body) with all of the affiliated societies, thus forming one beekeeping association for the whole of Great Britain.
[Later in the article...]
It is hoped that the maintenance of one flourishing association in place of the thirty existing associations will establish complete identity of all members who are engaged in the beekeeping industry.
September 8, 1919
Beekeeping Industry Growing.
An indication of the revival of the bee-keeping industry in the country is the receipt by the authorities of over 3,000 additional applications for the supply of sugar for winter feeding of bees.
June 16, 1919
Promise of the Bees. A Good Honey Harvest.
(From "Correspondent")
[This article is 1000+ words long, but the most interesting thing is the last sentence, specifically the last two words.]
An experienced beekeeper can carry out more intricate manipulation in dealing with swarms which issue from supered colonies, but the one mentioned above [removing the queen] is the simplest for those to follow who have not had an extensive acquaintance with practical beekeeping.
You'll recall from 'His Last Bow' (LAST) that Holmes had written his magnum opus on beekeeping called The Practical Handbook of Bee Culture, with some Observations upon the Segregation of the Queen.
It is interesting to note that there is a large lapse in letters from correspondents, amateur or professional, from about 1912 to 1919. I know it was because of the war, but it was also a critical time for the hobby as apiarists from all over the UK were dealing with something called the "Isle of Wight" disease. However, since we know our hero was chloroforming Germans during this time it might be that the hiatus in missive-writing had something to do with Holmes' post-retirement activites? Could he be the unnamed 'Correspondent'?
As I read back over this article I'm struck by the fact that I don't recall exactly why I chose some of the pieces I did except that they seemed somewhat universal. What I mean is that I had to skip over a lot of them because they contained info that made it obvious it wasn't from Holmes. The ones I have here seem vague and ambiguous, and could certainly have been written by anyone...including a retired detective from London who just wants the world to pass him by.
Anyway, that's a little taste of the lengths I'll go to in my plight to tie Holmes into his world. I love what I do, and shall never give up in my quest. So, I'll see you next time. And as always...thanks for reading.
Since when are bees not insects? I hate to quibble (actually, being a Sherlockian, I thrive on quibbling), but Webster's dictionary defines a bee as "any of numerous hymenopterous insects..." I can find no source that claims otherwise.
ReplyDeleteEven so, excellent job finding possible submissions from Holmes in his retirement. We know from STUD that he would submit items to the newspapers, and there is no reason to suppose that he would discontinue the practice.
You know, I recall asking Google if bees were insects, and it directed me to a page that said they technically were not. However, for the life of me I cannot find that page again.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, you're right - bees are insects. I'll make the correction when I get back to my laptop tonight.
Thanks for your comments.
As for your low-numbered chronologists who vote for 1909 over 1907, their reason for it is actually fascinating (yes, I did put "fascinating" and chronology in the same sentence). Those chronologist who bothered to research the weather saw that there were no storms as described by Holmes in 1907, but there was a gale on July 24,1909 ("Towards the end of July 1907, there was a severe gale, the wind blowing up-Channel, heaping the seas to the base of the cliffs, and leaving a lagoon at the turn of the tide. On the morning of which I speak the wind had abated, and all Nature was newly washed and fresh. It was impossible to work upon so delightful a day, and I strolled out before breakfast to enjoy the exquisite air.") John Weber points out that by Tuesday August 3, the weather had improved enough for McPherson to take a dip (Holmes says the case started on a Tuesday) and that the weather thereafter fits the rest of the story. Before Zeisler, chronologist were happy to believe in Holmes' infallibility. Those after Zeisler who stuck with 1907, refused to believe Holmes' had sloppy handwriting (of course, everyone knows that doctors were required to have bad handwriting in those days!). While I'm not a slave to weather descriptions in the Canon having to match exactly the reported conditions, we must allow for some literary license especially when not crucial to events, it must match conditions that are important to the case (the snow in BERY, the rain in GOLD, the temperature in ABBE), so someone, somewhere got 1909 wrong and made it 1907. The fascinating part in reading all the different chronologist is seeing how each fall into the trap of rationalizing the evidence to fit theories.
ReplyDeleteIt really does turn the whole thing into a spectator sport, doesn't it? It's fascinating and maddening at the same time. (Oh, I agree with everything you said.)
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