190 



GLEANIN^GS EN BEE CULTURE. 



April 



to make it as valuable and instructive as we possi- 

 bly can, or some of the older ones may no? think as 

 wc do.] 



You sent Lizzie a book, and I like it very much. 

 She is two years older than L Since she wrote, 

 father built a new shop in the grove by our apiary, 

 and now he is making all kinds of bee traps. He is 

 a joiner, and makes anything. He used to work at 

 his trade, but don't now. He is getting ready to 

 send for a box full of things from your store. You 

 ought to have seen our bees tly on the 1st, 5th, and 

 6th of Februarj'. Did yours fly? 



Annie Bkickner. 



Decorab, Winn. Co., la., Feb. 6, 1883. 



[Ours flew the last of February, friend Annie.] 



My papa has kept bees for 35 years. Some years 

 we have plenty of honej', and more than we can use; 

 some years we have not anj', and we miss it very 

 much, as we all like it. For the past 3 years the 

 swarms went away. I am a little girl ten years of 

 age. I saw a picture in Gleanings of Tom, the 

 doctor's son. I have a brother, and his name is 

 Tommy. He is a doctor's son, but he nes^er got 

 stung by the bees yet. .Jeannie E. Galbuaith. 



Tarentum, Allegheny Co., Pa., Jan. 19, 1883. 



[Very good, Jeannie. I hope your " Tom the doc- 

 tor's son " is a good boy.] 



I am a little boy 8 years old. My father has 30 

 hives of bees. He sold a ton of honey to one man, 

 and he sold a few 50-gallon cans of honey to some 

 other men. My father takes Gleanings. Itsnowcd 

 about half an inch this morning. A man came up 

 with a sleigh, and gave my mother a sleigh ride. 

 My mother and I made a hat-rack and knife-box 

 from the pattern In Gleanings. We have a pair of 

 wild quails. Ernest Hilton. 



Los Alamos, Cal., Jan., 1883. 



[Well done, friend Ernest. So you really had a 

 sleigh ride in California. I should like to see those 

 quails.] 



I am 10 years old. My pa keeps bees. He got one 

 hive last winter, and has three now. He gave my 

 brother one hive. We had to bring one hive nearly 

 60 miles. I have four brothers; one of them takes 

 Gleanings. We did not get much honey from our 

 bees last season. I do not like bees much, for they 

 sting me; but I like to eat the honey, it is so nice 

 and sweet. I am afraid of the bees, for whenever I 

 go near the hives where they are they will be sure 

 to come after me. My brother Wesley goes and 

 takes off the top of the hive. Grandpa had bees too; 

 he had 20 swarms and they all died, and ho did not 

 get any more. Joshua F. Baeb. 



Colborne, Ont., Can., Feb. 8, 1883. 



I am a little German girl 9 years old. I went to 

 German school, and can read quite well. I go to 

 English school now; am in the Third Reader and in 

 United States money in Arithmetic. I had one lit- 

 tle sister; her name was Lillie. She was older than 

 I; but she has gone to heaven, and now I am alone. 

 Papa had 20 swarms of bees last winter; lost all but 

 3; has 20 again; they are all in good shape on Rum- 

 mer stands. I should like to sec Blue Eyes. Will 

 you please send me a book? Lena Votgt. 



Peoria, 111., Jan. 8,1883. 



[To be sure, we'll send you a book, Lena; and may 

 you 80 live that you will meet that dear sister some 

 time, in her home In heaven.] 



My pa gave me one swarm of bees, but he keeps 

 all the money which he gets for the honey, and puts 

 it into his own pocket. This is not a very good 

 honey country. Our best swarm gave only about 70 

 lbs. of extracted honey. My brother Daniel is read- 

 ing " Silver Keys," which you sent him, and he likes 

 it very much. We put our honey up in Mason's 

 quart jars, which sells for (5j cents. 



Willie E. CL\nK. 



Bellows Falls, Vt., Jan. 25, 1883. 



[Now look here, Willie; when I hear a boy com- 

 plaining of his pa, I always think there may be two 

 sides to the story, and I guess there is to this one. 

 Are you quite sure that you always make a good use 

 of your money when your pa entrusts it to you?] 



Pa has 35 colonies of bees, all Italians. He haT 5 

 two-frame nuclei colonics. He and I examined them 

 this morning, and found the little "fellers" as 

 bright as new money. Pa lifted out the frame of 

 two of the nuclei, and found the queens. He said 

 they were queens he reared late in the fall, and 

 hated to kill them. He said he did not feel the least 

 uneasy but that Ihey would come through in the 

 spring in fine condition. Now, Mr. Root, I have not 

 written this expecting to get a book, for it is not 

 worth one; but if you will send me Our Homes in 

 book form. Part 3, and the price, I will ask pa to let 

 me sweep off the bee -yard every evening after I 

 come from school, until I earn enough to pay you 

 for it. I go to Sunday-school every Sunday, or nearly 

 every one; but they have got no library, and conse- 

 quentlj' we get no good book to read. 



Eddy E. Cauthen. 



Pleasant Hill, S. C, Jan. 7, 1883. 



[All right, friend Eddy. We are always glad to 

 accommodate industrious boys.] 



A visit to D. a. JONES. 



The last time I wrote you I was getting ready to 

 go to Toronto to attend the convention. We went 

 about 90 miles by rail, part along the Niagara River. 

 We hiid a good view of the rapids, falls, suspen- 

 sion bridges, and Brock's monument. We took 

 the steamer at the landing at the town of Niag- 

 ara, for Toronto. We went to the convention two 

 nights, and saw the great D. A. Jones, of Bceton. I 

 had a taste of Mrs. Wallace's honey cake, and it was 

 nice. I saw Mr. Nugent's and Mr. Ramer's prize 

 honey. Pa took us through some of the nicest 

 churches. We came home through Hamilton, and 

 we had to wait there quite a long while, so wo had 

 time to look around a little. We were so tired that 

 we were glad enough to get home. Pa is away at a 

 convention to-night, and he took the Gle.4ning8 

 that you sent him, for he knew there would be a lot 

 there who don't take any bee-paper. My pa don't 

 use tobacco, and he never tasted liquor of any kind, 

 and he is 35 years old. Our bees seem to be winter- 

 ing all right so far. I got a nice book as a Sunday- 

 school present for having my les!=ons good. I have 

 written you two letters now, and if you think they 

 are worth a book, would you please send me one? I 

 am eleven. H. Francis Cook. 



Atherton, Ont., Can., Feb. 3, 1883. 



[Very good indeed, Francis; we have sent you a 

 book for your letter, and placed 35 cents to your 

 credit besides, which you can trade out as you 

 please, or we will send you the money. I will gladly 

 pay any of the young friends for dcEcriptions of 

 their visits to our great bee-men.] 



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