133 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb. 15. 



plenty of capped sugar stores. The thought 

 suggested itself to me that they starved: but it 

 did not look reasonable. Now I believe it. 



In our climate thisisa very important matter. 

 This winter we have 17 colonies, some full of 

 honey above, some below, and some with plenty 

 in both stories. We will report results in the 

 spring, though I should put all the honey I 

 could in the upper stories now if it were not too 

 late. We are only just beginners in bee-keep- 

 ing: but, thanks to our teacher, Mr. A. A. 

 Byard, and the bee-books we have read, we 

 have a good start, and have succeeded well so 

 far. Lena L. Crowninshield. 



Chesterfield. N. H., Jan. 7. 



WINTERING BEES IN THE SOUTH. 



We know nothing, by our experience in the 

 South, of the experience and trouble they have 

 in wintering bees in the North — no cellars nor 

 housing is required in the South. We see it is 

 more trouble and expense in the North to win- 

 ter bees than to care for them in the summer. 

 We have none of that trouble and expense. 

 Bees winter outdoors here without any danger 

 or risk; all that is required here is a good tight 

 hive and 1.5 or 20 pounds of honey: in ordinary 

 winters 1.5 pounds will do very well. Our bees 

 gather honey here sometimes in November and 

 December. They gather it from pine-trees 

 mostly. We have 90 colonies, all Italians. We 

 have not lost a colony so far. 



Decatur, Miss., Jan. 20. N. E. Cleveland. 



A I'ALETTE KNIFE A HANDY UTENSII, FOR 

 THE HOUSE. 



I want to thank C. C. Miller for his article on 

 page 923, that was not about bees, but how to 

 make my folks happy with 26 cts. Now I am 

 going to pay Dr. Miller right back; but it will 

 cost him .50 cts., and I am sure it will please his 

 wife more than twice as much as the stove-mat 

 did. for it can be used in a ^reat many different 

 ways. It is a palette knife. It is a very thin 

 knife painters use to mix paint. The most de- 

 sirable size has a blade 8 inches long. II4 wide, 

 round at the end. Our people use it for scrap- 

 ing kettles, as it will curve right around the in- 

 side of a round bottom kettle; also for turning 

 eggs, taking out cookies, and turning pan- 

 cakes, meat, etc. In fact. I have bought them 

 by the half-dozen, and given them to my rela- 

 tives and friends. W. L. Coggshall. 



West Gi-oton, N. Y., Dec. 24. 



MAKING OUR PICTURES PRETTIER. 



It is not generally known that all half-tone 

 engravings, such as are used in Gleanings, 

 can be made to show up clearly and beautifully. 

 and without cost. I am sui'prised that the way 

 to do this was never published in these pages 

 before — at least. I have never seen it referred 

 to. By trying this method, all the finer half- 

 tones will stand out clear and distinct, just as 

 they would if viewed through a stereoscope. 

 The way to do it is as follows: Hold the picture 

 to be viewed, from 14 to 21 inches away from 

 you; and by folding your fingers so as to form 

 a kind of tube of them, place your hand thus 

 folded to your eye and move the picture into 

 focus. When the right focus is obtained, the 

 different objects will stand out clear and well 

 defined. One never tires of looking at good 

 half-tone engravings after he has once tried 

 this way. Just try it on a few of the portraits 

 in the ABC book or in Gleanings. I will 

 vouch that you will be pleased with the result. 



North Temescal, Cal. W. A. Pryal. 



fit is a little queer, friend P.. that I made the 

 discovery just a day or two before your notice 



above came to hand. The Ainericnn Florist 

 gave a picture of a mushroom-cellar by flash- 

 light, and I happened to look at the pictures 

 through my fingers, rolled up so as to form a 

 short tube. All at once it seemed a reality. 

 The old gentleman who was among the mush- 

 rooms had evidently been down on his knees, 

 for you could see the yellow dust on his pants, 

 and every thing else came out with startling 

 distinctness. I showed the picture to Ernest, 

 and told him that it was one of the finest half- 

 tones I ever saw; but he suggested that any 

 half-tone would come ouc in relief in almost 

 the same way. We experimented with quite a 

 number before we found that it requires some 

 sort of magnifying-glass to give perspective 

 fully; for without my nose-glasses the illusion 

 is not nearly so perfect. Since then I have 

 been in the habit of distinguishing half-tones 

 from other kinds of pictures by this very test. 

 Even a picture that has a half-tone for its base 

 for the artist to work on comes out sharp and 

 clear when tried in the way mentioned. Of 

 course, any short tube will do as well as the 

 folded hand. One reason for the surprising 

 effect is, that the tube cuts off the reading- 

 matter and every thing that might lead the eye 

 to think it was thp page of a book instead of 

 the reality. The secret of the astonishing 

 results produced by the modern cyclorama is 

 along in the same line. The canvas on which 

 the paintings are made has no visible frame 

 nor any means of support on which the eyes 

 may fix and decide by comparison with other 

 well-known things. In the same way, when 

 you see a mountain for the first time in your 

 life, having had no previous acquaintance with 

 such objects, the eye fails to give us a correct 

 idea of distance, proportion, etc.] 



BEWARE OF GLASS BUBBLES. 



I wish to call your attention to an article in 

 the New York Tribune, Dec. 28, "Beware of 

 (ilass Bubbles." I have found the same thing 

 in honey bottles, and think it very dangerous. 



Rahway. N. J. B. C. Whiting. 



Since glass cans have come into such g-eneral use 

 for fruits, less is heard about "danger in the can." 

 Still there may be danger even in glass cans, as ap- 

 peared of late when a little child was helped to 

 freshly opened canned plums. His teeth were 

 heard to grate on some hard substance, wliich 

 proved to be a flalie of glass he had broken with his 

 teeth into Ijits. In a minute more, if unehect<ed, 

 he would have innocently swallowed the glass, 

 which would have caused serious injury and per- 

 haps death. An inspection of the empty can dis- 

 covered the rough edges of a broken air-bubble on 

 the inside. Air-butibles are very common in the 

 cheap grade of glass of which fruit-cans are usually 

 made, and are less noticealile on the inside than on ^ 

 the outside. When the boiling fruit is poured into 

 the can these thin shells, if on the inside, are almost 

 sure to crack ofif. A tablespoonful of small shot 

 well shaken alMut in the can will break these dan- 

 gerous bubbles and smooth their edges; bettei still 

 for this purpose is a light chain dish cloth. Too 

 much care can not be taken to wash out every par- 

 ticle of broken glass from the can; their small size, 

 transparency and weight, which sends them to the 

 tottom or sides, make them difficult to select. 



Mrs. J. MiLLiGAN. 



COMB HONEY — IS IT WHOLESOME ? ETC. 



Friend Root: — Allow me to ask your sympa- 

 thy for the kind hands or the cook who pre- 

 pares the Graham gems for the poor stomach. 

 Don't sacrifice the cook; apply the 32 Gladstone 

 rule to every solid eaten, and cease swallowing 

 liquids. I digress, however, as I am not an 

 " M. D."' I desire to say that I am surprised to 

 find a dyspeptic advocating the use of comb 

 honey, as, in all lessons learned or teachings 

 taught, the prime principle is that the comb is 



