1893 



CLEANINGS [N BEE CULTURE. 



391 



JAKE SMITH'S LETTERS. 



THAT BOY ZED AND HIS HUNNY PKDMN BY 

 SICKI.K. 



A. I. Gleenings — 

 ileerslr: — You never 

 see my boy Zed, did 

 you? He"s a grate 

 nne, I tell you, a reg- 

 ler genluss. Oanly 

 15 ((ifteen) yeer old 

 too. Fifteen comin 

 —™.-,j-^»;a^CT»«} .V » ^^'^* spring. Why. 

 ?p'i|^^^^^^^^^^^^v^ wlien tliat boy wuz- 

 '"^^^ .^iSasar' V \"'*oi;,|.^t .5 yeer oald ho 

 spent 2 weeks a git- 

 tin up a dubble har- 

 ness for the cat and 

 dog. But it diddent 

 take 3 weeks for that 

 cat and dog to git that harness in 1000 snarls 

 when he poot it on them. And the way the 

 hair and fir flue was a cawshun. 



A few yeer ago Zed cum to me and sed he 

 wanted to trade for a by sickle. I toald him I 

 m^ver hear tell of sitch a sickle, and he had no 

 call to have a sickle enny way, for nowadays 

 we diddent use sickles, but cut all our grain 

 with reapers. Then I found out that the new- 

 fangled name for velossapedes was by sickle. 

 I let him trade, for it was an oald 1 and diddent 

 cost mutch. I doan't believe in yumerrin a boy 

 to mutch, but it izzent best to be too hard on 

 him nuther. Take him all in all. Zed's a good 

 boy, if I do say it whitch ottent to, and when 

 he duz his fare share of the work I beleave in 

 him havin sum fun. 



Well, for a while Zed had a time with that 

 by sickle, but sumthing got out a kelter with it 

 and it wa^ piled away at the barn. Awhile 

 after you begun to send me your paper I notust 

 that Zed wuzzent playin around and carryin on 

 his tricks as yousual. He did his work up reg- 

 ler, and he eat well. So I wuzzent skairt about 

 his being sick. But for a good raenny days he 

 seemed to be out of site a good eel. 



took that oald by sickle and hede took a pare 

 of oald wore-out buggy-wheels, and hede rigged 

 up a contrivance soze he cood lode onto it and 

 run it. Then hede got a lot of froot cans and 

 loaded onto it, soze to show how it cood be 

 loaded up with hunny. But you can see all 

 about it into the pickter. 



I felt proud a that hoy. SezI, "What ever 

 poot sitch a thing in your hod. Zed ? " 



'"Why," sez Zed, "that there bee paper 

 what Mr. Gleenings sends you tells how he car- 

 ries the male and sitch things on a by sickle, 

 and I thot it wood be handy to have it this 

 way." 



" It's offle handy," sez I. "Them fellers talks 

 in that paper about haulin hives. What's to 

 bonder haulin em on this?" 



Then I notist his flag, and sez I, " Is that the 

 way to spell hunny ? " sez I. 



" Yes," sez he. " that's the right way." 



" I spoze it's all right," sez I, " and maybe I'd 

 ot to lurn to spell like you, Zed, but I guess Ime 

 most too oald, and that looks like a foney way 

 to spell." 



Zed's a good skoller. And well he may be, 

 for he's gone to skool 100 times as mutch as 

 ever 1 did. 



I sez to him, sez T. "Zed, your a boy after 

 your father's oan h;irt. Sum of these days He 

 git la them regler by sickles like Mr. (Jleen- 

 ings takes on so about, and you and me can 

 both lurn." Jake Smith. 



CARNIOLANS DEFENDED. 



.JOHN ANDREWS SAYS SOME GOOD WORDS IN 

 THEIIt FAVOR. 



ZED smith's INVENTION. 



1 day he cum to me, and he sez, "Pa," sez he, 

 you see he calls me pa nowadays, sints the gals 

 isagrowin up and wants to be kind a stilish 

 like, and doant like to have him call me dad 

 no more. Well, as I was a sayin, he sez, " Pa," 

 sez he. "cum out here," sez he. I sez, "What 

 do you want, my son?" 



" Oh I you cum out and see,'" sez he. 



So I went out. Wood you believe it? he had 



On page 21!) Mr. II. F. Holtermann. writing 

 on the difi'eront strains of bees, says: "The 

 Carniolan bee-. I beli(;ve, possess some valuable 

 traits; yet, among those traits, are others 

 which, I believe. I'ender them unfit for the av- 

 enige bee-keeper." 



NVhenJ read his statement I wrote him ask- 

 ing what those " undesirable traits " were. His 

 answer was, that his experience dated back to 

 the time when Jones received the 

 first importation from Mr. P'rank 

 Benton. That. I think, was 12 

 years ago; and you may remem- 

 ber the Carniolans first imported 

 were mixed with the yellow bees, 

 the cause of which has been ex- 

 plained at different times by Mr. 

 J {en ton. , 



If I am right in my impression, 

 it was some years' after the first 

 importation before they went far 

 enough back to get the gi'ay Car- 

 niolan bee. After getting his an- 

 swer, that "they swarmed too 

 much," he further says: "Now, it 

 is just a question with me, if per- 

 haps, by restricting the queen to a 

 certain space in the hive, we may 

 not be able to overcome, to a cer- 

 tain extent, this swarming trait, 

 if we can; then the bees maybe 

 of some use to the specialist; but 

 the average bee-keeper through- 

 out the country will neglect tin- 

 kering that much with his bees; and the result 

 will be. he will be better otf with the Italians." 

 I wrote him that his suggestions on contrac- 

 tion would not do if; I would give the queen 

 all the room she wanted, and that I never saw 

 too many bees in the honey- flow; and after the 

 flow is over, then you can contract, if you wish; 

 but I never saw too many bees for me, at any 

 time. 



