1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE (TTLTURE. 



285 



vide up natural swarms to make nuclei, 

 and with swarms containing virgin queens, 

 I still say, give them a little unsealed brood 

 to hold them ; and I am now satisfied that a 

 very little unsealed brood would not do 

 enough harm to take into account, even if 

 given to a prime swarm. A whole comb of 

 brood in all stages has sometimes seemed to 

 have the effect you speak of ; but a comb 

 containing eggs, with a few of the eggs just 

 hatched into larva%has held bees so invaria- 

 bly that I would use it under all circumstan- 

 ces, if I could get hold of it. 



THE HOT SPRINGS OF ARKANSAS. 



WRITTEN BY MY YOUNGEST SISTER. 



Dear Brother Amos:— To see the springrs was my 

 great wish on my arrival here; but, so far as I 

 could learn, no one knew very much about them. 

 The rocky steps leading^up the mountain from the 

 ladies' bath-rooms first attracted my attention. The 

 rooms and hotel are adjoining, under one cover, 

 and the mountain and hotel are so close that we 

 can go out from the third floor without much climb- 

 ing, and find the hot iron pipes crossing and recross- 

 ing each other on the mountain sides in alt direc- 

 tions. 



Herman's rheumatism would not permit his go- 

 ing, so I went alone. At one place I noticed the 

 steam rising; and when I reached it I found it lock- 

 ed, as are the tanks, and other springs also, out of 

 eight. I think there are seventy-one springs, and 

 they all belong to the government except one. A 

 lady from Cedar Rapids, a guest at this house, offer- 

 ed to go with me if T would do the "talking." So 

 we went to the office of the superintendent of Hot 

 Springs Reservation, and he kindly took the keys 

 and went with us, first showing a large brick air- 

 tight water-tank holding 30.000 gallons, and so per- 

 fect that the water that runs in over night f'r use 

 the following day loses less than one detfree in 

 temperature, which is 140 degrees Fahrenheit. 

 Most of the springs are covered with s one, and 

 cemented. The water is convoyed from them 

 through iron pipes to the government tanks and 

 bathing-houses below, and now we are where I saw 

 steam rising. The door is unlocked, and I can go 

 in and inhale the vapor, and see and feel the hot 

 water coming, right out from the rocks— beautiful 

 rocks they are too. 



I a.sked the superintendent if he was not troubled 

 with visitors; but he said I would be surprised to 

 know how little the people seemed to care to see 

 the springs. It reminds me of that scripture verse, 

 " A prophet is not without honor, save in his own 

 country." But I hope there are more here to ap- 

 preciate these great, wonderful hot-water springs 

 than I imagine; but I am told many have lived here 

 for yearx who never went to see the springs. 



We have just been to another spring, about one 

 block from the house, and the water heated my cup 

 until I could not have held it had it not been for the 

 handle, and 1 could not bear my hand in the water 

 a moment, as it would burn. This spring is on the 

 main street, and is free to the city. 



TUESDAY, 2()TH. 



Four ladies and myself have just been around and 

 over Hot Springs Mountain (a spur of the Ozark 

 Mountains), starting out south around by the 



United States Army and Navy Hospital, and com- 

 ing in from the north -through " Happy Hollow 

 Springs," a beautiful creek running along down the 

 mountain path for about half a mile. I found a 

 spring myself, and was clearing it out; but the la- 

 dies said I was going crazy over it, and so I had to 

 leave it. I put my arm away back in it. There was 

 no heat at all about that one. I should think geolo- 

 gists would find plenty to interest them here. I 

 found two chameleons (at least, so I should cal[ 

 them)— one drab, the color of the tree-bark, and the 

 other green, from the moss it was on. I wish 1 

 could have you to walk and climb mountains with 

 me. 



ARTIFICIAL ICE. 



March 3S.— We are just back from a long pleasant 

 walk out to the Arctic Ice-works. The proprietor 

 went around with us, and explained the process and 

 showed us the cakes partly frozen, and let us see 

 them when being taken out. I never saw natural 

 ice that would equal the artificial in clearness. A 

 piece weighing 150 lbs. would require about 36 

 hours to make. He showed us different grades; 

 but what he called a fifth grade seemed to me much 

 nicer than a great deal of the best at home that 

 goes into our refrigerator. 



From your little sister, M. E. Holmes. 



Hot Springs, Ark., Mar. 24. 



I suppose that, as a matter of course, sis- 

 ter Maitie, if the people round about the 

 springs don't care to visit them, no one has 

 thought of using this hot water for heating 

 greenhouses, cold frames, etc. With na- 

 ture's supply, and no necessity for cold- 

 frames or even natural gas, not only could 

 all the fruits and vegetation of the tropics 

 be raised with very slight expense, but we 

 could be independent of many of the vicis- 

 situdes of weather that are such a trouble 

 to us in cold climates. The fact that that 

 great tank preserved the temperature with- 

 in only one degree of heat suggested to me 

 at once what a grand opening there was for 

 a greenhouse. 1 suppose, of course, there is 

 a great deal of hot water that goes off, do- 

 ing nobody any particular good. Your de- 

 scription of the apparatus for making ice, 

 comes in very opportunely after our exceed- 

 ingly mild winter. 



OUT-APIARIES IN AUSTRIA. 



A NOVEL METHOD OF CARRYING BEES UP THE 

 ALPS, TO FIND LATER PASTURAGE. 



Friend Boot: -I send you with this the Jan. issue 

 of the Leipziger Bienen Zeitung. You will notice 

 the engraving illustrating the manner in which 

 bees are carried further up into the Alps in Carin- 

 thia. I was much struck by the lifelike picture, 

 and thought possibly you would think it worthy a 

 place in Gleanings. What do you think of the 

 lady in the foreground? Doesn't she seem to bear 

 her burden with mother-like patience ? Here is a 

 translation: 



The Carinthian bee-keepers, to secure the highly 

 prized honey of the Alps, carry, in midsummer, 

 with much labor, their stocks of bees to the highest 

 Alpine meadows. The cases are carried upon the 

 back, in what are called "knaxen," and more than 

 three of them are sometimes piled on ; and when 

 we consider the weight of the cases, and the very 

 difficult road, the burden seems possible for only 

 the strongest men. One occasionally sees the en- 



