GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



wagon back against the block, until they 

 had recoverert their breath, and then on 

 thev went. Now. tlie point is here : After 

 having pulled well, he always patted them, 

 rubbed their noses, and tnld them they were I 

 good fellows. Sonu'tinies tliey seemed so 

 well pleased at this little praise that they 

 would hardly wait until they were suthcdent- 

 Iv rested, seeming anxious to get at it again, 

 and sliow him how stout they were, and how 

 well they could do. Faithful old Jake and 

 Doll I Their tasks have been linished. and 

 tliey are doubtless gone the way of all horses : 

 but" I remember vividly how inuch they ap- 

 preciated a good word : and I know, too, 

 how sullen and unhappy they looked when 

 thev were scolded. They did not often get 

 scolded when at their regular business of 

 drawing stoneware ; but sometimes when 

 they were called upon to plow the garden, 

 or something like that, when they either did 

 not understand or acted awkward. Did you 

 ever know^ anyljody who got out of patience 

 plowing a small garden? 



Now, bovs and girls, men and women, is 

 it not possible that your horses are himgry 

 for a kind word or a word of praiseV Wheii 

 yonr cliild or brother or sister has striven 

 nobly against temptation, have you always 

 been ready with the very important '" That's 

 a good boy ''V or, " I thank you ''V or what- 

 ever little praise would be tit under the cir- 

 cumstances':* We complain when things are 

 poorly done ; l)Tit. do we make use of that 

 other powerful lever in encouraging good re- 

 solves and good intentions — a kind and en- 

 couraging word? The baby of the house- 

 liold generally gets praises enough. I have 

 sometimes thought it was almost as neces- 

 sary to their growth and development as the 

 milk they drink ; and if kind words that 

 spring from loving hearts are good for the 

 babies and the horses, are they not good for 

 older people? Some of you are children I 

 am talking to. Are you always ready to 

 say. " Thank you," " I am very much oblig- 

 ed indeed," and such like phrases? Some- 

 times actions speak louder than words, you 

 know, and we ought to act pleased. Should 

 we act pleased when we do not feel pleased? 

 I want you to be honest, my little friends ; 

 but a great many times you ivill feel pleased 

 just by trying. It is always right to do 

 what you know you ought to do, whether 

 you feel like it or not ; and it is right to pat 

 your old horse on the neck, and tell him he 

 is a good fellow, even if you feel cross and 

 contrary, and don't feel like it. Try it, and 

 see if there is not something in your own 

 hearts tliat pretty soon speaks to you, say- 

 ing, " AVell done, thou good and faithful 

 servant." 



Right here, friends, comes in the impor- 

 tance of daily thanks to God. One who 

 thanks (iod for his daily bread, for the air 

 he breathes, and for the gift of life, is a liap- 

 juer man than one who goes through life 

 without giving thaid<s anywhere, or to anj'- 

 body. And this daily tlianksgiving should 

 be "followed up, even if you do not feel like 

 it. I do not mean you sliould be a hypo- 

 crite ; l>ut 1 mean, "as I said before, "you 

 should do your duty, whether your feelings 

 prompt it or not : aiul your first and greatest 



duty in this world is thanksgiving to God ; 

 and the next, thanks to your fellow-men. 

 Of course, you need not be always saying to 

 everybody the stereotyped words. " I thank 

 you;" but l)y your actions, and these name- 

 less little coiirtesies. show everybody that 

 you feel pleasantly and kindly toward "them, 

 and carry this spirit and this feeling out 

 among the cattle and the horses, and let it 

 shine wlierever you go. As I write these 

 words, the feelinjj comes over me, '• May 

 (iod forgive me tor having so many times 

 in life been remiss in just this little thing. 

 Help me, dear Savior ; help me to practice 

 that wliich I am trying to teach, here this 

 bright January morning." 



A LETTER FROM A BOY BEE-KEEPER. 



ONE WHO IS OBLIGED TO GO ON CRUTCHES, BUT 

 WHO SUCCEEDS PRETTY WELL KEVERTHELESS. 



WROTE you a business letter last summer; and 



[J as 30U published a scrap of it as news, and then 



I in the last No. of Gleanings published my 



name on your list of correspondents, I will 



venture to tell you what I have done and what 



1 hope to do. I am a crippled boy, 16 years old, and 



have to g-o on crutches, and therefore can not do so 



well as I think I could if 1 could get around better. 



I bought two colonies of hybrids last spring— one 

 in a Langstroth and the other in a chaflf hive, some- 

 thing like the American. On the 24th of May, the 

 Langstroth, being about to swarm, I divided them; 

 and June 1.5 I divided the chaff hive. I think I made 

 a mistake right here by losing much valuable time 

 in brood-rearing. The way I divided was to take 

 the queen and one frame of brood, and put in a new 

 hive, and set it where the old hive stood, so as to 

 get the bees that were out gathering honey. In the 

 latter part of August the hive I divided first sent 

 out a large swarm; and, not having any hive ready, 

 I nailed three frames together and filled them with 

 foundation, and hived the bees in a box about 13 

 inches square; and afterward I put in 4 more 

 frames. I commenced feeding them from the time 

 they swarmed, and kept it up as long as the weather 

 would permit. I think they stored some honey, 

 enough to carry them through. 



In the latter part of July I received from you a 

 select tested (lueen and 1 lb. of bees, which seem 

 to have done pretty well. This makes 6 swarms, 

 which I now ha\e, and which I put into winter quar- 

 ters in the cellar about the 1st of December. I also 

 found a colony of blacks in a tree, which I mean to 

 try to save. I took from the old hives about 35 lbs. 

 of honey. I do not think we have the best country 

 in the world for honey-producing plants. Orchards 

 are somewhat numerous; there is but little bass- 

 wood, and not very much white clover; there is 

 considerable red clover, and my bees worked on it a 

 good deal. There is also buck-berry and catnip, 

 quite abundant. I found growing wild (luite a num- 

 ber of Simpson honey-plants and transplanted some 

 of them near my bee-hives. They produced consid- 

 erable nectar, but I never could get a bee to even 

 smell of them. I had an acre of buckwheat sown, 

 which I think helped my bees. I am going to have 

 an acre of alsike sown in the spring, and will try to 

 get thelfarraers to sow white clover in their pas- 

 i tures, and I think we can make this a pretty good 



