62 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE 



Jan. 



?lff 1 ''•fe'l " letter fnr this department, contaiking 



^f50<r^^ SOMK VALUABLE FACT, Ni)T (*ENF.RALLY 

 <**'■'/ !-■ KNIIWN. ON HKKS OT: I-ITIIFI! MATTEIIS, 



.■SV-' will ret-eiveonc .4 H.Mi.l CMik's excel- 

 lentlHve- cfiit Mnwlin < h.,.,! books. 

 Maiiv ot these bool- r. ,1111111 iIm -:ime mat- 

 books 

 had 

 hat we 

 now 

 viz.: 

 Sheer Off, The tiiant - Killer. The Roby 

 Family, Rescued from Egypt, and Ten Nights in 

 a Bar-Rooiu. We have now in stock Our Homes, 

 and Our Homes, I^art II. 



' A chiel's amang: ye takin' notes: 

 An' faith, he'll prent it." 



fELL, little friends, the carp-pond is 

 frozen over, and almost as smooth as 

 glass ; in fact, it is so smooth that / 

 can not get around on it at all. One 

 foot goes forward when I do not 

 want it to, and may be the other goes back- 

 ward, and then they both go forward or both 

 go backward, or perhaps sidewise, and I get 

 to feeling so uncomfortable that I think I 

 would rather be on the ground. But you 

 just ought to see the children tiy around on 

 the smooth and glassy surface of the pond. 

 Even Huber fairly crowed and screamed 

 with delight when' he caught sight of the 

 merry party of l)r()thers and sisters, with 

 cousin Mabel and imcle Hen as they Hew 

 around over the pond. In fact, the pond 

 itself was a great wonderment. A few days 

 ago he had seen the glassy Avater iis it rijipled 

 in the breeze; but now it was liartl and solid, 

 and so clear tliat he could look right down 

 and see tlie weeds and grass at the bottom. 

 We drew him down on his little sled, you 

 know ; but we were all so excited, that, just 

 as he got near the edge of the pond, the sled 

 tipped over, and his ])oor little rosy face 

 went right down on to the hard "frozen 

 ground. Mamma liad pinned liis mittens 

 on, and then wrapped liis arms around so he 

 could not help himself a bit ; and when I 

 saw him going it liurt me as much, or more, 

 than it hurt him. It was .just when lie first 

 caught sight of the merry crowd, and was 

 crowing to think he would soon be among 

 them. 1 gathered liim up, and kissed the 

 tears out of his poor little eyes, and kiss- 

 ed the mud off from his poor little 

 bruised pug nose. lie tried manfully to 

 keep back the tears, but they would come for 

 a wliile. I asked him if we should take him 

 liome to mamma; but he wliined out, amid 

 Ills sobs, "• E— o— you— you— ." He means 

 l)y this, that he does not want to go liome. 

 lie got this last summer when I took him to 

 see the strawberries, and down to see the 

 lots. Whenever 1 tinned around to go home 

 he would begin a long-drawn-out sort of 

 whimper. It is pretty hard to spell it; but 



if you say '" ow,"' and draw out the last let- 

 ter long, you will get pretty near it. We 

 laughed at him so that he got in the habit 

 of using '■ ow ■■ as a protest. AVhenever he 

 seemed tired of his play, and I asked him if 

 he wanted to go home, or Avanted to go in 

 his " by-by,'' that is, to get into his crib to 

 go to sleep, if he wanted to play longer he 

 would say '^ ow," and when he wanted to be 

 more emphatic he would draw out the Avord 

 still longer. So, even amid his pains and 

 sobs I understood he wanted to play on the 

 pond, and did not want to go home. So we 

 put him on his sled and pushed him from 

 one end of the pond to the other. Of course, 

 everybody understood that when Iluber and 

 his sled came along they were to clear the 

 track ; and brother Ernest on his skates 

 would back out of Iluber's way with such 

 grotesque grimaces that the baby's tears of 

 pain had to give way to laughter pretty soon. 

 After he had been there about half an hour 

 I noticed a great big l)unch coming up on 

 his forehead, so large that it alarmed me, 

 and in spite of his "ows" very long drawn 

 out, I decided to take him home to mamma. 

 Well, the carp-pond has paid for itself al- 

 ready, even if it is true that it contains only 

 a dozen little carp ; and it seems to me some 

 such pond should V)e furnished for every 

 family of children, for a place to slide and 

 play in winter, if for nothing else. It is a 

 • cheap amusement, comparatively ; and with 

 good companions it is innocent ; and where is 

 the doctor that would not tell us it is health- 

 ful for children to tly around as if they had 

 wings, instead of feet, in the frosty open 

 airV ]51ae Eyes fell right down fiat; and as 

 ! she is a pretty big girl now, it almost made 

 I the ice crack. Mamma had to come down to 

 see the pond too, and I told her that she 

 could not stand up on it '' no way."' She re- 

 I plied Avith some of the old animation I used 

 i to see in her girlhood, " Can't I, though?"' 

 And she ran right down on the pond as reck- 

 lessly as a lot of young ducks aa^ouM run 

 away from the mother hen. and go into the 

 i Avater ; and. Avould you believe it? she didn't 

 ! slip down once, but just skimmed over the 

 ice like a bird, here and there and every- 

 I Avhere ; and it tickled Iluber almost out of 

 his little senses to see his mamma suddenly 

 [ become a child like the other children— at 

 I least while she Avas on the glassy surface of 

 that little carp-pond. 



FOKEST-LEAVES FOR CELLAR WINTERINO. 



My pa put 59 swarms in the cellar. He put leaves 

 in the toii of some of the hives. 



M. A. A.XTKi.L, age 8. 

 ! StrawlxTi;,-, Iowa, Dee. 12, 1884. 



MINNIE'S REPORT. 



My i)a liiis I IT stands of bees. I have a sister, her 

 name is .V I ice. My pa lost only one hive. He got 

 300 lbs. of honey in one month from one hive. 



Amity, N. V., Dee. 10, 1884. :Mamie Utter. 



[ l,EOMA'S LETTER. 



t 1 live with my uncle, Mr. Prior; he keeps bees; he 

 has 20 stands. Had 4 stands in the spring; he in- 

 creased to 20. He takes Gleanings. I like to read 

 the little folks' letters, and 1 like bees too. I don't 



I go to school in winter. I have a bird. 



Hope, 111., Dec. 23, 1S84. Leo.ma Davis, age 9. 



