1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



65 



We moved 55 swarms in two loads, in nice condi- 

 tion. They had a nice fly the next day, and not one 

 bee went back to its old home. They sat in an or- 

 chard, and had their last fly the 22d of November, 

 and pa put them in the cellar the 24th, the latest 

 they ever flew. Our bee-cellar is under our house, 

 and is a nice large one. 



Arthur W. Hulett, age 12. 

 South Dayton, N. Y., Nov. 19, 1881. 



ADA'S STOKY ABOUT THE SWAUM OF BEES THAT 

 ALIGHTED ON HER MAMMA'S BACK. 



My papa keeps bees. He has 1.39 stands. He has 

 them all in the cellar, except 5, which are in chaff 

 hives. I think bees are very nice little pets, if you 

 don't handle them too roughly. Last summer mam- 

 ma was trying to hive a swarm ; it arose and came 

 down, and alighted on her back. She got down 

 from the ladder and stood over the hive while 1 

 brushed them ofl" into the hive. I have read Ada 

 Krecker's letters; and as my name is Ada too, 1 

 should like to correspond with her. I should like to 

 knowher full address. AdaC. Steinebach, agel3. 



Cedar Creek, Wis., Dec. 22, 188-t. 



Thank you, Ada; but you did not tell us 

 whether your mamma got stung oi- not. The 

 address we use in writing to Ada Krecker is 

 Tokio, Japan. 



THE SPECXr.ED BA.VTAM HEN THAT HAD TWO 

 CHICKS FOUR TIMES AS I.AROE AS HERSELF. 



We have four swarms of bees. I have one sister. 

 Her name is Myrtie. We have some bantam chick- 

 ens. Myrtle's are speckled, black and white. Mine 

 are black. We put some Brahma eggs under my 

 hen, and she hatched two, and kept them till half 

 gi-own. It was comical to sec her clucking around, 

 followed closely by two chicks four times larger 

 than herself. But a weasel got into the coop one 

 night, and killed both the chicks, and it was pitiful 

 to see the little mother in the morning looking sor- 

 rowfully down upon her dead chicks. 



Gilford, Mich. Lu.me (Jrav. 



That is a very good little story, Lillie. 

 Poor little Bantam mother! Xodou])tshe 

 loved her great awkward chickens as well as 

 if they had been diminutive like herself. 

 Your little letter just reminrls me of the 

 Bantams I iised to have when 1 was a boy ; 

 yes, and Brahmas too. I declare, I should 

 enjoy being out among tliem tliis sunshiny 

 January morning, if I had the time, and I do 

 not know but I should love them just as 

 much as I did when I was only a boy a doz- 

 en years old. 



THE BEES THAT WENT TO THE WOODS, AND WENT 

 INTO A KNOT-HOLE, ETC. 



I will give our report for the season. We com- 

 menced last fall witli one colony; it wintered all 

 right, and so wc bought another one in a bo.v hive, 

 but it died of starvation, because wo could not look 

 in the hive, and it was too early to transfer. He 

 bought another one that swarmed once, but my 

 brother had the queen's wings clipped, and they 

 went back into the hive, but the queen was lost, and 

 he bought another one, a dollar queen. He had it 

 two days, when it swarmed and went to the woods. 

 It went over half a dozen trees, and clustered 

 on the knot of a tree. We got a ladder, and brush- 

 ed some otr, but they went right up again, and 

 pretty soon we found they went into the tree, so we 

 let them stay there. We divided the rest twice, but 



had to feed them. We took .50 lbs. from the other 

 colonj'. It seems hard to believe that some take 

 from 200 to 400 lbs. per colony. 



We take Gleanings, and we have an A B C book, 

 and I read it so much that my folks call it my " tes- 

 tament." My brother bought 500 sections, 100 L. 

 frames, 7 lbs. fdn. and a smoker. A smoker is nice 

 to start fire with. We have all our bees in splendid 

 condition for winter, in chaff hives, which my 

 brother made. He has lumber enough for 30 or 40 

 hives. Here is an example: My age, plus 'i of my 

 age, plus I4 of my age, plus 3, equals my age. What 

 is my age? Harvey Baer. 



Marshallville, O., Dec. 11, 1884. 



Very good, Harvey. I wonder how many 

 of the little folks can tell your age from your 

 statement. I am inclined to think that they 

 will need a little bit of experience in algebra 

 to work it out: don't you think soV 



ONLY 75 LBS. OF HONEY FROM 43 COLONIES OF 

 BEES, AND HAD TO FEED BESIDES. 



Pa has 43 colonies of bees. Our bees did not make 

 much honey this year; we got only 75 lbs. of lioney 

 this year. We have put all of our bees in the cellar 

 this winter. Some of them have not enough honey. 

 We had to give them some of the surplus that the 

 other bees made. One of them we are going to feed 

 with rock candy. Our cellar is a dry warm one. 

 Our bees wintered in it very well last winter. Pa 

 gives me half of the price of the queens that are 

 introduced to the neighboring bee-keepers. 



TWO QUEENS HATCHED UNDER A SITTING HEN. 



I hatched Ave nice Italians under an old sitting 

 hen. I can run the wax and lioney extractors, and 

 foundation-mill too. Pa says this is going to be a 

 hard winter for bees to all live through. 



.lOHN Roberts. 



Schoolhill, Wis., Dec. 10, 1884. 



Very good, John. It seems to me the 

 cliildren tell us the bad reports, even if the 

 older ones do not. What did you put your 

 ciueen-cells into when you put them under 

 tlie sitting hen V Some' years ago I suggest- 

 ed taking small round tobacco-boxes, and 

 painting them white, so tliey would look a 

 good deal like eggs. I think the old biddy 

 would keep up tlie proper temperatuie at a 

 comparatively small expense. 



.MORE ABOUT THE GERMAN CARP. 



As you wished for information about carp, I have 

 a little to otfer, having seen the golden that are im- 

 ported from southern China. Almost every one 

 knows how interesting they are; but I know the 

 German carp abound in Polish Prussia. They are 

 there a great article of commerce, and are sent 

 from there in " well " boats. By some they are 

 considered the queen of rivers. They were known 

 in England as early as 1496, and have become natu- 

 ralized to their water. It is considered a good, 

 stately, and subtle flsh. They thrive best when the 

 current is not strong, and when the ground is soft 

 and marly. They cat scarcely any tiling in the win- 

 ter months, but bury themselves in the mud. They 

 lose their shyness by visiting their ponds and feed- 

 ing them on bread and boiled potatoes. 



KEEPING FISH ALIVE OUT OF THE WATER FOK 

 TWO OR THREE WEEKS. 



In Holland they keep them alive two or three 

 weeks by hanging them in nets filled with wet moss, 

 and feeding them on bread soaked in milk. They 



