18B5 



GLEAN INHS IN I'.EE CULTURE. 



209 



THOSE THREE SWARMS— SEE PAGE 852, 1884. 



I will try to explain about those three swai-ms of 

 bees. The first swarm went into the house between 

 the floor and plastering-, about 4 o'clock Saturday 

 evening-. On the following: Monday, about 10 o'clock 

 another swarm came out and went in the same 

 place, and about 3 o'clock in the afternoon of the 

 same day another small swarm went into the same 

 place. This was in the swarming- season. My uncle 

 lives in town, and does not keep bees. My brother 

 sends a packag-e of seeds. He wants to know if they 

 ai-e the seeds of any of the family of purple flre- 

 weeds. Perly Cranston, ag-e 13. 



Woodstock, O., Jan. 11, 1885. 



We can not name the seeds you send, 

 friend Perly, but will plant them in the 

 spring. They are larger than the seeds of 

 the fireweed. . 



HOW HARRY'S MOTHER INTRODUCES QUEENS. 



My mother keeps bees. She g-ave me a swarm my 

 birthday. They made me about 75 lbs. of honey last 

 season. My mamma does not have to cag-e queens 

 to introduce them, unless she is in a hurry, for she 

 knows just when they will take a queen. When 

 they hav(! young eggs in the hive they are quite in- 

 dependent, and will not accept a queen unless she is 

 caged. Mamma put one queen into five hives, and 

 did not cag-e her once, and she also took two black 

 •lueens from two hives standing- near each other, 

 and changed them right olf, and the bees did not 

 know the difference. Mamma can't change (jueens 

 unless they are of the same color. She takes Gr.K.\N- 

 iNos. Harry H. Henderson, age 11. 



Wayne, Mich., .Ian. 11, 1885. 



lizzies reasons for rSINO DOrni.E - WAI.LEU 

 HIVES. 



I go to school. 1 have one brother who has T 

 stands of bees. My grandpa has about (iO hives of 

 bees; ho attends the county and State bee-keepers' 

 meetings. He uses brick hives two stories high, 

 with a double wall, having one inch dead-air space 

 between the walls. He uses the L. frame, and has 

 room for ten above and ten below. He says they 

 ;ire warmer in winter and cooler in snmmer than 

 the other hi\cs. liVDi a J. Davis. 



North Salem, Ind., .Jan., 1SS5. 



Well. Lydia, yoti have got jiold of a great 

 truth that seems to puzzle many of the vet- 

 erans : and tliat is. that a i)r(")pcrly made 

 hive, protected by chali' or otherwise, is as 

 etlicient in keeping out the great heat in 

 summer as it is the severe frosts of winter. 



THE WAX-PLANT. 



I and my little sisters help mother chui-n, and help 

 father e.\tT-act honey. Our aunt has a wax-plant 

 which has pretty white flowers. They yield so much 

 honey that, during the night, it drops on the floor. 

 Father ha.? been taking Gleanings for seven or 

 eight years, and we like to read the little folks' let- 

 ters. Nannie S. Clements, age !t. 



.lANIE'S LETTER. 



P'athcr has 4f> hives of bees, Italians and hybrids. 

 I should like to see Huber and Blue Eyes, and skate 

 on your carp-pond. We do not often have ice thick 

 enough to skate on. I have a pet cat named Tabby. 

 Father wrote these letters for us, as we were afraid 

 you could not read our writing. 



Janie M. Clements, age 7. 



Dalton, Ga., Feb. 2, 1885. 



! FEEDING THE BIRDS; REES OX BURDOCKS, ETC. 



I Papa has 83 colonies of bees packed in chaff on 



[ their summer stands. My sister Lucy and I nailed 



I a good many section boxes last summer, but the 



bees did not gather any honey, so we did not use 



them, and papa had to feed the bees three barrels 



and a half of sugar. 



We have six pullets that were hatched the last of 

 June, 1884, and they have already laid nine dozen 

 eggs. 



There was a i)atch of burdocks back of the liaru 

 that the bees seemed to be busy working on all the 

 I time the weeds were in blossom. 



Papa scatters wheat around for the snowbirds, and 



they come every morning to get something to eat. 

 Alice Hurlbut. 

 West Bethany. N. Y., Feb. 21, 18&5. 



SHOOTIN(i .V DEER, ET(\ 



My pa had 17 swarms last fall: four of th(>m are 

 dead now; two of them he got from you last sum- 

 mer. There are no other l)ees near where we live. 

 Pa says the drones can not feed tluMuselves. He 

 says, when the worker-bees do not want them any 

 more they do not feed them; and when the drones 

 are almost dead the b(>es lead them out and they 

 soon die. Pa got S2.).00 worth of lionej- from one 

 swarm, in one-pound sections. They were black 

 bees. 



Pa and I were up in the woods last summer, and 

 killed a deer. It was a small one. Pa carried the 

 •leer and I carried the gun. The mountains are 

 high here, ami we get lots of berries. 



George M. Wvkoff, age 10. 



Cameron, Pa.. Jan. 7, 1885. 



thieves IN THE APIARY— GOT 'EM I 



Last summer, thieves got in out apiary three 

 times. The lirst time, six boys came with a wagon 

 and got about ''> lbs. of honey. The next da\- we 

 fixed a tent so that we could stay out all night. The 

 next night father and I were in the tent when thi> 

 thief came and began to lift the bee-hive cap, when 

 father heard him and threw a rock. It hit a board 

 in a fence by him, and one of the thieves (there 

 proved to be two), while jumiiing through the wire 

 fence, caught his coat and tore a piece of it off. We 

 made no effort to find out who these boys were, but 

 in the course of a month or two thej' came and of- 

 fered to pay the damage. Father accepted the of- 

 fer. LuicE Lindley, age !>. 



New Providence, Iowa, Jan. 25, 18.8.'). 



Well. liuke. it seems to me as if a wire 

 fence were a prettv good thing to have, does 

 itnotV Tliat l)it (')f ck)lh probably did the 

 business. A detective would by the aid of it 

 lind the boy pretty surely. Il seems to me 

 the boys must be pretty bold in your locality, 

 if they get so that they come six at a time, 

 aiul w'ith a wagon. I iiope it Avill be a lesson 

 to them. . 



THE LIGHTNING C.VLCUT<.VTOI{. 



I go to school, and study reading, writing, spell- 

 ing, and arithmetic. 1 can add an example contain- 

 ing six columns of seven figures each, in 24 seconds. 



FliOGS. 



I caught a frog last summer, and I examined his 

 mouth, and found that his tongue, unlike that of 

 other animals, is attached to the fore part of his 

 lower jaw, and extends down his throat. They live 

 on flies and bugs. When they want to catch one 

 they throw their tongue out, and then the fly sticks 



