354 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



bought and took on shai-es 14 more, so be has got 26 

 .stands now. He thinks a great deal of bees. Tn 

 fact, ^ve all do. Mamnm sometimes hives them. 



One of our neighbors has at two different times 

 lost all of his bees by covering them with hemlock 

 boughs. One year he lost T, aud another 20. The 

 man who kept them thought that that did not have 

 :iii.v tiling to do with it, but my papa thought that 

 was what killed them. What do you thinkV 



Blanch Bulklev. age 13. 



New Woodstock, N. V'., March 1, 188,5. 



I do not think the hemlock boughs ditl the 

 l)ees any harm, friend ]31anch, nnless it was 

 Itecause they kept the sun from shining on 

 the liives. Of course, it would keep oft' the 

 wind some ; but what we want to do is to 

 keep away all the wind and at the same time 

 let the liives have all the sunshine they can 

 get. 



HOY'S ENCOURAGING REPORT. 



Pa began keeping bees when I was a year old. 

 He and uncle Ned saw a swarm of bees tlying over 

 t heir heads in haying-time. They stopped them and 

 Iiut them in a hive. In a few days he bought three 

 swarms in box hives for $21. That fall he bought 10 

 swarms in frame hives for S'lOO. The next spring 

 he bought a honcj'-extractor, uncapping-knife, and 

 10 lbs. of foundation of you. During the summer 

 he made enough money from his bees to replace all 

 the money he paid out for his bees, extractor, knife, 

 foundation, lumber, etc., that he used. He has al- 

 ways made his own hives, crates, and scctious; and 

 for the last 7 years, foundation. He has never ad- 

 vertised, but he has lots of customers from far and 

 near. He runs his machine with a horse power. 

 He made a rigging to .sandpaper sections, that cost 

 2.5 cents. It sandpapers them as they are sawed, 

 and saws them ever so nice. Pa has taken your 

 .journal ever since he kept bees. He has always 

 made beekeeping pay. He had 75 swarms last 

 spring: sold some in the fall, and hiid it9 left to win- 

 ter. He got over SOOO lbs. of honey; sold U13 lbs. 

 comb honey to one firm in Charlotte. 



Chester, Mit-h. Koy B. Huhbaku, age 10. 



Well done. Roy; but it seems to me that 

 machine that sandpapers the sections just as 

 Iheyjcome from the saw, and costs only 25 

 cents, needs a little more exphination. 

 Can't you or your pa explain a little more, 

 for the beneflt of the brethren? 



SEVEN - YEAR - OLU CII.ARUE TEF.I.S L'S HOW TO 



IIARNE.SS THK HORSES WHEN THK BKES 



ARE CROSS. 



.My mamma has told me about you, and liow kind 

 you are to little boys. 1 should like to see the 

 wheelbarrow full of books you have for little boys. 

 My mamma works ever so busy amongst the bees, 

 but they are eight miles from home, so we have to 

 leave some one at home to take care of things when 

 we work with the bees, for mamma says I must tlnd 

 the queens for her, as I have such sharp eyes. 



I want to tell you how to harness horses when 

 bees are cross. Get get the smoker ready, put the 

 harness on the horses, and take them to the wagon. 

 l,ot one go along with the smoker, and walk around 

 tlie hor.ses, puffing the smoker, and the bees will all 

 lly away. That is the way we do, and it works first 

 rate. I learn my lessons and recite to my mamma. 

 I read the Youth's Companion, add, subtract, multi- 

 ply, and divide, without a book, and I am learning 



the 16"s in multiplication. I write, and study geog- 

 raphy. I have done all this to-day, and helped irri- 

 gate, and the water drove a gopher out, and I killed 

 it; and then Gipsy, my dog, ate it. We have a earp- 

 poud, but they are all big, as the water is too cold 

 for the spawn to hatch. Charlie Wilson, age 7. 

 San Bernardino, Cal., Apr. 3, 1885. 



ESTHER'S STRAWBERRY LETTER. 



My ma takes Gleanings, and we are pleased 

 with it and the ever-welcome Home Papers. You 

 wanted all that loved to cultivate or grow straw- 

 berries to inform you of their mode of cultivation 

 and success. Here is our way: Set out in April or 

 August; mulch in October so thick you can't see 

 the ground by walking over them; this keeps them 

 with green leaves all winter; the ground will not 

 thaw out until it will stay so, and frost or light 

 freezes do not reach them in the spring. Our patch 

 of 12 by 16 feet did not do quite as well as some I 

 saw in the newspaper, which gave from 80 to 120 

 quarts to the rod; but we got 32 quarts, besides some 

 that were not measured. We took some to the fes- 

 tival, and sold them, three for a nickel. The largest 

 one we measured was I'U inches in circumference; 

 the most on one stem was 17 large berries. 



Esther A. Freuly, age 12. 



Silver City, Iowa, April 30, 1885. 



STRENOTUENINO WE.\K colonies by the FIR- 



chase of bees by the pound. 

 My pa bought one stand of black bees, the sum- 

 mer before last. They have swarmed twice. The 

 last swarm came out on the first day of .luly, and 

 we were all away at a picnic. It was the eigth day 

 after the first swarm. We expected it would come 

 out, but we did not like to miss the picnic. But, 

 however, when we came home, after looking 

 around a while pa saw a ball of bees the size of a 

 quart dipper. There was a heavy storm of rain 

 that daj', so they got under a board for shelter. 



; About the last of August, pa was examining the 

 first swarm, aud he found that they had neither 



' eggs nor brood, so we wanted to know from Mr. W., 

 who was accustomed to bees, what was best to do. 



j He advised us to get a few bees and a queen. Pa 

 got 3W lbs. of Italians and a queen. At night we 

 smoked the black bees down, and then put the Ital- 

 ians in. But in the morning, when we went out, we 

 saw all the black bees scattered about on the 

 ground. Please let us know if it was right to put 

 so many Italians with the blacks. Pa has no smok- 

 er; but when he examines the bees he blows some 

 tobacco smoke into the hive. People say it injures 

 the bees. Chas. Hamilton, age 13. 



I Apto, Ont.. April 14, 1885. 



j Friend Charles, your father did all right. 

 j only that he did not watch the bees long 



enough to see that they united peaceably. 



He should have remained near the hive; 



and as soon as the tirst black l»ee came out 



stung, they should have had a good vigorous 



smoking. It is never safe to neglect this. 



You might have lost your 'M lbs. of Italians. 



I am afraid now that they are queenless. I 

 1 do not think that tobacco smoke injures the 

 ; bees; but, Charley, I am (piite sure that it 

 , does injure the man who blows it on the 

 j bees. Suppose you tell your pa that we will 



furnish him a bee-smoker if he will give up 

 I the use of tobacco, and give us the usual 

 ; promise. 



