GLEANi^iGS IN JJEE CULTuUe. 



Jt'LV 



A STHING OF LETTERS FROM TH13 MNK CHILDREN, 



Ar.r.I) 12, 10, S, AND fi YEARS RESPECTIVELY. 



CARRIES I,ETTEU. 



My pa keeps bees. We had four months of day 

 sthool, and I am going to Sabbatli-school. We got 

 one of your extractors, and a bee-brush and a lion- 

 ey-knife. We like them \ery mucli. We take 

 Gleamnos, and I like to read the little letters. I 

 like honey very much, but 1 don't like to get stung 

 by the bees. My pa makes his own hives. 



Preston, Minn., Mar.6.18J'r>. Carrie Link, age 1^'. 



BARBARA'S LETTER. 



My i>a keeps bees; he has iJ" stands in the cellar 

 uo'v. Wc e.vtraeted about 180 pounds. I like hon- 

 ey. I have four sisters and two brothers. My ma 

 hives the bees sometimes when pa is not at home. 

 The bees sting me sometimes. I go to Sunday- 

 school. I read in the Thiid Header. We have the 

 hives standing in the garden, under the apple-trees; 

 the apples fall on the hives, and the bees Hy out and 

 get mad. Barbara Link, age 111. 



HENRY'S LETTER. 



I saw the other little boys and girls writing letters 

 to you so I thought I would. I go to day school and 

 to Sabbath-school. I read in the Third Header. We 

 have about 40:1 lbs. of box honey. 



Henry W. [,ixK, age .h. 



S.\RAHS LETTER. 



I like honey, but I don't like to be si ung. I go to 

 day school. 1 read in the First Header, and I go to 

 Sunday-school. We did not get much honey last 

 year. Wc got only ir.5 boxes from 65 hives. 



SA.RAH Link, age 6. 



FREDDIE'S LETTER. 



My papa has bees. I like honey. Papa takes 

 Gleanings. I like to have papa read the little let- 

 ters. I go to school, and when I come home I bring 

 the cows for my papa. I like to see my brother 

 work with the bees; he looks so funny with his hat 

 and veil on. I should like to see your fish-pond. 



stottville, N. Y. Freddie W. Enoel, age T. 



clover and basswood. Last fall the bees gathered a 

 lot of honey-dew. We had to take this from them 

 and give them syiiip instead. We use the Simplici- 

 ty hive. Herb. Shipm.\n, age i:i. 

 Cannington. (int., (an., .June 24, 1H8.">. 



LENNIE'S LETTER. 



My papa has 10 swarms of bees, and they are do- 

 ing well. Mr. Hoot, I am a cold-water boy. Do you 

 think I write well enough to have Ten Nights in a 

 llar-Koom';r Lennie V. Green, age 10. 



North Newburg, Mich. 



Yes. Lennie. yon write a very nice liand. 

 The letters are all ver> plain, aiul the words 

 are all iiroperly spelled. 



HOW CAREY'S FOLKS MADE A BOAT. 



Our bees are doing well. We have three hives of 

 Italians. We like Gleanings very much. We 

 have a boat. We got a pine log and cut it out, then 

 pitched it. We have much fun riding in it. We are 

 thinking about making a cari)-pond. The way wc 

 hive bees is to get a light box with a lid. and i)Ut it 

 under them, and lake an ax, if the limb is low, and 

 shake them off. Carey Tapley. 



Columbus, Miss., Feb. 28, 1885. 



adelk's report. 



I will tell you about i)a's bees. He had three 

 stands last spring, T in the fall, which he had to 

 feed, except two, and did not get much honey. 

 Now they are all dead exce|)t one. He took the 

 black queens from three, and put in Italian 

 swarms; but one would not stay with the black 

 ones. One died, and one he has yet. The hive is 

 nearly full yet. Adele Siefker, age 8. 



Campbellton, Mo. 

 what they have got new at lee's IIOI'SE, 



.lUST AS he wrote IT. 



wE hAvE got a LiTtlE cALf ANdsIx PiGs. 

 WE ArE wElL. I A.w SIX YEARS oLD- 

 bHoqKston. Tex. LEa fiTzGeRLeD. 



There, now, Lee, we have got a little new 

 calf at oiir honse too. It belongs to the 

 Jersey bossy, and I tell you but it is a nice 

 one. 1 told my wife, that just taking a good 

 look into that calfs eyes, when I was tired 

 of reading letters, was worth more to me 

 than a doctor's prescription. Hut. is not our 

 Jersey cow proud of her calf, though':' You 

 are ahead of us on ]»igs. Lee : l)ut we have 

 got four little rabbits, and. oh my I but 

 aren't they cute and funny':' They have got 

 big enough now so that their mainina goes 

 olt a long way and leaves them to keep 

 house all alone' 



now to GROW A CALADICM ESCCLENTCM. 



Mother keeps bees. She has 18 colonies, all boom- 

 ing except two. I am writing under a shade tree 

 and watching the bees. I will tell you how mother 

 grows the Ciilndium otcuJentum. She makes a place 

 about 2'-2 feet across and one loot deep, fills it up 

 with good rich earth, and manure from the cow- 

 yard; gives it plenty of water all the time except 

 when it is raining. Se gets her plants and bulbs 

 from .lames Yick, of Hochester, N. Y. When the 

 caladium is well supplied with water, little drops of 

 water as clear as crystal drt)p from the point of the 

 leaf. If this is of any value, please send a picture 

 of the house apiary. Mary K. 1'ierson. 



Kellcrvillc, 111., .June 24, l.'^5. 



To be sure, your letter is worth a book, 

 my little friend Maiy. If the jilant you 

 mention is the one that always luis water 

 dripping from its leaves, it is" the i)lant I 

 want just now. I have hunted cner my cat- 

 alogues to liud out more about it. and I want 

 one right off tiiis season, if it is not too late. 

 I will write to Mv. \'ick to-dav. 



41 in the fall, and 40 in the spring. 

 My bi-other keeps bees. Last fall he put 41 colo- 

 nies into the cellar, and came out in the spring with 

 4(1, although th;- temperature often went down to 24 

 degrees beU)w zero. Our bees are mostly Italians. 

 In the spring of 1884 we had 20 colonies, and increas- 

 ed to 41 and got about a ton of extracted and comb 

 honey. The most of our honey comes from alsike 



AN apiary of 250 hivks. 



I'apa ha-i :.'.1(l stands of bees. They are mostly 

 Italians. I ha\c two stands. I help work. Papa 

 has some Holy-Land bees. I like the Italians the 

 best. Papa has one stand of bees where he put 

 a cell in a cage, and the cage in the hive. He forgot 

 it, and left it there 20 days, and when he went back 

 the queen looked as nice as any queen. He turned 

 her loosf', and the next time he went back the 

 combs were laid full. Mina Wolfe, age 11. 



[,atliro|), Cal., .lune 7, 18^-.. 



Friend Mina, you have given us (juite an 

 important fact. "Of course, we do not know 



