iHsh 



(il.KAM.NCiS IN liEK CULTUllK. 



when the (lueeii hatched out ; but she miglit 

 liave been in the rell, say Hve days: but 

 even tlieii slie was lo days old when yonr fa- 

 ther let her out. and 1 know that queens do 

 sometimes commence to lay after they are 

 between two and three weeks old. though 

 ours usually lay at about ten days. 



PHARES' LETTEK. 



My 1)11 kft'ps bees. They comnieiicc working- 

 iil>oiU Kt'liruary on the water-ehn and willow. l!y 

 llu" tlrst ol' May the whole prairie lor miles is cov- 

 ered with tiowers. There is a kind of blue Hower 

 weeiiU biiflalo clover that the bees work on, and old 

 maid, and horsemint, by the acres, all over the 

 prairie. My brother and 1 go to school. I plowed 

 1 his year for the first time in my life. I have a cow 

 and a calf, and a shoat. My cow is only two years 

 old. That is all the property that I have. 



PHAUF.S a. itOBEHTS. 



IJrandon, Te.xas, .Jnne 2S, lK8r). 



Friend Pliares, do you mean that you 

 have a llower that grows on the prairie, 

 called •• old maid "V If so, I do not think it 

 is a very genteel name, and 1 woidd suggest 

 that you have a better name for it. The 

 term is a term of disresi)ect, a good deal 

 out of date, and I think it woidd he a good 

 thing to drop it for ever. 



.lOHN.Nir. KI.UF.UT, HENRY AfCJI'SllS. AMI THE 

 REST OF THEM. 



I live on Wallace Prairie. We moved lieic aliont 

 t wo years ag:o. We do not live far from the (•r<'ek, 

 and sometimes 1 go a fishinj?, bnt catch notliinji- birt 

 minnies, so I do not g-o often. My brother is taking- 

 (ii.EANiNOS. He lias Ifi colonies of bees, and my 

 sister has two colonies. I have two sisters and three 

 big- brotliers and a pair of twin brothers that will lie 

 two years old Christmas day. Their names are 

 .lohnnie Elbert and Harry Angiistiis. Sometimes 

 they g-o out where the bees are, and throw sticks at 

 the hives and tliey g-et stung-. \'esterday .I(dinnie 

 K. and Henry A. were playing- in the yard, and a 

 bee stiing- .Johnnii- K. on the lip, and it was swol- 

 len so big- last niglit that he eonld see out of bnt 

 one eye. One da.v I went onl where the bees were 

 and saw both baliies in the bee-house. Thi-re is a 

 log- hive with a hole in the sl<le, and the comi) was 

 sticking- out of the hi\ c, and the babies were trying- 

 to pull tlie coml> (dl. Imt the bees did not sting 

 them liefore I g-ot tliere. 



I have not many tlowei-s this year. 1 milk every 

 morning- but Sunday morning-, and then I cook 

 breakfast. Kosvi.ll'. SoMERFOItH, ag-e II. 



Xavasota, Texas. 



you start out with. Instead of saying you 

 thought you would write a letter, just go on 

 and write it. for we all know, without being 

 told, that you must have thought of it or 

 you never could have written it. The other 

 is that sentence at the end, where you say. 

 ■'• I must close. ■■ If you had just closed 

 without saying it, we should have known it 

 all the same. I iiave crossed out such ex- 

 pressions in a great part of the letters that 

 come, and should have crossed that out in 

 your letter, had it not occurred to me to give 

 you a word of caution about it. for your let- 

 ter contains two of these sentences, as you 



r.U.MAN S t.KTTER. 



I thought I would write you a few lines, and tell 

 you about the bees. There is a lioney-bee making: 

 a nest at tlie side of our door. One of grandpa Ste- 

 phens' hives of liees swarmed on Sunday, and I g-ot 

 stung- live times. The (|ueeii was killed, and the 

 bees were awful cross. Well, I must close. If you 

 think this l(>tter is worth a picture, please send me 

 one <d a bird. LiLLiAN M. Stephens. 



Itlairsville, Pa , .Innel.'S, ISW. 



Ves, Lillian, your letter is worth a iiicture : 

 luit will vou e.xcuse me for telling you and 

 the rest of the little folks that you have two 

 sentences in your letter that occuiiy space 

 and do not tell us any tiling we did not 

 know before? The tlrst sentence is the one 



ARTIFICI.\r. HONEY. 



Take soft water, 4 lbs.; white and brown sugar, 

 moist, 30 lbs. ; pure bees' honey, 3 lbs. ; cueam tartar, 

 80 grains, essence of roses, '2i drops. Mi.x the above 

 in a brass kettle, boil over a charcoal flie five min- 

 utes, take it otf, add the white of two well-beaten 

 egg-s. When almost cold, add 2 lbs. more of bees' 

 honey. A i)int of the decoeti<m of slippery-elm 

 bark, of the consistency of cream, will improve the 

 honey, if it be added by cooling. The above will 

 make :5r> lbs. of pure honey, eipial in every I'P^peet 

 to bees', and at about one-third of the cost. If 

 made for family use, only a small (luantity need t e 

 made at a time. Keep it in a cool place. 



John Ki.i.is, age 10. 



Armstrong, Kan., .Iiine ;;'.i, iss."i. 

 I suppose. .John, you coiiied your lecipe 

 otit of it hook, and very likely it is good, al- 

 though I have never tried it." If lam cor- 

 rect, it is the very same recijie that our 

 friend II. 11. Lake, of Lavansville. I'a., used 

 to sell for two dollars: and at the same time 

 he was selling it for two dollars, it was pub- 

 lished in Dr. ("liases lecipe-book. Slijipery- 

 elm will do veiy well for itresent use: but if 

 you tiy to keep it. it will induce fermenta- 

 iion in hot weather, .lohn. do you mean to 

 say it is ecpial in evei \ resjiect to the honey 

 made by the bees beciiuse you have tried it. 

 and used it at home, or because the book 

 said so out of which you copied ifr' Our 

 little friends should lie very careful to give 

 credit when they copy any thing— that is, do 

 not cojiy any thing from itrint and let it pass 

 as yoiu- Owii. Among book-men and news- 

 liaper-men this kiiul of work is considered a 

 pretty serious charge. 



.lOH.N S REPORT. 



I will let you know about the bees. They can 

 gather much honey. The linn-trees are full of lilos- 

 soms, and the buckwheat is ready to get blossoms 

 from, and there is much clover where they can get 

 much honey. We had thiee swarms, and lost one. 

 We have not taken any hcniey yet, but we shall 

 some day this week. We got them double bo,\es, 

 and pretty tiill (d Iniiiev . We have two pretty good 



A swarm of Ik 

 A swarm in .li 

 A swarm in .li 



■J in May is worth a load of hay; 

 e is worth a silver spoon; 

 i is not worth a tly. 



.loHN .1. SiiivvARTZ, age i;5. 

 Iterne, Ind., .Iune;.'".i, ISS.'i. 



Why.. loliii. you don't mean the linn-trees 

 and the bm-kwheat are in blossom at about 

 the same time out where you live, do you ':' 



,'hile. 



the same time out where you live, do you ' 



AVe dont have buckwheat in bloom hert 



I until the linn is past and gone a long while 



