49S 



GLt:ANlNGS L\ JJEE CULTUitE. 



Jrr.Y 



The little verse at the end of your letter is 

 ratlier iii'l.i'id tiie times. We think a swarm 

 of bees in July is worth more than a silver 

 spoon, and sometimes as much as half a load 

 of hay, any way. 



RAMTEL'S KKPORT FROM RATTLESXAKK AlMAItV. 



I am IIJ years old, and have helped my pa with his 

 bees for four years. I have requested my pa many 

 times to write to you our experience witli bees, but 

 he will not write except on business. In the spring 

 of 1881 we hart '> colonies of bees in box hives. With 

 the help and instructions of a good neighbor (Mr. 

 Fox) we transferred to Koot Simplicity. The spring 

 of 1883 found us in Blasted Hopes. We had but two 

 weak colonies left, and not more than a pint of bees 

 in each one. The year 1883 proved to be a good 

 honey year. From early spring until November 

 our bees were on a constant boom. We found two 

 bee-trees, caught a swarm, bought two swarms, and 

 went into winter (juurtcrs with Pi colonics— two 

 weak ones. 



The year 188,3 was a very poor yeai-. From hi we 

 increased to .34, and had some honey for home con- 

 sumption. Last year, 1884, was a very poor honey 

 year. We increased by natural swarming from :U 

 to 71, and got about 3000 lbs. nice comb honey in su- 

 l)ers. In wintering we lost four colonies by care- 

 lessness; sold four for ^'i.O.) each; have increased 

 this spring toil;}; bees still swarming, and bringing 

 in honey fast from horseiTiint. 



Pa received the Novice extractor you expressed 

 to him a few days ago. Express chiii-gcs , *:?.U). 

 Cost of extractor, *10.20. 



With your permission, Uncle Amos (if you will al- 

 low me to call you uncle), I will write again and tell 

 the juveniles of our Rattlesnake Apiary, located 

 eight miles west of here, in a rich prairie-valley- 

 bottom black-land country, a natural flower-garden. 

 Pa sends respects and many thanks. 



,Iones Prairie, Tex. Sam'l H. Tkrhal. 



Thank you, Samuel, for writing when your 

 papa was so busy and wouldn't. We shall 

 be very olad to hear from Rattlesnake Apia- 

 ry; but I presume some of the other children 

 besides myself might like to know why 

 ''lialtlesna'ke apiary."— Youi- natural-tlower 

 garden I should think would be just the 

 place for the bees. 



THE mishap TH.\T CH.\RL1E'S FATHER MET IN T.\lv- 

 ING DOWN A SWARM OF HEES. 



My pa does not keep bees, but his little boy docs. 

 H(! has 70 colonies. He lost 2'> this spring; had 45 

 packed in chaff; lost only one of those. Pa's boy 

 thinks he will not get ranch elo\er honey this year, 

 because there are hardly any blossoms. Last year 

 he had a big lot of it. I like honey, and bees too, 

 when they don't sting. One time there was a great 

 big tlock of them alighted away up in the top of a 

 liig ap)>le-tree. There was as mucli as a pailful of 

 'em. He got a great long ladder and stood on the 

 top of it, and had to stretch himself away up to 

 reach them. The limb on which they were broke, 

 and the bees came down all over him. They crawl- 

 ed into his hair and stung him on the face and neck, 

 as many as five hundred or more. Sister said yo\i 

 could not put the point of a pin down (may be she 

 meant head instead of point) without hitting a 

 sting. Any way, 1 guess they were about as close 

 as they could be and be health^-. It dirt not swell 

 much, but his head and neck were sore for two or 



three days. I think foundation in comb honey is 

 nice, because you can have a lot of wax to chew as 

 gum. I think if Mr. Hutchinson were here with 

 his honey he would have to ship it to more than one 

 fair and back home before it would become soft 

 and mellow enough for the people to buy. 



Chas. Oliver, age i:>. 

 Springboro, Pa., .lune 20, 1885. 



iA/.'/lK S HEN S-.VEST D1 VJSI ON-BOARD. 



I see you are interested in the jtoultry btisiness as 

 well as the bee business. Well, so am I. 1 am part- 

 ner in the poultry business with mamnm, and the 

 bees with papa. I have had a good laugh at your 

 expense. This is where the laugh comes in: I see in 

 your juvenile department about those two old hens 

 on or.e nest. 1 will now tell you the way mamma 

 and I do w hen two hens want to sit on the same 

 nest. AVe just simply put a division-board between 

 them, no matter if it is only high enough to keep 

 them from mixing their eggs. I have concluded 

 that, if you had been as well posted in the hen sit- 

 ting business as you are in the bee business, you 

 would not have forgotten that division-board. Vou 

 have heard the old saying, that two women can 

 never agree in the same house. 



Now about those misty, dirty eggs. That poor old 

 hen might just as well hiivo had a nice lot of little 

 downy chicks as not, if you had just taken a basin 

 of warm water and washed those eggs and put 

 some clean straw in the nest. That is the way we 

 do. 1 should like to have you try these plans and 

 report. Now about the bees. 



There have been heavy losses about here, but we 

 went into winter (luartcrs with 1:.' stands of bees 

 and honey; lost one colony, and the ri'st came out 

 in good condition. We have had four new swarms 

 this spring. Papa wants to know what you would 

 do with two swarms in the air at once. This is what 

 he did: He just fiew or ran around and got both 

 swarms into their new home with very little trou- 

 ble. He says that is thanks to clipped gueens. He 

 says when both those swarms came out it made him 

 feel like the man who said, when his bees ran away, 

 that live dollars in the hand was forty (hiliars in the 



This is my last letter betore lam 15, so I should 

 like to have that picture of youi- old apiary. 



Pana, 111., .June 33, 1885. Lizzie Barnes. 



Well, I declare. Lizzie, I have heard of di- 

 vision-boards for bee-hives, lots and lots of 

 times; but I do not believe I ever heard be- 

 fore of a hen's nest with a division-board in 

 it. Since you mention it, it seems to me the 

 idea is just good common sense, but 1 never 

 thougli'l of it at all. Only last week two 

 hens wanted to sit on the same nest again, 

 and I will tell you liow I fixed them. I just 

 '■ swarmed ■■ them " artilicially." Vou see, 

 they were both in a l)arrel. Well, I took 

 one hen off the nest ; Iheu I just handed the 

 barrel over the fence to Ernest, and set an- 

 other barrel just like il in the i)lace occupied 

 by tile old barrel. The hen that had her nest 

 ill the old barrel stuck right lo it. of course, 

 and t'other hen just walked right into the 

 new barrel, of course.— Two or three of the 

 juveniles have told about washing the eggs 

 off; but. dear me I I have too little time to 

 wash olT many hens' eggs. 1 guess I will 

 get Hlue Eyes to boss the ])oultry-yard. Xo 

 doubt she would beat me all to pieces. 



