566 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



a playspell, and you are not the first one 

 who has been misled in just that way, as you 

 will see by tlie A F> C book. When you shut 

 up the hive, the young bees that had for the 

 tirst time in their lives been out trying their 

 wings were compelled to cluster outside of 

 the hive ; and after they had watched a suf- 

 ficient length of time, and nobody came 

 around to let them in. I suppose they went 

 to other hives, probably attracted by the 

 humming of the returning bees toward eve- 

 nhig. The smaller number you saw on the 

 hives not shut up were the young bees going 

 to the hives l)pcause they could not get in at 

 home. Young bees out on a playspell will 

 usually bo permitted to pass without hin- 

 drance into any hive, lust as yon would let 

 a baby riglit into your house without any ob- 

 jection, if it shcxdd happen to wander away 

 from its own home If you watcli carefully 

 you can tell robbers froni bees having a play- 

 spell. by noting their behavior. The play- 

 ing bees dance up and down in the air. seem- 

 ingly, and tliey also have a brighter look 

 than old bees, being lighter colored on ac- 

 count of tlie soft "down that covers them 

 about the time they take their first outdoor 

 flight. 



TOBACCO AND SNUFF. 



ALSO SOME KACTS ABOUT ANTS IN THE SOUTH. 



§ BEING you have not disdained to publish my 

 little report, encourages me to appear before 

 you again in a social sort of way. The letters 

 in Gleanings, as a rule, are so homolike and 

 chatty that one is naturally impelled to be 

 sociable in adding- to them. In reading- them I fre- 

 quently feel inclined to have my say-so on some of 

 the points talked of; though as regards bees I 

 would not venture, for I know as yet comparatively 

 little of them. 



Of tobacco, I may say that I am opposed to its use 

 in any form or for any purpose. I would be a "pi-o- 

 hibitionist" as regards it, if it would have the de- 

 sired eflect. If you had seen as much of the habit 

 of "snuff-dipping" as I have been unfortunate 

 enough to witness, you would not be able to say 

 that our girls do not use it nowadays. Among a 

 certain class of people South (generally mill and 

 factory operatives), it is a common practice for the 

 women to dip snuft; and many, many girls, even 

 the little ones four and five years old, are brought 

 up in the filthy, detestable habit. This, however, is 

 a habit by no means confined to factoi-y operatives; 

 for many country girls become addicted to the use 

 of the vile stuff; and seemingly it is as hard for 

 Ihem to give it up as it is for men to luirtfrom their 

 dear tobacco-ijuids. In central Alabama I was as- 

 tonished to find among a nicer class of ladies that 

 the habit was practiced, though in justice to them 

 I must say it was strenuously concealed whenever 

 practicable, from all outsiders who would nof'dii)." 

 You must know that the Southern factory op- 

 eratives are as yet a different class of people from 

 the New-Englanders of the same occupation. 1 

 have heard my grandmother (who is a Vermonter) 

 say there is a vast difference. In course of time I 

 trust the class down here known as " factory folks" 

 will be on a par with the renowned " Lowell girls " 

 of Massachusetts. As yet they constitute an illiter- 

 ate, oily, " unwashed " class. 



ANTS. 



I hope you do not imagine that all over the South 

 the bee-keeper has to flght against the ant. If you 

 should be under that impression, let me disabuse 

 your mind of it at once. There are many places 

 never troubled with the industrious little nuisance, 

 while some others are infested. For instance, we 

 seldom see any here; yet about sixteen miles dis: 

 tant on our plantation one can scarcely look on the 

 ground without seeing some running one way or 

 another, and it is pitiful to sec the little chickens 

 following the mother hen and keeping up a con- 

 stant dance, in order, if possible, to escape the bites 

 of those little dark red ants. 



Ill tell of an e.\pcri!nent of mine. I read once of 

 the different kinds of stings that ants have— that is, 

 some large red one.? have a barbed sting like the 

 point of a fish hook, so that he is obliged to leave it 

 in a substance too tough for him, as a bee does; 

 but the common little ant merely bites. I thought 

 it would be interesting forest the truth of the mat- 

 ter; so one afternoon I took a walk alone, to a red- 

 ant hill whose location I well knew, and, seating 

 myself beside it, I watched them awhile and then I 

 carefully caught one and allowed him to run up 

 my arm. Soon finding a spot to suit his purpose he 

 inserted his sting a little below the elbow; and 

 when he freed himself his sting remained, with a 

 portion of the vitals, while the ant ran wildly 

 about, then disappeared in the crowd, soon to per- 

 ish, I suppose. I was satisfied fully of the truth of 

 what I had read; but I was not content to let the 

 ants alone. I caught and tried another with the 

 same result: then more, until when I had finished I 

 was the contented possessor of five stings on my 

 arm. By this time my arm was itching, and was 

 considerably inffamed. I walked home. When, by 

 reason of the pain and itching, I could conceal my 

 uneasiness no longer, I explained at the house what 

 I had done, and was laughed at for trying such an 

 j experiment on myself. I went to my room, and 

 was still suffering all the agonies the large red ant 

 ! is capable of inflicting on a system rather suscepti- 

 ! ble to the effects of such poisons, and was in tears 

 by now. I heard a voice calling me. "Gert! O Bert!" 

 it called gently. My heart swelled; it was one of 

 mybrothei-s.and I thought, " Now I shall have some 

 I sympathy." I answered his call. This is what he 

 I said to me: "I say, Bert, had you not better send 

 the result of your e.xperiraent to the New-York 

 Entomological Society/" I "collapsed." I have 

 never tried to investigate the different species of 

 ant-stings since. Beutie Nokuell. 



Augusta, Ga., June 21, lSf5. 



Friend Bertie, I am afraid you arc a lit- 

 tle severe on your neighbors who work in 

 the factory. There are factories hero in 

 Ohio where drinking, swearing, and tobac- 

 co-using are the rule ; and then, again, there 

 are others where such things are not known 

 at all. 1 believe that the boys and girls who 

 work in our factory are considered (piite as 

 respectable and iiii(>lligent as any class of 

 people we have ; and Iain inclined to think 

 that it is becoming more and inon^ customa- 

 ry with tiie i)roprietors of shops and facto- 

 ries to insist not only on temperance in the 

 matter of drinking, but in the choice of lan- 

 guage, etc. Of course, in many kinds of 

 work it is not possible for the operatives to 

 avoid dirt and grease ; but this fact should 

 never be considered a reason to look down 



