m 



GLtiAis^tNGs IN ayih: cuLTuMk, 



Am. 



ui age, 

 letter for this department, containisq 



SOME VALUABLE FACT, NOT GKKBRALLY 

 :' KNOWN, ON BEES OR OTHER MATTEHS, 



will receive one of David Cook's excel- 

 lent live - cent Sunday - school books. 

 Many of these booLs contain the same mat- 

 ter that you find in Sunday-school books 

 ., costing from 81.00 to 91M. If you have had 



i.|(*t./ ' one or more books, give us the names that we 

 YU^Jo ""'■^' "°* "''"'* ^^^ same twice. We have now 

 i'V .*ir 11" stock six different .books, as follows; viz.: 

 h\ > f Sheer Off, The (Jiant - Killer. The Roby 

 iJ ; Family, Rescued from Egypt, and Ten Nights in 



a Bar-Room. We have also Our Homes, Part I.,and 

 Our Homes, Part II. Besides the above books, you may have a 

 photograph of our old hou.se apiary, taken a great many years 

 ago. In it is a picture of myself , Blue Eyes, and (Jaddy, anda 

 glimpse of Ernest. We have also some pretty little colored 

 uictures of bii-ds, fruits, ffowers, etc., suitable for framing. 

 You can have your choice of any one of the above pictures 

 or books for every letter that gives us .some valuable piece of 

 iufDrmation. 



■ .\ chiel's amang ye takin' notes; 

 An' faith, he'll prent it." 



fELL, little friends, it is now August, 

 the month that usually furnishes us 

 the dry hot weather. l>nt it is not 

 dry here at all ; in fact, it rains al- 

 most everyday, and the undei'-drains 

 carry so mucli watei- into the carp-pond that 

 it is full, and nmiiiii^f-out at the outlet al- 

 most all the while. W'Jien the water rises so 

 high that the carp can get up and nose 

 around the grass on the bank, they enjoy it 

 amazingly — especially when the water is 

 very warm. The other morning I went down 

 to the pond very early ; and so main- great 

 big tish were busy at the roots of the grass 

 along the bank "that I thought perhaps I 

 could catch one and carry it up to the house 

 to surprise Iluber and the rest of the family. 

 I got down on my knees among the tall grass 

 and weeds, and waitetl until a great big one 

 came up right before me. Tiie water was so 

 muddy he could not see me at all, and I 

 waited until hisgreat shining back was right 

 up between my two hands. I thought I 

 would make real sure, and so I moved my 

 hands down until they almost touched him, 

 and then made a grab. Do you think 1 got 

 him ? JVot a bit of it. I guess we both felt 

 somewhat astonished. Tlie minute one lin- 

 ger touched his back he made the biggest 

 Hop you ever heard of, and threw the water 

 all over me, and was gone somewhere so 

 quick that I couldn't tell how or where. 

 -Just then I heard a chuckle upon the fence ; 

 and, looking up. I saw a squirrel acting just 

 as if he were holding his sides to keep from 

 laughing. When 1 turned he started off 

 along the top of the fence ; but lie made a 

 somid|as if he were chuckling still. I washed 

 the muddy water out of my eyes, and went 

 home just in time for breakfast, where I told 

 my adventure ; but I didn't have any great 

 big fish to show them, as I had planned. 



KIND WORDS FROM ONE OK OIR JITVENII.ES. 



My papa keeps bees and thinks a great deal of his 

 A H C book he got of you, and doesn't know how 

 he got along- without it, and also takes Gleanings. 

 Muinina thinks a great deal of Onr Homes in it. He 

 has twelve stands of bees. Papa bought that nice 

 queen you sent to Mr. Essick (as he found after 

 sending to you that his bees had foul brood). Papa 

 likes to deal with you, as you «re so prompt. 



Clraiid KIdge, 111. Lizzie A. Parmi.ee. 



My papa had 30 swarms of bees last fall; five of 

 them died in the winter. One of them lost their 

 queen this spring. Papa gave them a comb with 

 larvie in, but they would not build queen-cells. He 

 looked two or three times, but could not And the old 

 queen, so he put a weak swarm in with them, and 

 now they are all right. Nearly all the bees died 

 around here the past winter. 



Marv Wiei.sox, age 9. 



Newmarket, Out., Can.. .Tune 4, 1885. 



A FAVORABLE REPORT OF THE FOUNTAIN PUMP A9 

 A SWARM-ARRESTEK. 



We had a swarm of bees the other day, and they 

 stayed on the tree about three liours, and then they 

 started to go away. Mamma went and got the 

 fountain pump, and threw the water up in front of 

 them, and they thought it was raining, and they 

 turned and came back and went on another tree to 

 see if it was really raining-. Then we got them and 

 put them in a hive. Alice McBaine. 



Cokeville, Pa., .Tune 5, ISSo. 



CROSS BEES, AND FLORA'S PROPOSED REMEDV. 



Grandpapa says Mrs. Harrison need not kill her 

 cross l)ees. Just make a false man and set it up be- 

 fore the cross bees, and let them have their fill 

 stinging that. We have only one stand of hybrid 

 bees, and they are as cross as the letter X. They 

 will go four or five rods to sting- a person. 



Daisy, Kansas. Flora A. Comstock. 



Although I have never tried your plan. 

 Flora, it does not seem to me as if 1 should 

 want to do any thing that would make bees 

 sting worse. My experience has been, that 

 it is best to teach them to forget their stings 

 as much as possible. Jiy the way, I think 1 

 would apply the same treatment to little 

 girls and boys. Have them taught in such 

 a way that they will forget tliat they have 

 the power to "sting or hurt the feelings of 

 anybody. 



Pa has 14 stands of bees. He divides them in 

 stead of letting them swarm. Pa is very much in- 

 terested in carp culture. T read in a little paper pa 

 has, that tlsh in Japan are taught to ring a bell 

 when they get hungry. The way they learn to do 

 it is to hang a silk cord in the water, with a little 

 piece of bait on it. The fish then see that it is some- 

 thing- to eat. They catch ht)ld of it, and give it a 

 jerk, which rings the bell. Pebbles are afterward 

 tied to the cord. They will then catch hold of the 

 pebbles when they get hungry, and thus ring the 

 bell. Amy J. Hollk.man. 



Wager, Ark.. June 1, 1885. 



raspberry-blossoms, chickens, etc. 

 The bees are working busily on the raspberry- 

 blossoms and clover, especially the alsike. We 

 have had ripe strawberries lor two weeks. I hope 



