640 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Sept. 



SEM.ING HONEV AT THE FAIR. 



My jrranclpa has ten stands of bees. They are do- 

 ing: well. He and 1 went over to the fair to see 

 if we eould sell some honey. 



Dexter. Maine. Ue.n.me Ei.i.is. 



A NOVEI, WAY TO HIVE A SWAR.M. 



Papa bought a hive of bees a year ago last Decem- 

 ber, at an auction, but they all died last March. The 

 fore part of June, i)apa j)ut the hi\c, full of empty 

 comb, up in the top of the chimney. In a few days 

 a swarm came and went into the hi\c. Papa took 

 them down and put them on a stand, and they did 

 very well. The fore part of Aufrust they swarmed. 

 We now have two colonies of bees in box hives. 



Lancsville, Conn. Fked J. Wanzeh. 



liiece of bread in the water and they will come and 

 eat out of our hand. Anna Quinby, age 14. 



Edenton, Clermont Co., ()., Aug. 24, 1885. 



bees WORKlNf! ON BUCKWHEAT. 



My uncle has eighteen colonies. They are very 

 busy nowadays. I'ncle works among the bees, and 

 they alight on his hands and on his back, but don't 

 sting him, while if others go near the hives they get 

 stung. If we go by the buckwheat and listen, we 

 can iiear the b(>es liumining as they do around the 

 hives. Etta H. Peck, age 1.3. 



Hanks, Fariliault Co., Minn., Aug. 2-„', 188.-,. 



THROWING UIKT TO BRING DOWN A SWAKM. 



My father keci)s bees, but I do not have much to 

 do with them; but when they tiy away, then I help 

 to chase them. I helped stop a swaini this summer 

 by throwing dirt at them. They are doing well. 

 Father has kept bees a number of years. He can 

 handle them without much trouble; he has them in 

 the Simplicity hive, and has taken 98 lbs. of honey 

 from 3 hives. Charlie Hunt, age 11. 



Amboy, HI., Aug. 6. 1885. 



WILLIE'S LETTER, AND HIS OPINION ABOUT 

 SWEAKINO. 



We had a swarm of bees come out three weeks 

 ago last Sunday. Our bees nearly always swarm 

 on Sunday. 1 am only a little boy, but 1 want to be 

 as good as 1 can. On Sunday some of my neigh- 

 bors' little boys swear, but 1 don't. 1 think it is 

 awful wicked. Pa has an incubator. We have nice 

 large Plymouth Kocks that were hatched in the in- 

 cubator. The last time 1 wrote to you 1 had only 

 one sheep; now 1 have two. 



Memphis, Ind. Willie Coomhs. 



I agree with you, Willie, that it is '" awful 

 wicked" to take (iod's name in vain, and it 

 makes me feel cflad to know that there are 

 little boys who can not he hired to do such 

 wicked things for any consideration what- 

 ever. 



MELONS INSTEAD OF BEES. 



My father put 13 swarms in the cellar last winter. 

 All came out alive in the spring. He had 10 hives 

 transferred into the Simplicity; they are doingwell. 

 He has 37 swarms now. He has them in a plum or- 

 chard, and hardly ever loses a swarm; but he had 

 one come to him. He thinks they are part Italians. 

 My brother and I can make more raising melons. 

 We have a large patch. We sold 1- dollars' worth 

 last summer. There is something we can do, if we 

 can not handle l)ees. (Jeohgie Hunt. 



Amboy. III.. Aug. 7. ISS"). 



By all means, raise melons, (ieorgie, if 

 that kind of work suits you. The l>oy who 

 lores the business, and sticks to it until he 

 becomes an expert, will lie almost sure to 

 make money at it ; and we might almost say 

 the same of any other rural industry. 



BEES STINGING CARP. 



My father wintered, last winter, 140 stands of 

 bees, losingone in March. We are feeding our bees 

 now. The drought last fall killed tlic white clover 

 here. Our bees have not made any honey this year 

 to amount to any thing. We had !i4 German carp, 

 and our bees stung two in the mouth and killed 

 them. Our carp are very tame. We can hold a 



AN OBSEHVATOKY HIVK; NOTES TAKEN BY A .JUVE- 

 NILE. 



We have an observatory hive in our window, 

 which has been there about three months. Pa uses 

 it to raise ((ueens. It had a (jueen fertilized last 

 week : she was absent from the hive 38 minutes; 

 she is now introduced to a fall colony, and the ob- 

 servatory is raising another one now. Pa has tak- 

 en 457 lbs. of honey from six colonies, and increased 

 to U. J. A. Sheneman, age 12. 



Pharisburg. Union Co., O. 



HOW TO GET A SWARM FROM THE TOP OF A YOUNG 

 MAPLE-TREE. 



My giandpa has 18 colonies of bees. He had a 

 swarm in the top of a maple-tree. He tied the 

 clothes-line to the top of the tree, then he bent the 

 tree over and tied it to a plum-tree, then he swept 

 the bees into the hive. My grandpa has two acres 

 of buckwheat. C.randpa has two wild geese. They 

 are so tame that they will eat right out of your 

 hand. Their names are Punch and Judy. 



Clifford Buss, age 9. 



IJauks, Faribault Co., Minn., Aug. 23, 1885. 



BEES for medicine, ETC. 



1 have been a reader of Gleanings ever since I 

 was old enough to read. Pa started in last spring 

 with 36 stands; increased to 46 by swarming. He 

 does not let them swarm very much. He gives them 

 plenty of work to do. I'a sold about $100 worth of 

 honey last summer, and every time he goes to town 

 some want to know if he has got any more honey to 

 sell, and he has (o tell them no. He uses tlie Lang- 

 stroth hives and the chaff hives. Did you ever hear 

 of bees for medicineV Ma's haby was sick with the 

 hives, and the woman doctor took one dozen bees 

 and made tea of them, and the baby got well. 



Jesse O. SwiTZER, age 14. 



lUicklin, Linn Co., Mo., Feb. 12, 1885. 



Yes, Jesse, I have heard of bees for medi- 

 cine. Your little story is almost a joke, but 

 I presume you did not know it. You see, if 

 the l»aby was sick with the ''kins'' it wotdd 

 be the most natural thing in the world to 

 give it a lea made of Ikcs. I suppose that by 

 the term " hives " you mean a .sort of break- 

 ing-out in large "red blotches. Well, the 

 poison from bee-stings is a remedy used very 

 much by a certain school of medicine. That 

 the remedy is .i powtiful one. llieic is no 

 doubt. In some of our back volumes 1 have 

 told you about seUiiig ])oisoii-l)ags to the 

 doctors for so much a thousand. JN'ow, it 

 woidd not be at all strange if this poison 

 from the bee-sting were just the proper 

 remedy, if administered in exactly the right 

 quantity. A very little bee - poison will 

 make one feel tiuite sick. 



