790 



GLEAN1J<G8 LN liEE CULTUliE. 



Nov. 



Every boy or girl, under lo 

 • Years of age, who writes a 



letter for this department, containing 



SOME VALUABLE FACT, NOT GENERALLY 

 KNOWN. ON BEES OR OTHER MATTERS, 



' ■ will receive one of David Cook's excel- 

 lent five- cent Sunday-school books. 

 Many of these bool:s contain the same mat- 

 ter that you find in Sunday-school hooks 

 , , costing from 81.00 to 81.50. If you have had 



1 1 one or more books, give us the names that we 

 ■ may not send the same twice. We have now 

 in stock six different books, as follows; viz.: 

 Sheer Off, The (Jiant - Killer, The Roby 

 Family, Resciuil fr.im i:i.'a pt, and Ten Nights in 

 aBar-Room. W, lii ^ . il-n i nii Homos. Part I.,.-ind 

 Our Homes, Part II. Beside- tin il ..\ . liooks, vou may have a 

 photograph of our old house aii.u ^ , tak. n u great many years 

 ago. In it is a picture of nn>el£, lilue IJyes, and C.iddy, and ,a 

 glimpse of Ernest. We have also some pretty little colored 

 pictures of birds, fruits, flowers, etc., suitable for framing. 

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

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

 information. 



' A chiel's amang j'e takin' notes ; 

 An' faith, he'll prentit." 



T AM glad to say that you little folks are 

 m going to help me oiit in the problems 

 ^l which I presented last montls. llow- 

 ■*- ever, it is a little late in the year for 

 very many of you to report ; bnt per- 

 haps you can remember something in your 

 experience that will give us a little light. I 

 don't want you to give it up. as you are just 

 the ones to tell us about it. Some of the big 

 folks haven't the time or patience to work 

 these things out. 



I propose to give you another problem 

 which you can answer for yourselves the pres- 

 ent month. It is nothing of very great impor- 

 tance, but it will help you to be observing. 

 Suppose you find out liow a bee walks over 

 the combs ; that is, what portion of his leg 

 does he use? Does he walk on the extreme 

 end of his foot, or what part does he use? 

 It probably will not be convenient, at this 

 time of the year, to see just how they walk 

 over the comb itself; but I will tell you a 

 way that will answer just as well. Cage a 

 few bees in a queen-cage, then with a mag- 

 nifying-glass, or even with your eyes alone, 

 notice how they walk over the meshes of the 

 wire cloth. The meshes will answer for the 

 comb. It is real funny to watch their little 

 feet trip lightly over the wire. Sometimes 

 you surely think they will make a mistake 

 and fall oif, so rapid are their movements. 

 You must look sharp, or you will not see how 

 they do it. AVhile a bee is standing still, see 

 what a funny little foot he h.is. Next, cage 

 a few bees in a small box with a glass top. 

 Then you can see how their little suckers 

 cling to the glass as they walk on it. In 

 another column I am going to tell you more 

 about this tiny little foot, and I want you to 

 see if I am right, because may be I might 

 make a mistake. 



We also want reports of how your papas' 

 bees did this season. lIow much honey did 



they bring in, and how many &warms go in- 

 to winter quarters V Are they outdoors, or 

 are they in winter hives on the summer 

 stands? Some of your papas are big bee- 

 men, but they are one of those kind o quiet 

 sort of men who don't write much. You are 

 just the ones to tell us. How many of you 

 shall we hear from next month V 



Perhaps you would like to know about our 

 baby-rabbits. Little sister Caddie has kind- 

 ly consented to tell you. and her letter is be- 

 low. IIubek's Buother. 



THE FRADENBUItG RABBITS; A REPORT OF, BY ^ 

 CADDIE— ANOTHER BLUE EYES. 



We had thirteen or fourteen little rabbits, hut an 

 old cat killed all but three, and Blue Eyes and Ernie 

 have to shut them up every nig-ht, or the cat would 

 g-et them too. We know it is a cat, because pa saw 

 a cat in there oue morning-. These rabbits are 

 about a month old now, and we have some more 

 only two or three days old. Blue Eyes saw those be- 

 fore they had any fur on, and she said that they 

 looked like baby-robins. Those that are a month 

 old are the prettiest, because they have their eyes 

 open, and can run around. Two of the month-old 

 ones are a creamy yellow, and the other is gray. 

 It is hard to tell what color the young-est ones are, 

 because they haven't much fur yet. 



Medina, Ohio, Nov. 7, 1885. Caddie Root, age 7. 



A LITTLE VILLAGE. 



We have two swarms of bees. My papa sent and 

 got one of your smokers, and he thinks it is real 

 nice. Uncle Andrew has lots of bees ; and when you 

 look at the hives it seems like a little village. The 

 bees like to suck the honej- out of the flowers in my 

 little garden. Mary Edno Jensen. 



Saxeville, Waushara Co., Wis., Oct. 13, 1885. 



AN INCUBATOR FOR H.\TCHING QUEEN-CELLS. 



I am a little boj' 13 years old. My father has a hot- 

 water incubator for hatching eggs. The tempera- 

 ture for hatching is 102 to 104°. Can I hatch queen- 

 cells at that heat? J. Baker Smylie. 



Caseyville, Miss. 



A temperature of over lUO^ is rather too 

 hot for hatching queen-cells. Between 90 

 and lOU is about right. See A B C. 



BUCKWHE.VT INJURED BY FROST. 



My brother has four colonies of bees. They did 

 well for this jear. They are doing pretty well on 

 the buckwheat. The frost has killed the buckwheat 

 considerably. We have about 200 Simpson honey- 

 plants, and about 150 spider plants. I like to work 

 with bees real well. Pa made two artificial swarms 

 this year; he did well with them, only they did not 

 want to accept the queen at first. 



Woodstock, O. Perl Z. Cr.\nston, age 13. 



GETTING STUNG IN THE DARK. 



My pa has no bees, but wc live close to grandpa, 

 and one of my uncles has got 10 stands of bees. 

 Sometimes I go to help him fill up honey-bottles. 

 One night I was down in the cellar with him. He 

 went to get something to put honey in, and left me 

 in the dark. While he was out, a bee stung me on 

 my neck. Tncle Henry told me to be still ; but when 

 the bee stung me I ran up the steps crying. Uncle 

 laughed at me. Virgil Patterson, age 9. 



Humboldt, Neb., Oct. ]!>, 1885. 



