8^2 



GLEAXIXGS IN BEE CULTURi:. 



Dec. 



know, is an " off - sprig "' from the old 

 •'Root/' Perliaps I should say further, 

 that i liave been away to school for the last 

 four years, and in consequence you have 

 not heard from me much during the time. 

 Caddie is a blue eyes, next older tlian Iluber. 

 Ernest. 



DO GRASSHOPPERS EXTRACT THE SWEETS FROM 

 THE FLOWERS? 



This is my first letter to Gleanings. Ma has 64 

 colonies of bees, and sister Maud has three stands. 

 We did not get very much honey this year. Ma 

 thinks it is because there were so many grasshop- 

 pers. She thinks they sucked all the sweets out of 

 flowers. They nearly destroyed some meadows, 

 and some fields of corn had hardly a silk left on the 

 ears. Hamilton Duncan. 



Limeville, Iowa, Nov. 9, 1885. 



FROM 145 TO 215, AND 7000 LBS. 'OF HONEY. 



We have 215 hives of bees. My brother does noth- 

 ing but attend to them. I help to make cushions of 

 wool to keep them warm in winter. My brother 

 thinks that is the best way to protect them. I also 

 help to clean sections and crate them. We did not 

 lose manj' bees last winter. Our bees did not do as 

 well this summer as other years. We got only 

 about 7000 lbs. from 145 stocks, and increased to 215. 

 My pa takes all the bee-papers, but I read only 

 Gleanings. Nellie Corneil, age 13. 



Lindsaj-, Out., Can. 



bringing a swarm down by WATER. 



Friend Ernest:— Seeing you have charge of the 

 .juvenile Department, 1 will try writing once more. 

 Pa had si.x colonies of bees in the spring, and in- 

 (;reased to 15. We extracted 242 lbs. of honey. We 

 did not get any comb honej'. Pa has his bees pack- 

 ed in chaff hives. Last summer our bees swarmed 

 and were going away. I saw them, and told pa. 

 We ran after them with water, and brought them 

 down by thi-owing water on them. They alighted 

 on a cornstalk in the middle of the cornfield. 



Cora Hurton, age 13. 



Goodwine, Ills., Nov. 23, 1885. 



AN INTELLIGENT CAT. 



I do not think there is any thing about bees that 

 I could tell you, that you do not know already; but 

 I am much interested in the children's letters in 

 Gle.\nings. We have your picture in the A B C 

 book, so that I feel quite acquainted with you. My 

 mother has six stands of beautiful bees; they 

 are packed with chaff cushions at the sides and on 

 top, and we hope they will winter well. We have a 

 wliite cat that is intelligent and musical. When- 

 ever the parlor door is open he jumps up ou the 

 l)iano-stool and plays first with one paw, then steps 

 on tlie keys, up and down the keyboard. His eyes 

 j'airly laugh with the fun. When mamma plays, he 

 goes up on the top of the piano, and sits looking in 

 lier face, and purrs as loud as he can. 



I think you are very kind to print the letters 

 from the children. Jam going to try to got you 

 some new subscribers. Frank Brewster, age 10. 



Pequannock, N. J., Nov. 23, 1885. 



CATCHING A 2-LB. PICKEREL. 



I have been so interested in your accounts of 

 your carp-pond that I think I will tell you about 

 our fish-pond. It is situated about one hundred 

 feet from the Pequannock River, and there is a 

 brook of nice clean water running from the pond to 



the river, all the year round. A few week since I 

 went down there early in the morning and saw a 

 large pickerel going slowly up the brook from the 

 river to the pond. The water was so shallow that 

 its back was out of the water. I caught it in my 

 hands. It fought well and escaped twice, but final- 

 ly I brought it home. It weighed over two pounds. 



There are pike, pickerel, sunflsh, suckers, black 

 bass, and white fish in the river, but only a few go 

 up to the pond. I get quite a string of fish some- 

 times, by using a hook and line. Nets are not 

 allowed in the river. There is a fine of f25,00 for 

 putting a net in the river. 



Bert R. Brewster, age 11. 



Pequannock, N. J., Nov. 23, 1885. 



POLLEN AND ITS CHARACTERISTIC COLOR, AS GIV- 

 EN BY THE VARIOUS FLOWERS. 



I will tell what I think I know about pollen. On 

 corn and ragweed it is light green; buckeye, very 

 dark red ; red clover, dark green ; basswood, yellow ; 

 maple, red; hollyhock, white; elm, light yellow; 

 thistle, light yellow; pumpkin, yellow, almost 

 white; locust, light yellow; goldenrod, dark yellow. 

 I got the scissors and Bible that I sent for, and I 

 was verj' much pleased with them. 



Woodstock, O. Nettie H. Cranston, age 11. 

 Friend Nettie, your letter deserves a 

 chromo too. 1 Avondcr how many of the big 

 bee-men can tell the source of tlie pollen, 

 from its color. I think it would puzzle a 

 good many 'to do as well as you have done. 

 Ernest. 



ANOTHER RUN.iWAY, IN WHICH FIVE HIVES ARE 

 KNOCKED OVER. 



My papa is a bee-man. He began two years ago, 

 with ten swarms. He has 31 swarms now, and got 

 about 1500 lbs. of honey. Nov. 8th there was a run- 

 away which went through his apiary and knocked 

 down five hives. The combs of four cf them were 

 m ashed nearly all to pieces. 



Last summer I watched the bees while papa was 

 at work in the garden. Once when the bees were 

 swarming I held the hiving-box, covered with bees, 

 for him. I have a friend, Cora, with whom I go to 

 school, and play. Ethel F. Wilcox. 



NorthUeld,,Minn., Nov. 18, 1885. 



Why, friend Ethel, your experience of a 

 runaway horse through the apiary was quite 

 similar to the one we had. You say the 

 combs of four of the hives were '^ mashed 

 nearly all to pieces." From this I infer that 

 you do not have your combs wired, as we do 

 in our apiary. iJuiing the recent mishap of 

 which 1 told you on page 76-5. scarcely a 

 comb was broken. We should be glad of 

 more facts as to how the bees behaved, and 

 the cause of the accident. Friend Miller, 

 page 811, tells us how to quiet horses that 

 have been stung. We should be glad of 

 more reports of this kind. Ernest. 



A SAD story; just reward FDR STEALING BEES. 



I have a sad story to tell you. Two young men 

 stole a good stand of bees from pa one night, 254 

 years ago, but we did not find it out then. One of 

 the same boysand two other ones broke into a store 

 this summer, and took a lot of goods. Two of them 

 were sent to prison a few days ago, and one of them 

 got nway from the jailor. They nuiy get him yet. 

 They all live in this little town, and have mothers 

 living, who cried about them; but the men took 

 them any way. Pa and I went by the jail. I saw 



