i889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



3i8 



keep them away as it has from that one. I go to 

 school. Auntie has a little dog. His name is Fido. 

 His wool is as white and long as that of Mary's 

 lamb; and everywhere I go he is sure to go. I tell 

 him the bees will sting him if he doesn't look out. 

 Ollie Ayers, age 8. 

 Wallaceburg, Ont., Mar. 23, 1889. 



Very good, friend Ollie. I think Prof. 

 Cook can tell us something about bees 

 frightening the birds away, and this sugges- 

 tion of yours may prove to be of great value. 



"OUT OF THE FRYING-PAN INTO THE FIRE." 



My papa has between 50 and 75 swarms of bees. 

 He and I hive the bees in the summer when they 

 swarm. Last summer papa said he would give me 

 25 cents for every swarm I would hive without help. 

 I got between 3 and 4 dollars. I had a veil that I put 

 on sometimes when the bees were cross. My papa's 

 bees are Italians and Carniolans. He gave me a 

 swarm last summer, but it died. I like bees very 

 well when they do not sting me. Once I got a sting 

 on the elbow when I was up in the top of a large 

 cherry-tree shaking some bees off from a limb of 

 the Iree. I jumped, and landed in a bunch of brier 

 bushes. Charles H. Mason, age 12. 



Mechanic Falls, Me. 



Why, friend Charlie, we don't believe you 

 bettered yourself by jumping, especially 

 since you landed among the briers. A bee- 

 keeper must learn to "grin and bear it." 



KEEPING THE BEES IN WITH SNOW. 



Papa moved our house down on the road last 

 September, and our barn too. He did not get his 

 bees down here till the 27th of February. There 

 was some snow on the ground. Papa put some 

 snow in front of the hives where the bees came out. 

 It had begun to thaw, and the bees came out of the 

 hives after he brought them down here. Papa has 

 18 stands of bees. He has had but one stand of 

 bees die this winter so far, but it did not freeze to 

 death. It did not have enough honey. Papa had 

 good success last summer. 



Bert Presnall, age 13. 



Marion, Ind.. March 1, 1889. 



But you don't tell us whether any of the 

 bees that got out went back. We should 

 presume that some of them, at least, must 

 have gone back to where they used to live, 

 and died there, because they hadn't any 

 hive to go into. 



BEES WORKING ON RED ELM; MAKING THE RIGHT 

 KIND OF A START. 



1 hope you will forgive a little boy for slipping a 

 note into papa's letter while he is out making a 

 hot-bed. I want to tell you about our bees. I was 

 out walking with brother Ernest (named after Mr. 

 Ernest Root) and mamma, when I heard such a 

 roaring and humming I stopped to listen and ask 

 mamma what it was. She told me to look at a large 

 red-elm tree just in front of us. It was in bloom, 

 and I think every bee out of papa's 30 stands was 

 on or around the tree. They were so high I could 

 not tell what they were gathering. My little broth- 

 er and I are going to try to be good men when we 

 are grown. We both say our prayers every night, 

 and try to mind what we are told. 



Willie E. Barnes. 



Hickman, Ky., March 14, 1889. 



Bees do work on the elm, and it is quite a 

 sight to see them too. We are glad you and 



your brother have started right. We hope 

 you will keep right on just so all your lives. 

 If more of the boys in the land were making 

 such a good beginning we shouldn't have so 

 many bad men, should we, Willie? 



PAPA'S FRAME-HOLDER. 



My papa, finding the necessity 

 of some kind of receptacle for 

 holding the brood-frames after 

 removing them out of the hives 

 in the fall, in prepariug them for 

 packing for winter, has invented 

 what he calls a Srame-reel, of 

 which I send you a drawing. He 

 has it in one corner of our honey- 

 house. It does not take up much 

 room. It consists of four up- 

 right posts and 16 side-bars for 

 the frames to rest on. The reel 

 revolves on two pivots, one on 

 the floor and the other in the 

 ceiling. Each tier holds 18 Sim- 

 plicity brood-frames, or 144 in all. 

 Chas. Seabright. 



Blaine, O., Feb. 25, 1889. 



. Your papa's device is very 

 ingenious, and we are sure 

 it will do nicely. It should be made strong, 

 so as to hold combs filled with honey. After 

 all, we should rather prefer to store the 

 combs away in Simplicity hives, stacked up. 

 Then if robbers should get into the honey- 

 room they can't get at the combs. Hive- 

 bodies are convenient; and whenever there 

 is a surplus of combs there is a surplus of 

 bodies. 



JUVENILE poetry. 

 Oh ! here comes the honey-bee. 



With rich and prudent air; 

 He has worked hard all summer. 



Among the flowers fair, 

 And filled his hive with honey 



From bottom to the top. 

 So that, when winter comes, 



Then he starveth not. 

 But the winter is coming, 



And he must be stored 

 In the nice warm cellar, 



Away from the cold. 

 But he has prepared for it 



All through the summer long, 

 And did not sit idle 



As the lazy drone, 

 But went to work in earnest 



Among the flowers fair, 

 That bloomed so freshly 



With fragrance rich and rare, 

 So that when winter comes 



With its wind and snow. 

 That he should be prepared 



In the warm cellar to go. 

 The bee is very useful 



In odd and different ways, 

 So then we should be thankful 



While he with us stays. Katie M. 



The poetry above is not entirely faultless 

 as to measure and meter; but as it bears 

 the stamp of originality of a little girl, we 

 gladly give it a place. 



