1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



505 



There are many kinds of (lowers here. One kind 

 is called " kitten-ears." There are three leaves in 

 the fiower, shaped like a kitten's ear. They are 

 covered with little hairs inside. It is a little pink. 

 There arc other flowers, called bird-bills. The head 

 and bill are found in the flower. The head is pur- 

 ple, leaves thrown over, and the bill is black and 

 yellow. Jessie B. Paddock, age 13. 



Lucky Queen, Ore., May 5, 1889. 



HOW TO GET GRANULATED HONEY FROM THE 

 COMB. 



Our bees gathered in a nice lot of honey last sum- 

 mer, but it granulated in the comb so badly that pa 

 could not extract much of it, so he put it in a pan 

 and melted it on the stove. He lets it cool, and, as 

 the wax rises, he skims it off and then strains it 

 through a cloth. It is almost as good as extracted 

 honey. \s it is so plentiful, in some cases we use it 

 in place of sugar. We use it in sweetening' apple- 

 butter, in making sweet pickle for plums, and bal- 

 ing cake. I will give you a recipe for the cake: 



2 cupfuls of honey, 2 cnpfuls of buttermilk, 3 ± cup 

 butter, 1 tablespoonful soda, 3 eggs, 5 cupfuls of 

 flour. Flavor with ground cloves. This will make 

 two good-sized cakes. Cl iiia M. Streby. 



Paw Paw, W. Va. 



ABSCONDING WITHOUT A QUEEN. 



Mamma had a swarm of bees go off and leave their 

 queen last summer. They got the swarming fever, 

 and swarmed out two times; then she killed the 

 queen and gave them a new one just at night. 

 They accepted her, and on the next day swarmed 

 two times. She then caged the queen, putting on 

 the tin slide so that they could not gnaw her out. 

 The next day they swarmed out and went off, and 

 left the queen in the hive in the cage. We think 

 this proves clearly that it is the bees that get the 

 fever, not the queen. It also proves that bees will 

 go off and leave the queen. 



Birdie Russell, age 10. 



Beatrice, Neb., Apr. 21, 1889. 



Your letter does not necessarily prove 

 that the bees are the first to get the notion 

 of swarming, but it goes a long way to prove 

 that a swarm may abscond without a queen. 

 However, unless we can get more testimony 

 to the same effect, we should incline to the 

 opinion that the bees had some sort of a 

 queen with them — very likely a virgin, 

 whose presence in the hive your mother did 

 not know of. 



A TALK TO THE LITTLE FOLKS. 



BORROWING TROUBLE ; CLIMBING MOUNTAINS, 

 ETC. 



a EAR CHILDREN:— I know a little boy who al- 

 ways thinks you mean him when you say 

 any thing was not done ,iust right. Do you 

 know any one like that? He sometimes be- 

 gins to cry and fret, and gets a scolding, 

 when no one had thought about him when the first 

 remark was made. That is caused by self-con- 

 sciousness, or thinking so much about himself. 

 Don't you think he must have a queer time? Cer- 

 tainly it is not altogether a happy one. Ileal trou- 

 bles are hard to bear; but imaginary ones are hor- 

 rid. Now, if anyone is thinking, '"Why, I believe 

 Aunt Katie means me, and I am not going to like 

 her any more," just stop a moment and say to 

 yourself, " What js she saying this for—so that, she 



will be any better off, or is it me she wants to have 

 a 'gooder ' time when I am among folks? I know I 

 have got so that I can not go anywhere without 

 getting mad at some one for talking about me, or 

 commenting on the clothes I wear, or something— 

 or at least I think they are doing it, if I catch 

 them looking at me I guess she does mean me." 



Not long ago a young girl who had made herself 

 quite a favorite among her schoolmates saw the 

 boys and girls whispering together and looking at 

 her. She asked them what they were talking 

 about; but they only laughed, and would not ans- 

 wer her. At noon time she saw them whispering 

 together in little groups, and she would run up 

 and try to hear what they said; but they would 

 stop talking when she came near. Instead of pay- 

 ing no attention, and being happy some other way, 

 she began to pout, and finally said to herself, "I 

 won't come to this school any longer. They are a 

 mean, hateful set." 



At night she went home feeling very unhappy. 

 Her mother had been told that the young folks 

 were going to surprise her daughter that evening, 

 so she advised her to go to town with her father 

 and she would feel better when she got back. 

 While she was gone her schoolmates came, bring- 

 ing cake, candy, and oranges. They all hid in one 

 of the rooms; and when Jessie got back they rush- 

 ed out into the room where she was. She was so 

 astonished that they all laughed, and told her that 

 theyjioped she would not be mad at their whisper- 

 ing together anymore. She begged their pardon, 

 and I think it taught her quite a lesson. 



Now, after our little talk, suppose you all go with 

 us for a grand picnic. About ten miles, straight up 

 the valley, is a range of mountains, and away up on 

 one of them is a lake called Zaca Lake. We should 

 like to go and camp awhile, but we have not time 

 now, so we will just take our lunch along, for it 

 will be about noon when we get to where we shall 

 have to leave the horses, or at least the wagon. 



" Where are John and Ernest ? " 



" Oh ! they have got so impatient they have start- 

 ed on. Are we all ready? " 



"Yes." 



Then away we go up the main road about two 

 miles, and now we take this road to the left. How 

 beautiful everything looks! The hills are bloom- 

 ing with flowers, and the wheat and barley in the 

 valley are growing finely. It is February, and the 

 air is cool this morning; but now the sun is peep- 

 ing up over that hill in front of us, and we shall 

 soon be warm. See how lovely the hanging moss 

 looks on those white-oak trees. It looks as if it 

 were threaded with beads. The drops of dew 

 sparkling in the sun make it look that way. Here 

 we are, four miles from home, and we can not see 

 those impatient boys yet. 



"Oh, yes! I see them, mamma," shouts Lewis. 

 " There they are, at that gate." 



Sure enough, and there are the two dogs along 

 with them. 



" Well, boys, I hope you are ready to ride with us 

 now." 



"It was so cool we enjoyed the walk very much; 

 but it is warm now." 



"Isn't it a lovely morning? " says our neighbor 

 John; and into the wagon they climb. 



"Let us see; we must turn to the right pretty 

 soon. There is where Mr. Edgar used to live. Why, 

 they have got the road fenced on each side since I 



