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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



I ULY 



PAPAS BEES. 



My papa has r.6 colonics of bees. He has had 

 three swarms of bees this summer. We had a cold 

 dry spell, and they did not gather much honey. Pa- 

 pa had to feed some of them. One colony of papa's 

 bees was attacked by what is supposed to be the 

 nameless bee-disease; but he took out the old comb 

 and put in others, and saved part of them. He made 

 a swarming-box; and sometimes when you would 

 think the bees had all gone into the hive, they 

 would all be in the s warming-box. Papa gives me 

 a penny every time I see the bees swarm first. Pa- 

 pa lost one colony of bees this spring, but he did 

 not lose any last winter. He extracts the most of 

 his honey, because people like it better that way, 

 and it sells more readily. Papa has divided six 

 colonies. Lillie Spracklen, age 14. 



Cowden, 111., June 3, 1889. 



HOW FAR DO SWARMS FLY? 



My brother has 40 hives. We have had a very 

 long drouth. We had a good rain last night and 

 this morning. The horscmint is in bloom. It was 

 dying, but this rain will stop it. My brother has 

 not had many swarms; but two ran away. Do you 

 know how far a swarm flies''' Mr. Stone, of Belton, 

 was the first man that brought the Italians to this 

 county. While increasing them a swarm ran 

 away. A long time after, the swarm was found 14 

 miles from the apiary. No one knew the race of 

 bees. Mr. Stone bought (he swarm for $5.00. My 

 brother buys his supplies of you. He gets other 

 bee-keepers to order with him, so as to make 

 freight cheap. 



I thought I would tell you about wild ducks. 

 They build their nests in a hollow tree, and keep 

 their eggs warm with down. They lay from 10 to 

 34 eggs. Their eggs are white, about the size of a 

 pullet's egg. They prefer a tree that leans over the 

 water to build a nest in. When the eggs are hatch- 

 ed, and the young ducks are about an hour old, the 

 old duck takes them to the water. Then the drake 

 helps to defend them. If any one comes near, the 

 old hen will act as if she were crippled to get the one 

 to take after her, then the drake will take the 

 ducks to the bank and hide them. The young ducks 

 are very wild. Before the young ducks are able to 

 fly they dive under the water. Wm. Morgan. 



Belton, Texas, June 12, 1889. 



A LETTER FROM A LITTLE BOY IN SCOTLAND. 



My father has given me leave to write a letter. 

 Did you ever get a letter from a boy in Scotland? 

 Our farm is in a glen in the highlands of Inverness- 

 shire. We are near the big hills ; they are covered 

 with heather. It grow6 as thick as grass, and is 

 awfully bonnie. We like the heather. It is red 

 and purple, and some white. Father says you have 

 no heather in America. 1 thought it was in every 

 place. I am sure father would send you some to 

 plant. It has a bonnie wee flower. I will tell you 

 about father's bees, if you like. 



John Stokes, age 8. 



Balnastraid, Carrbridge, Scotland. 



We are very glad to get your letter, friend 

 Johnnie. Although we have had juvenile 

 letters from almost all parts of the world, 

 we do not recollect just now of having re- 

 ceived one from Scotland. We should very 

 much like to see the Scotch heather, which 

 you say, in your very expressive Scotch, is 

 " awfully bonnie. " No, we have no heather 



in America, but we have heard a great deal 

 of the heather honey, and we have tasted 

 some samples. We have white clover, how- 

 ever, which we are proud of. Let us hear 

 from you again. We like to hear from the 

 little boys and girls, especially those who 

 live on the other side of the " big pond. v 



700 LBS. OF HONEY FROM A SINGLE COLONY, ETC. 



My father said that to every boy who writes a let- 

 ter to you, you send a book. My father keeps bees, 

 and I keep bees myself. I handle them. I have 

 two sisters. One runs away fi - om the bees, and the 

 other don't. My father took over 700 lbs. of honey 

 from one hive one season. I boxed a swarm of 

 bees when I was three years old, and I have five 

 swarms. I sold a swarm for £1.75, and bought a 

 tricycle. Fred W., age 8. 



Adelaide, South Australia. 



Seven hundred pounds of honey and over 

 has been produced from a single colony and 

 its increase. Such enormous yields are very 

 rare indeed; still, it is not impossible that 

 your papa took that much. We should be 

 glad to hear more about it. As you have a 

 long season, those 700-pound yields probably 

 are not as scarce as they are in America. 

 We should be glad to hear from some of our 

 subscribers, especially the little folks who 

 live in this portion of the globe. In regard 

 to "boxing" a swarm of bees (or hiving, I 

 suppose you mean) when you were only 

 three years old, that is a little hard to be- 

 lieve. Little boys have a memory that is 

 not always reliable; and one peculiarity of 

 their memory is, that a thing is always 

 greater than the real fact. 



BEE KEEPING IN MINNESOTA; SWARMING, ETC. 



We live up away up here in Minnesota, where 

 such bee-raising as we read about in your books is 

 unknown. My father is an amateur bee-raiser. He 

 has been a market-gardener for many years, and 

 finally two years ago he thought he would keep 

 bees in connection with his gardening. Two years 

 ago he got two colonies, paying the sum of $13.00 

 for them, and now we have ten colonies. As you 

 wanted me to write the facts, here goes: 



A year ago we wintered the bees in the outdoor 

 cellar, and they wintered nicely. Last winter he 

 dug a hole, with ventilation in the top, and buried 

 them. But there were two weak colonies, and 

 those they left in the cellar. My mother fed them 

 honey, and they ate it all up. Then she bought 

 patent syrup and fed them, and it killed every one. 

 So do not any of your readers ever feed your bees 

 on patent syrup. 



Will any of your readers tell me why our colonies 

 swarmed so early in the season when Mr. Levy has 

 00 colonies, and he hasn't had a new one this year? 

 and another bee-man who has 50, and it is the same 

 with him? But my father feels proud that he has 

 had the first and only new colony in the neighbor- 

 hood this year. Miss Edna Shaw. 



Fountain, Minn., June 8, 1889. 



We don't know what your patent syrup 

 is ; but we always recommend, for a winter 

 food, granulated-sugar syrup. In regard to 

 the swarming, perhaps your papa keeps 

 stronger colonies, or perhaps your neighbors 

 keep the swarming cells of their colonies 

 cut out so as to discourage swarming. 



