822 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 



Oct. 



with the greatest delight. Oh, the delicious rest 

 and comfort we get from that bath! We are all as 

 red as beets when we finally emerge from the rooms. 

 Now, be careful and not sit or stand where the cool 

 ocean wind will blow upon you. Here is a hand- 

 some pavilion. We will spread our lunch and take 

 our ease in its shelter, before we ramble about. 

 The boys gobble down (they do not eat) their share 

 of the lunch, and that is the last we see of them till 

 about train time. We eat and rest, and then wander 

 up to the hotel, to look for friends. We are surpris- 

 ed at finding that we are well acquainted with the 

 landlady and two or three of the guests, being old 

 acquaintances. We pass a pleasant hour on the 

 broad veranda, looking at the charming natural 

 view, and watching the picnic parties, campers, 

 and the constant going and coming of vehicles 

 loaded with live freight. There is no loud talk or 

 rough manners; all seem quietly happy. 



It is about train time. Get the things ready, for 

 we must leave this sylvan retreat, and hie away 

 home again, taking with us a pleasant memory of a 

 day pleasantly spent. Puff, puff, whiz, here's the 

 train. We all scramble on; and just as day is fad- 

 ing we arrive at home. Aunt Katie Hilton. 



Los Alamos, Cal. 



TRYING TO RAISE POP-CORN. 



I planted some popcorn. It did not do very well. 

 Two years ago I had a piece, and the musk-rats 

 helped me harvest it. I think if I keep trying I 

 may have a good crop some time. I have a colt 

 two years old. named Pedro. I am saving money 

 to buy a saddle. I have a lamb. Its mother is 

 dead. Morrison J. McClaughry, age 10. 



Salem, N. Y., Sept. 5, 1889. 



TOBACCO A REMEDY FOR ROBBING. 



Father has 20 stands of bees. While 1 believe as 

 you do about tobacco, we had one case in our apia- 

 ry where tobacco was a help to us. Pa opened a 

 hive of bees when they were not getting much hon- 

 ey, and the other bees got to robbing them, and 

 they got so mad that we could not go near them. 

 Pa put some rotten wood in the smoker and smok- 

 ed the robbers with it, but it would do no good. So 

 ma put some tobacco in the smoker and went be- 

 hind the hive and smoked them with it, and it 

 quieted them in a little while. Edith Stahl. 



Rochester. Ky., Sept. 2, 1889. 



A QUEEN THAT LIVED 5 YEARS. 



In one of the back numbers or Gleanings you 

 say it is a rare thing for a queen to live 4 years. 

 We had one that we are certain was 5, and might 

 have been 6 or 7 for all we know. She was an Ital- 

 ian, and we found her in a tree. My brother Stan- 

 ley was stung this spring, and in a few minutes he 

 was all over blotches. He breathed with difficulty, 

 as if he had the croup. We were very much alarm- 

 ed, but pa gave him brandy, and he soon recovered. 

 Pa wintered his bees in the cellar, and they came 

 through all right. Ethel Edwards. 



Ingersoll, Ont., Can., June 3, 1889. 



THE FLORIDA SCORPION. 



As I don't know much about bees that is not gen- 

 erally known, I will tell you something about the 

 Florida scorpion. This scorpion is about an inch 

 and a quarter long, grayish colored ; has six legs, 

 and a tail as long as its body. Its tail is jointed, 



and has two little sharp hooks on the end. When 

 it is angry it nirt6 its tail over its back and sticks 

 these hooks into whatever it holds in its fore feet. 

 Its sting is poisonous, aud hurts a good deal, but 

 never kills any one. We have found a good many 

 in our house, in the bedrooms and kitchen. They 

 like to get among blankets and clothing. Florida 

 people learn to shake their clothes well before put- 

 ting them on. I don't like Florida as well as Penn- 

 sylvania. Don C. Baird. 

 Orlando, Fla., Sept. 5, 1889. 



ABOUT A QUEEN THAT STOPPED TO VI81T WITH A 

 LITTLE GIRL. 



Last spring we took five gallons of honey that 

 the bees had gathered from wild flowers; but in 

 June papa bought some buckwheat for the bees, 

 and they gathered a good portion of honey from 

 that. We took the upper story off, that they might 

 store the honey away for winter food. We fed our 

 bees last winter on sugar syrup. Papa takes 

 Gleanings, and we always welcome its coming, 

 with much pleasure. 



One morning I was in the yard looking at the 

 hives, and was ready to go into the house, when a 

 queen came through the air and alighted on my 

 arm. I caught her very gently, so as to show her 

 to mamma; then I held her up on my hand, and she 

 flew off to one of the hives. Mamie Bedford. 



Fayette, Wis., Sept. 27, 18S9. 



THE PECAN-TREE. 



1 promised to tell about pecans. The pecan-tree 

 is large, like a walnut. Its leaves are like walnut. 

 The pecan blooms in April, aud the nuts get ripe in 

 October and November. It begins to bear at the 

 age of five to fifteen. . The age of the pecan is un- 

 known. Trees are found four aud five feet 

 through. At the age of fifteen it is not more than 

 ten inches through. The nut of the pecan is in a 

 hull, like the walnut, only much thinner, and it is 

 divided into four parts. As the pecan gets ripe, the 

 hull cracks open and lets the pecan drop. From one 

 pecan up to six grow in a bunch. It is a pretty 

 sight to see them growing in that manner. Seme 

 people wait till the pecans drop off the trees, to 

 gather them. Sometimes they knock them down 

 with a club. But the best way is to climb a tree 

 with a long pole and knock them down with it, and 

 pick them up. Sometimes the pecans hang on the 

 trees until March. A 49 pound Hour-sack holds a 

 bushel, just even. There are 42 pounds in a bushel. 

 Pecans sell for $1.50 to $3.50 per bushel. 



Belton, Texas. Wm. Morgan. 



We are glad to know about the pecans. 

 They have frequently been sent us from the 

 South, and we have sometimes succeeded in 

 selling them to a limited extent. I bad al- 

 ready judged, by the appearance and taste 

 of the nut, that they were something like 

 our shellbark hickory-nuts. I do not quite 

 like the idea, however, of clubbing nut- 

 bearing trees with poles. Does it not injure 

 the future usefulness of the tree ? It seems 

 to me that nuts of all kinds are much nicer 

 if we wait till old dame Nature shells them 

 out and lets them drop of her own accord. 

 If, however, they hang on as you intimate, 

 perhaps a gentle bumping might be in or- 

 der, as a suggestion to the tree that it was 

 time for her to shell out and drop her trea- 

 sures. 



