1S87 



GLEAM IN G8 IN BKE CULTURE. 



69 



A LITTI.E GIHL TEI^LS HOW SHE PEKFOKMEI) THE 



FEAT OF TAkiNO A SWAUM FlKtM THE 



•' TOI'EST " BKANCH OK A TKHE. 



In spring my father had 19 colonics, ami increas- 

 ed to W. He sold in\v this fall, 'nioy arc all in 

 good condition. He has them niostl.\ in chafl' 

 hives. We sold i)\ er HOO Ihs. of honey. I help pa 

 souK'tinies when the bees swarm, and when he 

 takes the lionoj- from them. I hived hut one 

 swarm this summer, and that was on Sunday, when 

 pa wasn't at home. The swarm scot on the " top- 

 est" stem of the highest tree. 1 did not know what 

 Ut do. I called my sistei'. 'I'lu-re was a wagon 

 standing below. 1 clindied np the tree and sawed 

 iiU' the stem. The bees all fell on the tongue of the 

 wagon. After I got down the tn<! we stood the ] 

 hive beside the tongue and brushed the bees in the ! 

 hive. We got them ill nicely, but I got. stung, and i 

 my sister too. 1 was stung •• pretty " many times, j 

 but not as many as my sistcM-. Her face swelled so ! 

 hai-d that she didn't see an.\ more in one eye. ' 



DiNA Bn'.MEH, age i;{. 



Koanoke, 111.. Dee. :J3. IBHti. i 



Yoii certaiiil) performed tiiiite a feat in 

 netting !i swanii from the lushest tree. I 

 wonder liow many boys conld liave done it. 

 \'on deserve a chromo for tiiat ; and if your 

 lather didn't give you that swarm 1 think 

 lie ought to have done so. I will tell one of 

 the clerks to i>i('k otit a large panel chromo | 

 and send it. 



THE HEK, AND WHAT IT IS. 



The bee is a very busy creature. 'I'here are two \ 

 kinds of bees— the black and Italians. They put ] 

 the l)ees in hives, !im<1 when the hives get so full of 

 bees they will swarm, and sometimes they will 

 swarm twice a year. We had a hive of liees, and 

 other bees came and took all theii- honey. 1 and 

 papa saw a bee in a tree, and I goi stung on my ! 

 lip. It swelled up one inch. The bees make honey ' 

 in summer, and they live on honey in winter. 

 Some folks have two dozen hives of bees. The bee 

 honej- is good. When I was down at my 

 gi'andma's I got as sick as a dog on honej'. The 

 bee has a stinger. I ought to know, for 1 got stung 

 with them. 1 don't know how many times 1 got 

 stung. I conld not tell or count how many times. 

 The bee has si.\ legs and two wings. The bee has 

 two eyes. I df)n't know what the colors are of the 

 e>es. Its back is yellow; not all tlie back either. 

 \t the end of the stinger it is black. 1 don't know 

 where they carr>- the honey. Chestku Ti'Rner. 

 Brookviile, Ohio. 



Yotir notes on the bee are not all of them 

 correct, but I suppose enough so for all 

 ]>ractical i>urposes for the little folks. It 

 would be hard to tell just what is the color 

 of a bees eye. Throngli a microscope they 

 look a.s clear as ciystal. but without any 

 microscope they look brown. Perhaps you 

 know that those big eyrs arc compound. 

 For a fuller talk to the "little folks on this 

 subject, 1 would refer vou to p. 42. in the 

 year 18So. 



THE EOM.V or STAMMNCJ IN THE WAV OK EI.VINfJ 

 BEES. 



Papa has 12 colonies Of bees. In the winter time 

 he puts on an outside shell, much larger than the 

 hive, and tills the cavity between that and the hive 

 with sawdust or dry chaff. 



1 will tell you something that happened once 



which seemed fuiuiy to me, but 1 presume it did 

 not seem so to pajja at the time. There was a storm 

 came up, and the bees hurried home, angry as could 

 be at being interrupted at their work. Papa hap- 

 pened to be standing in their way, and they all 

 rushed up on him and stung him badly. 

 Frankfort. Mich. Loha M.vhih-e, age 11. 



It is not wise to stand in front of the en- 

 trance, or where you would be liable to 

 obstruct the llight of the bees. A coming 

 storm will start the bees home in great 

 di'oves, but I hardly think the bees you 

 speak of were angry because the storm 

 interrupted them, but because your papa 

 stood right in the way. When I am in a 

 great hurry to get on the train it makes me 

 clear out of ])atience to have some great big 

 heedless man block the only passage to the 

 car- steps. 



\V()J<KIN() WITH HEES».\ETE1{ D.\KK, UV MEANS 

 OF A I).\KK-I.-\.NTERN. 



Tell Krnest to try one of those dark-lanterna for 

 working with bees after night. They are the best. 

 I hold one foi' pa when he works with his bees after 

 night, and the bees don't fly after It. 1 1 is so 

 bright it hurts their eyes. I help pa find the 

 queens. He has IIH) stands of bees. We have two 

 carp-ponds. The little tlsh will eat out of my 

 hand. 1 ha\o two nice big cats that catch the mice 

 in the bee-yard for pa. Annie M. Haines. 



Moons, ().. .Ian. .5, 188«. 



"W'liy, Annie, you haxc given ns (|iiite a 

 valuable item as to the value of a dark-lan- 

 tern. I can imagine nothing nicer, when 

 working with bees after dark, than to have 

 a bright little girl " shoot "" the rays of light 

 from the bull's-eye lantern right on the 

 combs, or wherever else it may be needed. 

 1 will try it the coming season, and try to 

 report on it. 1 will teil the clerks to send 

 yon a panel chromo. 



THE KEAKS AND THE HONEV. 



I inclose a piece of poetry which I copied from 

 one of papa's books. "A Grammar of Six Ditferent 

 Languages." I think we had better not do as the 

 bears did. 



As two .vdiiiit,' licMrs 111 wanton iiiociil. 

 Korlh is.siiiiiy- tinni ii iieiK-hlioring wood. 

 Canir wliciT 111!' MLdii.-itrious bees li:id stor,.d 

 III .Trtl'nl rclls tlirii- lusriou.s hoard. 



I riT,iiiv..(l ilic.v Nflzrd Willi oa^ei- hnsif , 

 I.M\ui ioii.s iin thilr liidi icpiisf. 

 \hiriiii-d .-il llii<, I he little erew 



Vhoul tlieiv..|ir~. vliidii-tivf ti..« . 

 Tin- hciists. iiiMlili' to sustain 

 Tile mil <|imI I'oiiili.'it. iiuit the plain 

 Hall Idiiid with ra;;r. .inrl mad with iiaui. 

 riieir Mat ive .slirlti r the\ regain. 

 There sit. and now disereeter grow n. 

 Too late their r.isliniss they bemoan: 

 .Villi this by dear evperieiiee pain. 

 Thai plens'iive's ever boiipht with pain. 

 So when the trolden baits of vice 

 Are plaeeil before onr lonfrinp eves. 

 With tir.edv hast,- wo snateh our fill 

 Uld swallow down tile latent ill. 

 Hilt w hell e\|ieriellei' opes our ives 

 Awa.i- the f.ineied pleasure flies. 

 It Hies— but oh I too late «e find 



II leaves a r«'nl stinu behind. 



Sonora, Ohio. Bertha .Jones, age 11. 



Thank you. Bertha; your little selecti<niof 

 poetry is real good. There are too many of 

 us — yes. and little boys and girls, who be- 

 have ourselves very much like the two young 

 bears. But we folks don't always itrotit by 

 our experience, bitter and full of stings 

 though it may be. 



