214 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTDliE. 



Mar. 



off that. A small Franklin stove, lig-hted only in ex- 

 tremely cold weather. Is in the parlor, always open 

 for ventilating- purposes. In the kitchen and living-- 

 room (combined in our house) is a most effective 

 parlor cook-stove, fed by wood, the pipe passing di- 

 rectly upstairs, and warming- two bedrooms quite 

 sufficiently for sleeping purposes. There is a bed- 

 room downstairs connected with both kitchen and 

 sitting-room, and a spare bedroom upstairs, easily 

 warmed by putting on a little extra fire in the base- 

 burner and Franklin stove downstairs when there 

 is company. 



The objection to Prof. Cook's plan with many will 

 be the first cost of the furnace, which will be from 

 $150 to $200. To my mind, another great objection 

 is not seeing the fire. A fire warms you up better, 

 if you see it. We read in Scripture, "Ahal 1 am 

 warm, I have seen the fire." If Prof. Cook will de- 

 duct enough from his $40 fuel-bill for the furnace, 

 to run an open wood-stove in his sitting-room, he 

 will have a "fireside" and a "domestic hearth," 

 which he hasn't now, and he will find the ventila- 

 tion better. I advise him and all others wishing to 

 get the most home comfort out t)f winter fires to 

 send to the Smith & Anthony stove-makers, .53 Union 

 Street, Boston, Mass., for a little pamphlet entitled, 

 " Some artistic fireplaces." The professor was 

 "broug4itup in the warmth and glare of the old 

 fireplace." So was I ; and there was cheerfulness 

 and luxury as well as warmth about it. It is all 

 very well not to have the pleasant living-room 

 " cumbered with ugly stoves and coils," but you do 

 not need to have an vglxi stove. 1 have one that is 

 "a thing of beauty and a joy for ever." When its 

 two stories of mica windows are lighted up with an- 

 thracite radiance it is next only to the old-fashioned 

 fireplace I was brought up by. And if] want to recall 

 the vision of that 1 can stai-t up the open Franklin. 

 Let me say, there is no escape of hard-coal dust or 

 gas from a pre perly made base-burner stove, and 

 its draft is constantly carrying off the foul gases 

 with the lower stratum of air. The care of such a 

 stove is less than that of a furnace fed with wood. 



I. too, get up first, and light the cooking-stove, as 

 I pi-esume the professor does; and then I usually 

 stir the porridge, which I like well boiled. Then it 

 is hut the work of a few minutes to shake down the 

 base-burner, put in a scuttleful of coal, turn on the 

 dampers, and empty the ashes. All can be done so 

 neatly, that even if Mrs. Professor wears magnify- 

 ing-glasses she will detect no litter. Another shake- 

 down in the evening, and a second scuttleful of 

 coal, completes the care of a stove "worth its weight 

 in gold," if I couldn't get another like it for $30. I 

 am sure this is far less work than the care and at- 

 tention needed by a wood-furnace. If I ran a fur- 

 nace, it would be a coal one. Boynton's, and others 

 that might be named, are as clean and sweet as fur- 

 naces for wood. W. P. Clarke. 



Guelph, Ont., Feb. 21. 1S87. 



I am very yiad indeed, friend ('., to have 

 you take up tliis matter of making our 

 homes pleasantly warm. When reading 

 your article I remembered the time when I 

 used to teach school and " board around." 

 It is not pleasant tothe women-folks, nei- 

 ther is it pleasant to the men-folks or chil- 

 dren, to be around the cooking-stove in the 

 way, and I think it will pay in dollars and 

 cents for every household to have some sort 

 of a pleasant room away from the cooking- 



stove, especially where there are children in 

 the home. A young couple, just married, 

 can stand it very well around the cooking- 

 stove, for they would be happy almost any- 

 where. 



A VISIT TO AN APIARY AMONG THE 

 GREEN MOUNTAINS. 



NELLIE LINSWIK TELLS US MORE ABOUT THE 

 " KN(JW-1T-ALL BEE-KEEPERS." 



fS^ HE middle of July found me in one of the 

 3) loveliest valleys of the Green Mountains. 

 < In company with my friends I took long 

 walks and drives, now following the valley 

 road that crossed and recrossed a narrow, 

 busy stream, and now climbing the steep moun- 

 tain-sides. Sometimes I was delighted by seeing 

 the bright flowers of a familiar home honey-plant, 

 the willow herb, known to my friends by the far 

 prettier name of Indian wickopee. 



One evening at the tea-table Mary looked across 

 at her husband, saying, "Can you tell me, Charley, 

 why, above all other things, we have not thought 

 to exhibit our village bee-keeper? " 



" He shall be exhibited this evening at once," 

 said Charley, promptly, pushing back his chair; 

 and five minutes later we were walking down the 

 village street. 



We found our bee-keeper, his day's work done, 

 smoking the pipe of peace as he sat beneath his 

 own vine and fig-tree. When Charley inti-oduced 

 me and made known our wishes, the pipe myste- 

 riously disappeared, and a friendly smile brighten- 

 ed his face, as, requesting- us to follow, he led us 

 down the garden paths to where a dozen venerable 

 apple-trees spread their protecting branches over 

 seventy-five colonies. It was a pleasant sight; and 

 very pleasant to hear was the familiar evening 

 sound, always reminding me of the wind in a pine- 

 forest. 



The hives were double-storied, run entirely for 

 extracted honey; and in reply to a question regard- 

 ing the size of the frame used, a cover was lifted. 

 It was a fiat cover, and the frames were so near 

 the top of the hive that the excitable hybrids boil- 

 ed over the edges on every side. I scarcely glanc- 

 ed at the frames, so possessed was I with the 

 thought that I had caused him trouble by making 

 it necessary to light a smoker, when suddenly the 

 cover was pushed carelessly back into its place, 

 crushing and maiming beneath its cruel weight a 

 hundred innocent lives. An involuntary cry of 

 horror passed my lips. Our friend looked up in 

 alarm; but instantly divining the reason of my cry 

 he smilingly said, " I conclude you have not kept 

 bees very long if that hurts you. Now, we old bee- 

 keepers don't mind such things, and we haven't the 

 time to bother with smoke, or shoving a cover on 

 so slowly as not to kill them." 



Heaven forbid, thought I, that I should keep 

 bees till I become so hardened! 



Against one of the trees stood a swarmer— two 

 long pieces of wood fastened together with pins, 

 and surmounted by a light box. The strips of 

 wood could be slipped by each other, and the pins 

 inserted in new places, thus lengthening or short- 

 ening the device. But it was too heavy for a wom- 

 an's hands, admirable though it might be for this 

 strong, broad-shouldered man. 



