ISS7 



GLEANINGS IN BP:E CULTUHi:. 



361 



pound sections. How is that for York State for 

 1886, and all through studying A B < ' and G leanings? 



To keep Clark's smoker-tube from tilling with 

 soot, tack a leather strap to the wide end of the 

 bellows, and hang it up small end downward when 

 warm, and the soot will riin into the small end and 

 can be dug out with a nail or small knife-blade 

 when cold. Wai/ikh Seaman. 



DeKalb, N. V. 



[Friend S., your point is an e.xcelleiit one, and 1 

 have no doubt you ai-c i-iglit; but supporting the 

 smoker by standing it with the nozzle downward 

 would. I suppose, answer equally well. 



A WINXJiR KEPOSlTOltY NOT SUCrKSSHlIL. 



We always buried our bees in sandy gi-ound, and 

 they wintered well. Last fall we built a house 

 5 feet in the ground, 2 I'eet out, warm and nice; 

 thermometer lowest, 33°. The bees were uneasy all 

 winter. We put in 44, and now we have 20 weak 

 ones. The building is 6'^ by 20. E. Bush. 



Schodack Landing, N. Y., March 28, 1887. 



HOW TO GET RID OF ROACH E8. 



I saw an inquiry in Gleanings for April, for a 

 method of getting rid of roaches. We were 

 overrun with them. They came in empty berry- 

 boxes from Philadelphia. 1 used powdered borax. 

 It is a sure exterminator. Blow it in all cracks and 

 crevices, and scatter it around where they hide in 

 the day time. Bees have wintered very niceb' in 

 New Jersey the last winter, so far as I hear. 



Hartford, N. J., Apr. 11, 1887. E. J. Li.oyd. 



THE FELTON SWABMING-BOX. 



Yes, Mr. Root, you got a very correct engraving 

 of my swarmiug-box, except the handle, which you 

 have got turned the wrong way. It should be turn- 

 ed with the long end down. Bro. Kaler says 1 have 

 misrepresented his box. 1 have not done so inten- 

 tionally. The Kaler box, as used in this country is 

 held up among the bees when they are flying. For 

 my part I should much ])refer my own l>ox; but 

 opinions differ, and 1 do not intend to quarrel with 

 Mr. Kaler. S. E. Felton. 



Setley, Pa., April 8, 188;. 



SEPARATOKS, WIDE FRAMES, AND CASES. 



1 do not want any more wide frames at any price. 

 I have been very much interested in se))arators, 

 cases, and wide frames. I do not use separators, 

 and have abandoned wide frames. 1 tind cases 

 much better. I make them out of !.i-story Simplici- 

 ty hives, with a honey-board. I am making the 

 board of slats, with strips of perforated zinc let in 

 between. 1 think that is good, and the case is also 

 the best out. I can wedge them up, and they are 

 fast and good. 1 sell my honey to stores principal- 

 ly, at 14 and 15 cts. GEf). A. Mathews. 



Katonah. N. Y., Mar. 23, 1887. 



bees versus SUNFLOWERS. 



Will bees injure sunflowei'S by feeding on the 

 pollen? One of my neighbors states that his sun- 

 flowers were injured by the bees. He counted 20 

 at once on some of them, and attributes their fail- 

 ure to bees. I tell him it was the dry weather. 



JoN.\THAN ToWNt.EY. 



Elizabeth, N. Y., Apr. 12, 1887. 



[You can ass\ire your neighbor, friend T., that 

 the bees can by no manner of means injure the 

 sunflowers. Their visits, on the contrary, must be 

 a benefit to every plant that produces seed.] 



Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, 

 death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be 

 utterly burned willi fire: for strong is the Lord 

 God who judgeth ber.-UEV. 18: K. 



iP LITTLE before tlie Ihstol' April I re- 

 &, ceived a telegram from Trof. ('ook. 

 V telling me to come and visit liis 

 ■^ sugar-busli. Now. tliere is one thing 

 I like al)out these trips away from 

 home. It enables me to learn more about 

 the neighbors outside of my own immediate 

 vicinity. It enables me to get a glimpse of 

 this great teeming outer world that is now 

 round about us on every side. But, dear 

 friends, if my object in traveling were to 

 Hnd out objectionable features in humanity 

 it would be a sad and sorry task, and I am 

 going to try to tell of the good things to be 

 found away from home, as well as bad things. 

 One of the' things that pleased me greatly 

 on the cars of the Lake Shore road was the 

 addition of a wash-room— or not exactly a 

 room, but a little place set apart where 

 plenty of soap, clean water, looking-glass, 

 combs, and brush, were kept, so tliat they 

 could be used by any one. whether he were 

 able to pay for the comforts of a sleeping 

 car or not; and T tell you, these utensils 

 were used. During a ride of two hours to 

 Toledo, there was scarcely a minute that 

 somebody was not Inisy refreshing himself 

 by a good wash. May God bless the rail- 

 road companies for thinking of this excel- 

 lent feature to make the tra^■eling public 

 happy ! My brother-in-law, Mr. Holmes, 

 says "they will probably make all tlie new 

 passenger cars tliat way. If cleanliness is 

 next to godliness, it is a' good sign. 



By a blunder of the ticket-agent at Elyria, 

 I had, as I often do, got on the wrong route; 

 but Jitter the mischief Avas done, I began 

 asking myself if God had not something for 

 me to do on this route that I should not 

 have found on the other one. At Toledo 1 

 found a train ready to step on to, providing 

 I took a sleeping-car. The cars were new 

 and exceedingly comfortable, compared with 

 the crowded Union Depot, and when I ask- 

 ed the price of a sleeper to Holly, Mich., I 

 was greatly surprised to tind it was only a 

 dollar; and it was a nice, pleasant-looking 

 man who said it, in vivid contrast with 

 some of the porters one sometimes meets. 

 I went to bed at once, and slept soundly un- 

 til I was told that Holly was at hand, at 

 lialf-past four in the morning. The same 

 porter pointed me to an excellent hotel right 

 close to the station. Here I was to sit for 

 foiu' hours and a half. As it would not pay 

 to go to bed again, I took a. seat by the stove 

 and commenced to read Prof. Cook's book 

 on maple-sugar making; for, to tell the 

 truth, 1 had never read it entirely myself, 

 even though I was the publisher. Perhaps 

 I might say here, that the hardest work of 

 my life now is to read the lK)oks, letters, 

 etc., that I really ought to read. 1 hnd, how- 

 ever, it is far easier for me to read such a 

 book when I am away from home than when 

 here; because here I'have constantly to pull 

 my mind off from one subject to consider 

 other responsibilities, and then push it 



