1887 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



781 



hour. Why, dear reader, what I saw and 

 learned during that lioiir would make quite 

 a nice little book, were 1 to tell it all. 



As we passed the little country town of 

 Chatham Center, Iluber asked if they didn't 

 keep something tu eat at one of the stores. 

 I told him we would see ; and when the 

 man said only a dime for a nice bagful of 

 crackers and cheese. I thought he must have 

 made some mistake. Surely no oue ought 

 to complain that he can't get enough to live 

 upon in such a land as this, flowing with 

 milk and honey, and with ponds and streams 

 tilled with fishes. Before we got ready to 

 partake of our crackers and cheese, however. 

 Huber had forgotten his hunger and gone to 

 sleep, and for two houis he slept with his 

 curly head across my lap. When mamma 

 ran out to meet him (for she had been 

 watching through those two long hours for 

 the sound of buggy-wheels) she declared 

 she never thought so much of Huber before 

 in her life, and added, she believed she was 

 about as glad to see his papa too as she ever 

 was before. That last observation, I w."nt 

 to tell you, was a pretty strong one ; but as 

 she expected us at home about dark she kept 

 thinking that Meg had run away, or that the 

 cars had run over i:s in the dark without 

 anybody knowing it, and things of that sort. 



The next morning, almost my first work 

 was to make a scoop like that shown on next 

 column. A piece of galvanized wire cloth, 

 four meshes to the inch, and exactly a yard 

 sqiiare, is the principal expense of the ma- 

 chine. This wire cloth is worth now about 

 8 cents per square foot, which would be 72 

 cents for the amount required for the scoop. 

 Notch it in the corners, and bend it up as 

 shown in the engraving, so the sides will be 

 about five inches liigh. Now take a piece 

 of very heavy iron wire, about the kind used 

 for bails of very heavy water-pails, and 

 bend it so as to surround the upper edge of 

 the scoop. Have your wire long enough, 

 however, so the two ends can be bent up 

 side by side, where tlie handle goes on, say 

 6 or 8 inches long. For a handle, I found 

 one that had been Inoken off from an iron 

 rake, having a good stout ferule on the low- 

 er end. Bore a hole into this, large enough 

 to let two wires go in, and wedge it solid 

 with a large nail. Now put in the braces as 

 shown in the picture*. These are also made 

 of the same kind of wire that goes around 

 the scoop. Where tiiey are fastened to the 

 rake -handle a hole is bored so the wire 

 will drive through close, and then the end is 

 bent over. The otljer end is simply bent 



around the rim of the scoop. To make this 

 last bend you will need to heat the end in 

 the fire, in order to make it soft. The edge 

 of the wire clotli is rolled over the heavy 

 wire, and soldered. The corners are also 

 soldered. Any tinner can do the soldering 

 easily by using the soldering-fluid required 

 to solder zinc ; or if you have a set of solder- 

 ing-implements you can do it all yourself. 



-.^ 



SCOOl" FOK GETTING CAKl' OUT OF I'OND. 



As soon as the machine was done I put it 

 over my slioidder and marched oft" to the 

 carp-pond. I didn't take anybody along— 

 not even Huber, for I had tried so many 

 times to catch the carp, and failed, I confess 

 I hadn't very much faith. I went up close 

 to the water's edge, reached out as far as 1 

 could, and dragged the front edge along the 

 bottom of the pond. I got lots of leaves and 

 mud and sticks and weeds, but " i\a)-y '' a fish. 

 I began to say to myself, " There, that is 

 just as I expected;" but I thought I would 

 try another dip where the water was deeper. 

 Tliis time I did have one bright sparkling 

 little finny chap that was liandsome enough 

 to raise my spirits as high as they went 

 down because of the failure of the first dip. 

 He was so lively I could hardly get hold of 

 him even when I had him out on dry land. I 

 put him down on the grass, and wasn't he 

 handsome 1 It had been raining, and the sun 

 had just come out through the clouds; and 

 as the beautiful starry scales glistened in 

 the sunlight they looked like sparkling but- 

 tons that Dame Nature had sewn on so as to 

 make a grotesque belt. Some of the new 

 fashions in dresses are very pretty ; and 

 from a child I have always rather liked 

 briglit buttons arranged with taste. But 

 did ever the art of milliner or dressmaker 



