1016 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 13 



two windows. In warm weather these doors 

 and windows are always open, so we get a breeze 

 across the bed, no matter what direction the 

 wind blows. All of the windows and outs'de 

 doors are, of course, well screened with wire 

 cloth. As a fireplace gives better ventilation than 

 any other arrangement ever invented, we had one 

 made, as you will notice, in the very center of 

 the building. There is fuel on our acre of land 

 — probably all we shall ever need. When the 

 nights and mornings are cool, a very little fuel 

 gives the best warmth I have ever found from 

 any source, and at the same time ventilation that 

 is sure and ample. Our carpenter told us to be 

 sure to have the fireplace and chimney entirely 

 disconnected from any part of the woodwork. 

 This makes it safe again'^t fire; and the sagging 

 of any part of the foundation would not cause 

 the plaster to crack. The chimney has two flues 

 clear up to the top — one for the fireplace and the 

 other for the kitchen stove, so there can be no 

 conflict in the draft. 



Although most of the houses in Florida are 

 not lathed and plastered, we decided on having 

 the whole house finished in that way; for it is 

 almost the only way to avoid having crevices 

 where flies and mosquitoes and other insects 

 might possibly find a hiding-place. 



While we ordinarily have but little use for an 

 upper story, we find it is very convenient when 

 friends come to see us. The upstairs part is done 

 off very much like the one below, except that there 

 is one very large clothespress at the head of the 

 stairs, and two more on the north side of the 

 chimney. We have a very convenient clothes- 

 press opening from the little bedroom under the 

 main stairway. The ground is slightly sloping 

 back from the street so that our west or front 

 porch is only about 18 inches above the level of 

 the ground; but on the back side, where the 

 woodshed is, the floor of the house is nearly four 

 feet above the ground. This gives us a chance 

 to have what we call our "balcony," which is a 

 floor with a railing around it on a level with the 

 floor of the house. Then some steps, as shown, 

 go down into the woodshed, and the fuel is piled 

 up underneath this balcony. In one corner I 

 have a work-benth. 



Just outside of the door that opens into the 

 woodshed we have a safe covered with wire-cloth 

 for keeping food and provisions secure from flies, 

 and yet where they can get a cool breeze. 



Right underneath the window marked A is a 

 hatchway that leads into my incubator cellar un- 

 der the northeast corner of the kitchen. This 

 incubator cellar is about half above ground and 

 half under. As I explained some time ago, it is 

 made of circular brick such as you use in mak- 

 ing a cistern or well. The incubator stands in 

 the center; but as the wall goes up only about 3 

 ft. to the level of the ground, there is a nice con- 

 venient shelf on the ground level for placing va- 

 vious articles so as to have them right at hand 

 without any stooping over. 



Now, all things considered, we find this a very 

 comfortable home for a couple of old people; and 

 although it is a comparatively small hous^, there 

 is room enough for the children or grandchildren 

 when they find it convenient to call aroiuid and 

 look in on the old folks. 



Some of you may wonder why we did not put 



on at least a little ornamental work so our cot- 

 tage would not look so exceedingly plain. Well, 

 we thought of that, and we may add something 

 of that kind later, especially around the porches. 

 But let me call your attention to the fact that 

 when Ernest and John built their cottages across 

 the way, something over twenty years ago, they 

 paid out a good deal of money for ornamental 

 work over porches, upon the cornices, etc. Well, 

 Ernest has recently had a man pulling down all 

 this ornamental scrollwork, principally because 

 it was full of cobwebs, difficult to paint, and, be- 

 sides all that, it is all out of fashion. Work 

 that cost a great deal of money several years ago, 

 has been torn down and burned up for kindling- 

 wood; and I believe the general verdict is that 

 the house looks better without it. Mr. Calvert 

 has been doing similar work on his own home; 

 and in remodeling our own porch a few years 

 ago, we took out in like manner a lot of expen- 

 sive "gingerbread work." Mrs. Root objects 

 to any thing about the home that prevents taking 

 a broom or brush and getting out the cobwebs 

 and dust so the whole structure can be repainted, 

 say once in ten or fifteen years, or when needed. 

 I believe a similar reform is being inaugurated in 

 the way of furniture. Instead of having fancy 

 work that harbors dust and spiders, and is diffi- 

 cult to clean, most furniture is now being made 

 plain and simple Put on a high finish, if you 

 choose, but do not have a lot of complicated or- 

 namental work. Speaking of finish reminds me 

 that our Florida home is all done off inside with 

 what is called the "beeswax finish." Turpen- 

 tine and beeswax are melted together; then after 

 staining and filling the woodwork, this beeswax 

 compound is put on and rubbed down hard with 

 a woolen cloth until it gives a polish. Wood- 

 work finished in this way is not easily marred 

 by bumping, and a little more beeswax with 

 " elbow grease " will restore any place marred or 

 spotted by accident. Huber had his new house 

 finished in this way, and our large new office 

 where I sit dictating this has all the woodwork 

 finished off with the beeswax composition that I 

 have described. It is cheaper than varnish, and 

 anybody can do it if he is willing to furnish the 

 muscle. Surely bee-keepers ought to be able to 

 adopt the beeswax finish for the woodwork for 

 their homes. 



In regard to this beeswax finish I have been 

 describing, all kinds of varnish, or at least most 

 varnished work, is likely to crackle with age, be- 

 sides showing white streaks where it has been 

 bumped or scratched. This wax finish never 

 crackles, and never shows any white streaks; and 

 is is less work to renew it when marred than it 

 would likely be to scrub the painted woodwork 

 with soap and water. 



Just a word in regard to porch floors. It now 

 seems to be a difficult matter to find any sort of 

 paint or floor preparation that will stand the 

 weather, especially after snow has drifted in on 

 the porch and melted, or where the rains have 

 beaten in and the water has been allowed to 

 stand for some time on the porch. After study- 

 ing over this matter we made our porch on the 

 island with narrow boards planed both on the 

 tops and edges, placed '4 inch apart. We liked 

 it so well that our porch in Bradentown was 

 made in the same way. I think the floor boards 



