FEBRUARY 1, 1913 



99 



I was more than pleased to r^ad your plan for 

 1913 for the dear old Gleanings. I have taken it 

 continuously since it was published as a quarterly, 

 and I can not recall now ever having .nissed a 

 single number. What a record 1 



You will remember that, years ago, Stachelhausen 

 and myself were the first to bring out "shook" 

 swarming. Well, we still practice it — couldn't run 

 1000 colonies for comb honey without the plan, with 

 three people. 



Hyrum, Utah, Dec. 12. M. A. GiLL. 



I have just noticed in Gleanings a call for the 

 old members of the Gleanings family to hold up 

 their hands and say " here." I have been a con- 

 tinuous subscriber ever since the windmill days, 

 never having missed a number. For the last five 

 years I have kept no bees; but the fever is still in 

 the blood, and I am keeping posted in the business, 

 and expect, if life and health are spared, to have a 

 nice little apiary in a good location in this, the 

 fairest and best part of God's green footstool. 



Ontario, Cal., Sept. 19. J. V. Caldwell. 



I received your notice as to the expiration of my 

 subscription to Gleanings. I will renew in a few 

 days. I noticed that you called for the names of the 

 old subscribers to Gleanings. I commenced to take 

 it about the first it was sent out. If I remember 

 rightly, it was only a folder of two leaves. I was 

 taking the American Bee Journal at that time, edit- 

 ed by Samuel Wagner at Washington. I think it 

 was H. A. King who accused " Uncle Amos " of 

 " shooting poisoned arrows in the dark " because he 

 signed his name " Novice." 



Attica, O., Dec. 16. J. E. Ennis. 



In Gleanings for Aug. 15 I see you think it 

 would be interesting to know how many subscribers 

 were left after 40 years, and I think I may claim 

 to have been with you 40 years ago, though I am 

 not certain. At any rate I had dealings with you 

 34 years ago, and in 1887 I spent a day at Medina, 

 and A. I. Root was digging a well there, I think for 

 a livindmill. I know I went about with him for a 

 part of the day. I have no recollection of E. R. 

 Root, though I think I saw him. I am glad to see 

 the advances made in the buildings and management 

 of what has grown from comparatively small begin- 

 nings. Alfred J. Claeke. 



Longwood House, Oxford, Eng., Oct. 3. 



For a holdup of hands for the windmill days, 

 mine is up. Though a school boy in my teens, I got 

 the bee fever while on my father's Virginia planta- 

 tion ; swapped a watch for a bee-tree, and have 

 kept bees and taken Gleanings, practically contin- 

 uously, for more than thirty years. 



Well do I remember those early writings of A. I. 

 Root, the windmill power, Merrybanks and his 

 Neighbor, and Blue Eyes and the rest. Specially 

 was I impressed with the moral and religious tone 

 of the Home papers : and it made a good impression 

 on my young life. His conduct of the Sunday-school, 

 family prayers, and religious services in the work- 

 shop show a strong character in the right place. 



Washington, D. C, Sept. 2. F. P. Nash. 



I have not taken Gleanings for 40 years, but 

 made its acquaintance in the year of 1878, when I 

 became so interested in it that I procured almost 

 all of the back numbers, and I think I have had 

 and read almost every copy that was ever printed. 



It was in Gleanings that I first read the A B 

 C ; but I have had many copies since that time — 

 had to, to keep up with the times. I hope to have 

 and read every number that is printed as long as 



I live, although it is possible that I shall not be 

 able to see to read them myself. If so, I have good 

 children to read them to me. I hope that Glean- 

 ings will live as long as the world stands, as a 

 monument to its founder, whose writings I have 

 enjoyed so many years. 



Charles W. Phelps. 

 Binghamton, N. Y., Aug. 29. 



The undersigned commenced beekeeping in 1860 

 or '61 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and during the 

 Civil war, or soon after, he subscribed for the 

 American Bee Journal, published in Washington, 

 D. C, edited by Samuel Wagner. A. I. Root was 

 an interesting correspondent of that journal, writing 

 under the nom de plume of Novice long before he 

 published Gleanings, which was a very modest pub- 

 lication compared with Gleanings of the present 

 day. Your books will probably show that I was a 

 subscriber 40 years ago. 



Quinby, Langstroth, Wagner, Alley, Hamlin, 

 King, and many others, not now recollected, bee- 

 keepers and authors of that day, have passed away. 

 I came to Florida in 1893, and still keep a few bees. 



Tampa, Fla., Aug. 25. W. P. Henderson. 



I am one of the number who took Gleanings in 

 the good old windmill times, and I think I have all 

 of the numbers that were ever printed. While I 

 have not kept as many bees as some, I believe I 

 have had some all of the time except one year. 

 Gleanings has always been a very desirable and 

 helpful paper, and somehow I alwafs find the Home 

 department very good. 



There, now, as my mind runs over the last 40 

 years there seems to be a sort of sadness in my 

 heart to think I have made so many failures in my 

 Christian life. However, I am glad I have made an 

 effort to live in the world to come. How I should 

 like to grasp your hand for old and continued 

 friendship ! and may we meet beyond this vale of 

 tears. 



Dexter, Maine, Aug. 20. A. R. Bodoe. 



a ton of honey from six colonies. 



I believe that I became a subscriber to Glean- 

 ings in its early days. I was living then at Lewis- 

 ville. Pa., and was a beginner in beekeeping. I re- 

 moved from Lewisville to Oxford, Pa., and contin- 

 ued the care of an apiary, importing Carniolan 

 queens and advertising Carniolan queens for sale, 

 and mailing many hundreds to all portions of the 

 United States. I disposed of my apiary in 1890 

 and removed to Colorado Springs. From there I 

 removed to this place in 1899, and again secured an 

 apiary of Carniolans which have carried in for my 

 disposal an average of 200 pounds per colony annu- 

 ally. One year, with a hundred acres of alfalfa on 

 my ranch, six colonies gave me one ton of honey. 

 I am still an interested reader of Gleanings, par- 

 ticularly Our Homes. 



S. W. Morrison, M. D. 



Oxford, Colorado, August 23. 



THE .SHEEP AND WOOL INDU.STRV AN ADJUNCT TO 

 BEE CULTURE. 



I have been a continuous subscriber to the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal since early in the '60's; and have 

 also been a continuous subscriber to Gleanings. I 

 have been a beekeeper continuously for 49 yearsj 

 have seen a great many changes in the business in 

 that time. The seasons in the earlier years were 

 good; now they are practically a failure. When the 

 sheep industry left our community, the white clover 

 left. That was our dependence for surplus honey. 

 Are not my conclusions correct? Is there anybody 

 who can report abundant crops of white clover 



