1886 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



67 



Every boy or girl, under 15 

 ••^" years of age, who writes a 



letter for this department, containing 



SOME VALUABLE FACT, NOT GENERALLY 

 KNOWN, ON BEES OR OTHER MATTEHS, 



will receive one of David Cook's excel- 

 lent five - cent Sunday - school books. 

 Many of these bool.s contain the same mat- 

 ter that you find in Sunday-school hooks 

 costing from $1.00 to $1.50. If you have had 

 one or more hooks, give us the names that we 

 may not send the same twice. We have now 

 in stock six different books, as follows; viz.: 

 Sheer Off, The Uiant - Killer. The Roby 

 Family, Rescued from Egypt, and Ten Nights in 

 a Bar-Koom. We have also Our Homes, Part l.,and 

 Our Homes, Part II. Besides the above books, you may have a 

 photograph of our old house apiary, taken a great many years 

 ago. In it is a picture of myself, Blue Ej'es. .and Caddy, and a 

 glimpse of Ernest. We have also some pretty little colored 

 pictures of birds, fruits, (lowers, etc., suitable for framing. 

 You can have your choice of any one of the above pictures 

 or books for every letter that gives us some valuable piece of 

 information. 



f;'< 



' A chiel's amang ye takln' notes; 

 An' faith, he'll prent it. " 



TS it not a little strange why young birds 

 M should leave their cosy nestsV why bees 

 W swarm, and why grown-up young folks 

 -*■ should abscond and leave the old house 

 with its fond recollectionsV Yet it is 

 not so very strange after all ; at any rate that 

 first swania from the "Root Bee-Hive'' thinks 

 so! Yes, they have recently been visiting 

 New York — the great metropolis where the 

 busy hum of busy life prevails. As the par- 

 ent stock has said, it seems a wonder that 

 some one does not get run over. Amid such 

 a hum - drum, rattle and roar, ears are no 

 surety against impending danger, and when 

 crossing the street yoft have to look several 

 ways at once, if that be possible, or jou 

 may get knocked down by a cart-wheel or a 

 liorse tugging at a street-car. The streets of 

 Cleveland, Detroit, and Chicago, where there 

 are no elevated railways, bear little compar- 

 ison to those of New York, in the amount of 

 noise and seeming confusion. 



We visited many different places which 

 you may have read of, or, possibly, have seen, 

 such as the Brooklyn Bridge, from whose 

 height we see in the distance Hell Gate, of 

 which we have read so much of late; Central 

 Park, a wonder in itself, occupying a vast 

 domain of rocky land in the heart of the city; 

 a Japanese village, modeled after these seen 

 in the native country, and where all the 

 various arts are represented; the Eden Musee 

 and many other places, to say nothing of the 

 various streets which are celebrated in them- 

 selves. 



As these things are all quite familiar, or 

 have been fully described in some of our best 

 magazines, suppose, little folks, we take a 

 boat-ride in N. Y. Bay, our point of destina- 

 tion being Staten Island. As we start we 

 can begin to form an idea of the size of the 

 Bridge as seen on our left. Yonder is Gov- 

 enor's Island, upon which is situated an old 



fort. Further on to the right as we glide along, 

 is the pedestal upon which is to be placed the 

 Goddess of Liberty, of which we have read so 

 much. All along bur couise are tugs, yachts, 

 and sail vessels. Here is a steamer just 

 coming in from the ocean ; there is one just 

 going out to sea. Thus the water in the 

 bay is a fair sample of the life seen upon the 

 streets. Pursuing our course a little further 

 we finally arrive at Staten Island. From 

 this the old Commodore Vanderbilt formerly 

 ran his ferries. On landing, after a long 

 walk we arrived at Fort Wadsworth, at the 

 upper end of the island, and just opposite the 

 Narrows. From this point we see dimly the 

 ocean, and across the Narrows two other 

 forts— the names of which we do not know. 

 As we look at these vast masses of earth- 

 works like mountains, and the solid walls of 

 masonry, with huge guns mounted here and 

 there, as if about to sweep every thing on the 

 water, we feel like exclaiming,'' Woe unto you 

 foreign nations that dare to invade this har- 

 bor.'' A little inquiry, however, reveals the 

 fact, that these guns are of but little service 

 now, being relics of past v.'ars. The iron- 

 clads of to-day would pass these forts un- 

 harmed. Nothing short of a. torpedo, or a 

 cable stretched across the Narrows, could 

 prevent them going down. Neither would 

 the stone walls oft'ei' any resistance to the 

 heavy breech-loading rifled cannon. Wise 

 men are asking the question why Uncle Sam 

 does not build a navy and refit these forts, 

 thus rendering ourselves more secure from 

 invasion. I suspect Uncle Sam thinks there 

 are other things of vastly more importance. 

 Our resources are a,lmost endless, and if any 

 one can put himself in fighting trim on short 

 notice, it's Uncle Sam. More than all, "It is 

 not by might nor by power, but by my 

 Spirit," saith the Lord. 



Well, well! my little (?) letter is already too 

 long and I'll have to stop short right here. 

 Perhaps you inquire whether tlie "better 

 half " was along. I reply, that said " half '' 

 loas on hand, and really tired vie out walk- 

 ing. ' Ernest. 



BEES, HICKORYNUTS, ETC. 



We are wintering three stands of bees. We have 

 two packed in sawdust, and one in the cellar. We 

 extracted 100 lbs. of honey last season. Last year 

 was a good year for bees here, but there was no 

 sale for honey. Last fall was a good year for hick- 

 orynuts. My brother and I gathered about three 

 bushels. Albert McCurdv. 



Trafalgar, Can., Dec. 27, 188.5. 



FIVE CENTS FOR SEEING THE FIRST SWARM. 



My pa has some bees, and so has my grandpa. 

 Last summer we little ones had to watch them at 

 swarming time; the one who saw the flrst swarm 

 come out got five cents. I go to day-school, and to 

 Sunday-school. I had a nice piece to speak the 

 evening before Christinas. 



Freddie A. Lahosh, age 8. 



Fekin, 111., Dec. 27, 1885. 



FROM f) TO 12, AND 405 LBS. OF HONEY. 



Pa took the first premium on Italians and black 

 bees, and extracted honey, and second on rabbits, 

 at our county fair. We made a flsh-pond this fall, 

 and have now made applications to the U. S. Fish 



