68 



GLEANIXGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



Comraissioner for carp. Pa wauts to know if the 

 fish that ho gets this winter will spawn next sum- 

 mer. We took 465 lbs. of honey last summer from 6 

 colonies, spring- count, and increased to 12 and sold 

 three. James Sheneman. 



Pharisburg, Ohio. 



No, James, tlie tish the Commissioner sent 

 you this fall will not spawn next season un- 

 less they send out larger ones than any I 

 have seen coming from the various State 

 hatcheries. 



ANOTHEH BEE LIVED 19 HOURS AKTEK STINGING. 



I let a bee sting me at 1 : .30 o' clock p. M. Wednes- 

 day, and he died at 8:30 A.M.Thursday. He lived 

 19 hours. Our bees are wintering nicely. 1 have 4 

 of my own. I hived our bees last summer. My 

 brother got 3000 lbs. of honey this year. He has 

 100 swarms. He ventilates the cellar by a stove- 

 pipe from the sitting-room stove, and an opening in 

 the cellar wall, to let the air from outdoors come 

 into the cellar. Herbert HuTrtiiss, age 13. 



Massena, N. Y., Jan. 1, 188.5. 



STINGING LIZARDS. 



1 am a boy 14 years old, and I like bees. We have 

 14 hives. We had them Italianized last spring, and 

 lost only 2 queeiis out of the 14. Isn't that pretty 

 well for beginners? There are a good many bees 

 around here. Beestings do not hurt me. We have 

 sheep and 1 like them too. There are lots of "sting- 

 ing lizards" here. The winter is very late here. 

 Some of the trees have leaves on them yet. There 

 are a great many wild flowers in this countiT, and 

 "bucking ponies" too. Eugene Fowler. 



Davilla, Texas, Dec. 8, 1885. 



S.IMMIE TELLS HOW THE BEES CLUSTERED UPON 

 THE GROUND. 



My papa keeps 23 hives. He commenced with 

 one swarm. I will tell you what a time my papa 

 had to save them. One bright sunny day last 

 spring the bees came out to take a Hy. They flew 

 all around the yard, and when my ma went out in the 

 evening to feed the chickens, she happened to see 

 that the bees that were having such a nice fly were 

 all lying on the ground. So my ma took a large 

 crock and picked them all up and brought them bj' 

 the stove, and they soon commenced to Hy. It was 

 then about five o'clock, and a little later the bees 

 were all on the window. So my ma then sent to 

 have papa come home and see to tllfem. My papa 

 brought the hive in the kitchen, thinking the bees 

 would go in; but instead of that, those that were in 

 the hive came out on the window with the rest, so 

 pa moved the hive up to the window and made 

 some syrup of sugar, and filled some comb and 

 laid it near the entrance, and then lighted the lan- 

 tern and set it next to the comb, and the next 

 morning when we got up the bees had all gone back 

 into the hive. Sammie Seitz. 



Clarence, N. Y., Dec. 7, 1885. 



Sammy, my impression is, from your de- 

 scription, that those l)ees were out of stores, 

 and they came out on the groiuid because 

 they were starved. I suppose you fed them 

 enough to prevent any such mishap occm-- 

 ring again. 



TWO hives KNOCKEP over by a blind HORSE. 



My pa takes Gleanings, and thinks it is a most 

 excellent paper, and I am taking quite an interest in 

 reading the children'? letters- T hftvc flually been 



seized with the idea that I should like to try and 

 write you a letter myself, but I suppose thei'e is 

 notbit^g that I can tell you about bees which j-ou do 

 not know already, except it be some little incidents 

 that have fallen under my observation. There is a 

 small boy living here. His father and mother are 

 dead, and he has no other home, so pa and ma have 

 given him a home with us. His name is Roy. 

 When he first came here he did not know much 

 about bees. Pa told him he must keep away from 

 them or they would sting; but he did not seem to 

 believe that those little Hies could hurt him very 

 much. So one day when he thought no one was 

 seeing him, he went up to a hive, stuck his tare toes 

 right into the entrance, and you may be sure that it 

 did not take the bees very long to convince him 

 that he had better keep away. One day this fall pa 

 let the horses into the orchai"d to feed down the 

 grass among the trees. One horse being blind, he 

 wandei-ed down among the hives and got stung. 

 He then started to run; but not being able to see 

 where he was going, he ran "kersmash" against a 

 hive of bees, and sent it tumbling two or three 

 times over. He turned short about, and ran right 

 against another hive, and upset that also. No great 

 damage was done. Through all this excitement pa 

 got but one sting, and that was by a bee which was 

 tangled in the horse's mane, where ho took hold to 

 lead him away. Pa takes four bee-papers and a 

 number of other papers. I take the Yuitth's Com- 

 Ijanio)). LiLLiE Bull, age 13. 



Seymour, Wis., Dec. 31, 1885. 



Thank you, little friend. 1 can imagine 

 the scene that ensued. Your father certain- 

 ly did well to have only sting ; but, how about 

 the old horsey The number of accidents 

 we have had of this kind, ought to warn us 

 to be, careful about allowing horses a chance 

 to gain access to the apiary. Eknest. 



Lillie, there is a big moral to your little 

 story. Never let a blind horse loose where 

 it is" possible for him to get at bee-hives. 

 First, because the poor horse is made to suf- 

 fer, possibly; second, \ye have no right to 

 make the poor bees suffer, as they do when 

 their hives are turned over ; and third, the 

 owner of the horse and bees suffers from t he 

 loss of his property, more or less. 



" ITALIANS A (iUEAT DEAL BETTER THAN BLACKS." 



We went into winter quarters with 68 colonies, 

 stores rather light. Our apiary is well Italianized 

 from Hayhurst's best Italian queens. We like them 

 a great deal better than the blacks, on account of 

 their gentleness and being so easy to handle. We 

 use the Langstroth hive, four inches short. Should 

 such a hive be called Simplicity, or not? If not, 

 then what should it be called? Bees are not so 

 plentiful in this vicinity as they were a year ago. 

 But very little honey was made during the latter 

 part of the season; in fact, the season has been 

 poor for section honey. Father traded two hives 

 with bees for a sulky for my brother to carry the 

 nuiil with ne.xt summer. Father hires it cairied 

 through the winter. Charlie H. Black, age '■). 



Ellis Mound, 111., Dec. 14, 1885. 



Friend Charlie, the name " Simplicity " 

 hive has been given to it principally because 

 of the simple way in which it is made — a 

 box withont top or bottom, and so made 

 that any number can be tiered up, exclud- 



