70 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



J AX. 



and I go to school one mile. I also have a little 

 baby-brother. He never saw Christmas till the one 

 just past. He is three months old, and can laugh 

 and play. Alton D. Harmon, ag-e 9. 



Cambridg'eboro, Crawford Co., Pa., Dec. 39, 1885. 



SEALS. 



When I was at Santa Barbara last I heard that 

 there were some seals in cages on the wharf, so [ 

 went down to see them. There was an old mother 

 and her little one in one cage, and three larger ones 

 in another cage. They caught them from one of 

 the islands twenty miles from Santa Barbara. They 

 caught them with the lasso; and when they saw 

 one they would all throw their lasso at him and 

 catch him by different parts of the body and drag 

 him on shore and put him in a cage that they had 

 ready for him. They repeated this until thej* had 

 caught those that I mentioned before. They then 

 sent them to Santa Barbara for the people to see. 

 The next morning they took them to San Francisco 

 for Mr. Woodward, for his garden. They had very 

 mild eyes, but for all that thej' were very fierce. 

 They would snap at you if you put your hand near 

 them. They are so very quick that they would turn 

 clear over and grab a stick so quick that you could 

 hardly jerk it away in time to keep them from 

 grabbing it. Some of the boys were trying to pull 

 out their whiskers, when the owner came along and 

 made them stop. Ernest C. Hilton. 



Los Alamos, Cal., Dec. 26, 188.5. 



At Chicago, a couple of years ago, after I 

 had visited T. G. Newman's place of busi- 

 ness, I went to Lincoln Park. Among the 

 notable features of this resort was a seal, or, 

 perhaps, a sea-lion. At any rate, he would 

 swim in the water at an astonishing speed, 

 and bark very much like a dog at the passer- 

 by. I remember that one old gentleman 

 pointed his gold-headed cane at the animal's 

 nose. At this the seal seemed immediately 

 to take affront, and, a\ ith wonderful sagaci- 

 ty, swam to the other end of the pond. Here 

 he disappeared under tlie water, and almost 

 immediately reappeared directly in front of 

 his offender, and then with one tremendous 

 splash almost drenched the possessor of the 

 cane. As you say, they seem to be wonder- 

 fully quick and keen. Ernest. 



THREE BEES DIE i'ROM THE EFFECTS OF THEIR 

 STINGS IN EIGHT, SEVENTEEN, AND TWEN- 

 TY HOURS RESPECTIVELY. 



My brother keeps bees, and we let three sting a 

 piece of soft buckskin, and they lost their stings. 

 We put them in a cage and feed them all they want- 

 ed to eat. One lived eight hours, one seventeen, 

 and the other twenty. I have Our Homes, part 

 first and second. I read them out loud to mother 

 and father, and ray sistei-s and brothers. Mother 

 says the books are worth one dollar. I have two 

 brothers and two sisters; my brother likes Our 

 Homes. Nettie H. Cranston. 



Woodstock, Ohio, Dec. 33, 1885. 



Thanks for the additional light you fur- 

 nish. In former cases bees have lived four, 

 live, and six hours after having stung ; but 

 you give an incident of one surviving 20 

 hours. Now, while we think we have estab- 

 lished with almost certainty that bees die 

 after the operation, yet this may not be in- 

 variably the case. We have been led to sup- 

 pose, or, rather, an opinion has prevailed. 



that bees have not only lived, but have even 

 gathered honey, after losing their sting. I 

 have seen this statement somewhere in one 

 of the bee-books. Does any juvenile or any- 

 body else know of such a case, or that a bee 

 lived two days or after? In dealing with 

 science we must deal exactly, and must not 

 jump to the conclusion too soon, that bees 

 always die soon after losing their sting. 



Eknest. 



report from a carp-pond; also about the 



CALADIUM ESCULENTUM." 



Grandpa has 75 hives with bee?, and pa has 4 

 stands. We live with grandpa. I have five broth- 

 ers and two sisters. My ma is dead. I have a little 

 blue-eyed sister nine months old. My ma died when 

 she was just eight days old. Grandma has the baby 

 to take care of. Grandma says she writes grand- 

 pa's letters to you. She says she sent you a Caladi- 

 um-esculentum root. Did you ever get it? Grand- 

 pa has a fish-pond with lots of German carp in. 

 Last summer we ate some fish. Grandpa says they 

 are about as good as shad. 



Pekin, 111. Ida B. Lauosh, age 10. 



Yes, friend Ida, we got the Caladium escu- 

 lentum, and it grew nicely ; but we did not 

 see water dripping from the leaves, unless it 

 was kept very wet. I presume if it grew in 

 a swampy place where the ground is very 

 rich it would have water on its leaves all the 

 while, (iive my thanks to your grandma, 

 friend Ida. 



A LIVING fly-trap; HOW MANY FLIES WILL A 

 TOAD EAT? 



Your article in Gleanings last summer, about 

 toads, was very interesting; and as we are now al- 

 lowed to write about our pets, I will tell you about 

 a pet toad we once had. A few years ago one came 

 into our summer kitchen thi'ough a hole in the 

 floor. We allowed it to stay and catch flies, so aft- 

 er that it would come up every day. One day we 

 put some sugar on the floor to attract the flies, and 

 when the toad came up we counted the flies it 

 caught. It ate 1.50; and seeming to think that 

 enough for one meal, it went awa)-. I think a toad 

 is a splendid fly-trap. Papa says: " If you go to 

 your carp - pond next spring about the time the 

 little ' pets ' close their concert for the season, you 

 will likely hear a musical note in a trilling mono- 

 tone; and if you look closely you will see Mr. Toad, 

 with head erect and chest expanded, pouring forth 

 his song of love." He also says: "The little blacU 

 polliwogs become toads, and the brown ones frogs." 

 I will tell you about our bees in my next. 



Ethel J. Beatty. 



Shaw's Landing, Pa., Dec. 38, 1885. 



Thank you, Ethel, for your very interest- 

 ing letter about your little pet. ^ou have a 

 capital fly - trap indeed, and I should say 

 that master Toad would not have much 

 room left after having dined upon 1-50 flies. 

 Whew ! I wonder if he felt aH little l^oys do 

 after they have had their Cluistmas dinner. 

 I fancy l)ees would go down the same wide 

 mouth to destruction, could his toadship 

 but have the chance. Most certainly we 

 like to hear about pets when the spirit of 

 the fine print at the head of this department 

 is adhered to. This you certainly have 

 done ; and to encourage others I think we 

 shall send you a chrome, Ernest. 



