228 



GLEAA^l^'GS i:N JJEE CULTtJllI:. 



Mar. 



to Skowhegan this year to the bee-convention, and 

 he saw Mr. J. B. Mason and sons of Mechanic Falls, 

 Me. I can't think of any more this time. 



George F. Greelv, age 13. 

 Clinton, Maine, Jan. 31, 1886. 



Thank you, friend George, for your very 

 full report. I judge that you take consider- 

 able interest in your father's work. When 

 fathers can get good substantial help from 

 their boys, they can expect to attain some 

 degree of success, as did your father. You 

 say you ''can't think of anymore." It is 

 not long letters so much we want, but it is a 

 good deal in a little space, and I think you 

 have succeeded pretty well. We should like 

 to have you report in regard to your father's 

 bees next season. Ernkst. 



STRONG SWARMS READY FOB THE FIRST FLOW OF 

 HONEY. 



Mrs. L. Harrison sent me a colony of pure Ital- 

 ians. They were weak when they came, and we 

 built them up with other brood; when they g'ot 

 sti-ong we made an artificial swarm, and then they 

 built up very strong- with plenty of stores, but no 

 surplus. Those that had strong swarms early for 

 the first flow of white clover were all that got any 

 surplus in this section of country. Auntie L. sent 

 me an ABC book, about the same time she sent 

 the bees. Willie Simonton. 



Memphis, Mo. 



CARP, SWEET-POTATO VINES BLOOMING, ETC. 



Pa has between 65 and 70 carp minnows, and they 

 eat a piece of bread as large as my hand, every 

 night. They eat more at night than in the daytime. 



Grandma's sweet potatoes bloomed last summer. 

 The reason I speak of them, is because I have seen 

 inquiries in the papers as to whether the sweet po- 

 tato vine blooms. Ma says that there would be as 

 many as twelve blooms on a vine not more than two 

 feet long. She says that she has heard of but one 

 other instance where they bloomed so profusely, 

 and that was at a neighbor's a few years ago. 



I received Ten Nights in a Bar-Room, and read it 

 with great Interest, as did all the family, and I 

 loaned it to a neighbor, and she loaned it to another 

 neighbor; and as most of the neighborhood favor 

 dram-drinking, I hope it may do some good while 

 away from home. 



What would it cost to send a few beechnuts in the 

 burr, for seeds ? I have never se»n any, as they do 

 not grow here; but I have heard pa and ma speak 

 of them, and I should like to see some. 



Amy I. HOLLEMAN, age 11. 



Wager, Benton Co., Ark., Feb. 14, 1886. 



We did not succeed in getting any carp 

 minnows last year from our carp-pond. As 

 about a dozen large mud-turtles had suc- 

 ceeded in getting into the pond, we rather 

 thought they had eaten all the spawn, or 

 fish-eggs. We had been in the habit of 

 feeding the carp crackers toward evening, 

 and by and by the mud-turtles learned the 

 trick of grabbing the crackers too. A casual 

 observer would hardly notice this sly move- 

 ment of the turtles, but a little close watch- 

 ing shows how nicely they can gobble up the 

 fragments that are thrown out. I determin- 

 ed that I would shoot every one of them if 

 possible, and accordingly on the 4th of July 

 last, with rifle in hand, as soon as one stuck 

 his nose out of the muddy water, I let fly a 



bullet, knocking said nose, head, and neck, 

 into— well, you know what, boys. In this 

 way I disposed of over a dozen, and, so far as 

 I know, Ave have not been troubled since. If 

 any one is annoyed by these in his pond, I 

 know of no better way to get rid of them. 



In regard to the beechnuts. Amy, you can 

 get some relative, where they grow, to send 

 you some. The postage will be one cent an 

 ounce, and for 10 cents postage you can 

 probably get all you need. Ernest. 



GOING OUT OF THE BUSINESS— HONEY TOO CHEAP. 



Noticing that you wanted the juveniles to send in 

 reports about how long a bee would live without a 

 sting, I thought I would send mine. A few days 

 ago when the bees were having a fly, ma was in the 

 bee-yard about ten minutes. When she came in 

 there was a bee on her back that had just lost his 

 sting. I took care of him, and, counting the ten 

 minutes ma was in the bee-yard, he lived just three 

 hours. Pa has 33 swarms of bees. He has lost one 

 nucleus this winter. The rest are doing well. Last 

 spring ma was in Blasted Hopes, but pa said we 

 would try again. Last summer the bees did very 

 well. Pa says he io going out of the business, be- 

 cause honey is too cheap to eat. Cora Snyder. 



Corey^ Mich. 



Eriend Cora, we are sorry to hear that 

 your papa is going out of the business be- 

 cause '• honey is too cheap." Ought we not 

 to rejoice that there are hundreds who can 

 now enjoy one of God's choicest sweets, 

 where they could not before when honey 

 was 25 and oO cts. a pound? Perhaps the 

 false statements that you have been reading 

 about may have had something to do with 

 making " honey cheap;"' but we have good 

 reason to think that people will soon learn 

 the true source of honey. Again, there are 

 thousands of people who hardly know what 

 honey is. Let us stir ourselves, and help 

 papa to sell the honey around home instead 

 of sending the whole lot to the city, where 

 honey is hardly wanted at any price. Don't 

 you see that the more honey we send into 

 the city, where the sale is slow, the lower 

 the price will be there'? Let us see how many 

 uses we can make of honey ; and when the 

 city folks are willing to pay a fair price, we 

 will send it to them. At the head of this 

 department you will see what I say about 

 honey as a medicine for coughs and croup. 

 Xow, perhaps the very cheapness of honey 

 will so introduce it to the people that they 

 will conclude they must have it, and the price 

 will then rise accordingly. No, friend Cora, 

 don't let your father give up the business 

 yet. Ernest. 



HOW -MANY BUMBLE-BEES ARE THERE IN THE 

 AVERAGE SWARM? 



My pa bought some bees in a soap-box, and 

 Gleanings told him how to transfer them; 

 but he forgot that he was ticklish about the knees. 

 The bees found that out, and, well, pa will now 

 wear garters outside his pants near his shoes. I 

 like to frolic with the bumble-bees. I read the piece 

 about jugging the rogues. I used to pour hot water 

 in their ground-nests. Last summer I found a nest 

 in the front yard, and, in the cause of science, to 

 find out the number of bees in a nest I borrowed 

 ma's round wire Hy-trap with a tin top. I made the 



