188G 



GLEANlKGS IN BEE CULTUBE. 



319 



jj)K^ ,»-. Every boy or prirl, under 15 



liW^^' years of age, who writes a 



letter for this department, containing 



SOMK VaI.UABI^E fact, NOT BKNERALLY 

 KNOWN. ( N BEKS OR OTHER MATTEHS, 

 will receive one of David Cook's excel- 

 lent Hve-cent Sunday-school books. 

 Miiny of these bools contain the same mat- 

 ter that yen llnd in Suiida.y-school >^ooks 

 costing: from 81.00 to SI 50. If you have had 

 one or more books, tfive us the n.-inies that we 

 may not send the >ame twice. We have now 

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

 Sheer Off, The Giant - Killer, The Roby 

 Family, Kescned from Eg:ypt, and Ten Nights in 

 a Bar-Koom. We have also Our Homes, Part I.,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 Eyes, 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 anyone of the above pictures 

 or books for ever.y letter that gives us some valuable piece of 

 information. 



" A chiel's amang ye takin' notes; 

 An' faith, he'll prentit." 



J' TIAVE just been out watching the bees. 

 [ Did you ever see them working in the rye 

 t meal, liow they maketlieir little loaves of 

 ■ bread, and pack them on their hind legs 

 to carry home to their baby-bees? It is re- 

 ally funny to watch them; but just how they 

 make their bread, and how they get it on to 

 their hind legs, is a little hard to tell. I de- 

 clare, after getting down on my hands and 

 knees in the dirt, and watching with all my 

 might, till my eyes and back fairly ached, I 

 had to confess that I didn't know much 

 more about it than I did before. On tlieir 

 Jiind legs the little loaf, or pellet of pollen, 

 seemed to just grow by some sort of sleight- 

 of-hand that almost baffled me. A bee 

 would fasten his fore feet upon the edge of 

 the tray, or a chip of wood, and then com- 

 mence a vigorous kicking with his heels, in 

 the white dust, all the time rubbing his hind 

 legs together as if to grind more finely the 

 Piirticles of meal. Then, by some strange 

 means, tliat little loaf of bread began to 

 grow in the pollen-baskets. 



Now, little folks, I want to know how it 

 got there. I could tell, perhaps, if I watch- 

 ed for days at a time, but I liaven't the time, 

 and so I call upon you for help. In your let- 

 ters, tell me about it. Xow is a good time 

 of the year to settle this matter, if such a 

 thing be possible. If you haven't a tray of 

 meal, see the A B C book, page 190, under 

 head of ■' Pollen," for directions for starting 

 the bees on the rye flour. If you don't learn 

 any tiling by it, you will find it great fun at 

 any rate. You will see no prettier sight, 

 and their happy hum at the opening of a new 

 season is sweeter to me than the notes of 

 the birds in spring. By the way, little folks, 

 don't you believe the bees have their wav of 

 praising God, like the old biddy, when she 

 sings on a warm summer's day. Perhaps 

 they don't know from whom these blessings 

 come, l)ut they are happy nevertheless. 



FLY-TRAPS, AGAIN. 



Our little fly-trap is dead. Yes, he actual- 

 ly ate so much that it made him look sick. 

 1 wonder if he had the dyspepsia or the gout, 

 or was the diet of green flies unwholesome? 

 At any rate, the little fellow did the best he 

 knew how, and was faithful to the end. 

 We now have about half a dozen more to 

 take his place, and the way they do make 

 those naughty bugs disappear is almost won- 

 derful. They really enjoy the fun, I be- 

 lieve; and wlien they fall off the beds they 

 will tell us, in the best way they can, that 

 they want to be put back on. If you should 

 go through our greenhouse some time you 

 would find that the plants are stripped of 

 bugs as far as the chickens can reach; but 

 there are not many plants above their heads, 

 so they manage to get pretty nearly all. 



Eknest. 



OOING TO MAKE A VINEYARD APIARY. 



Pa has ':0 colonics, and has the most in chaff hives. 

 He has the most of them Italianized. Pa thinks the 

 Italian bees are very kind, and exact in their work. 

 He is going to make a vineyard as it shows in the 

 ABC book, with a windbreak on the west side. 

 The swarms will have a pleasant home. Last win- 

 ter we made our hives by foot-power; but this win- 

 ter we are going- to drive it with horse-power. 



Bluffton, O. NoAii Welty, age i:!. 



DO BEES LIKE RED-PATNTED HIVESV 



My father has 30 hives of bees, and raises a great 

 deal of honey. He raised about 5TO lbs. of comb 

 honey in pound sections that he bought of you, and 

 sold them from 18 to 30 cts. a pound. The extracted 

 honey brought him 13'i cts. a pound. The bees win- 

 tered outdoors, and only one colony died this win- 

 ter. The honey is mostly made from lucerne, and 

 is of a light color. It is very good. We children 

 like it. Do bees like red-painted hives? Father had 

 two swarms tty into the only red-painted hive he 

 had. Father intends to send for some queens this 

 summer, if they can be sent by mail. 



Caroline A. Folkman. 



Plain City, Weber Co., Utah, Mar. 14, 188fi. 



The facts you give, friend Caroline, seem 

 to indicate that bees do like hives painted 

 red; and no doubt red hives would be good 

 for them in the sjiviny, because the dark 

 color absorbs the heat of the sun more than 

 if the hives were white. I have never been 

 really satisiied that bees notice colors, but 1 

 am satisfied that Uiey can smell, right well. 

 Last week, some hyacinths were blooming 

 in the greenhouse; and the wind carried the 

 perfume out of the open door. So many 

 bees flew in and got imprisoned on the glass, 

 that I was obliged to carry the hyacinths 

 out in the open air. After that, not a bee 

 entered the greenhouse. 



HONEY AND BURNT ALUM FOR COLDS. 



I don't know any thing about bees, but 1 know 

 that honey and burnt alum is good for children 

 when they have a cold. Amanda Stults, age 9. 



New Helena, Custer Co., Neb. 



Thank you, little friend. After our expe- 

 rience with the croup that I spoke of last 

 month, I was told by a friend who has had 

 considerable experience, that we ought to 

 have given Arthur honey and burnt alum, 

 the same remedy you recommend. I won- 



