3G0 



GLEANINGS IK 1^EE CtJLTUllE. 



May 



in every flock. Such sift themselves out of here. It 

 requires vim and judgment to succeed here as well 

 as in many other places; and it seems that Florida 

 must be a God-forsaken land, instead of a land blest 

 with Uowors, where even the thermometers Mill 

 not indicate truth, much less interested land-agents 

 that do their work by writing and talking. I do not 

 approve of exaggerating, as no doubt some of the 

 many laud-agents of Florida do, for there are some 

 black ones among them. 



I approve of Mr. W. S. Hart's advice to those con- 

 templating moving to Florida— come and see before 

 pulling up your stakes where you are, unless you 

 know some man or friend who has an honest pur- 

 pose at heart, and has sound judgment, such as you 

 can trust to advise in so important a matter as 

 moving into a new country and climate, especially 

 where a man has a family. There are a great many 

 things to look out for besides land-agents. As for 

 society, 1 feel it my duty to say that it is good. We 

 have churches of nearly or quite all denominations. 

 They are well attended in most parts. Schools, I 

 can not say are good, though improving very rapid- 

 i.y. 



Again, Mr. E. not only asserts that thermometers 

 are worthless, but that the climate is a fraud. I do 

 not know how that is; but I feel sure that God nev- 

 er made nor ordered any frauds in his kingdom. 

 Now, because we had a cold snap the past winter 

 that spoiled our oranges and vegetables, and killed 

 some small seedlings, we must not denounce God's 

 ruling and shut our eyes to keep from seeing his 

 blessings and wisdom. I haven't a doubt but that 

 the cold here last winter was a blessing instead of a 

 fraud, if we could see through God's wisdom in 

 sending it. As much as has been said about the 

 cold and hot weather in Florida, I feel inclined 

 to state just here a little of my e.xperience in the 

 twelve years that I have been in the State. I am 

 neither a Floridian nor a land-agent. 



The lowest that the thermometer had been until 

 this winter, at my place, was 38°. This winter it got 

 down to 33°, the highest 95°. Just here I have to 

 differ with Mr. E. again. I have never felt it un- 

 comfortably cold to work out of doors, nor so op- 

 pressively hot the hottest day as it was up noi-th, 

 where I was raised. The nights are delightful, both 

 winter and summer. 



A word in explanation to those who are not famil- 

 iar with our situation and the causes of our pleas- 

 ant summers. We are between the Gvilf of Mexico 

 and the Atlantic Ocean, consequently «ve are fanned 

 by the gentle breezes from one or the other, almost 

 every day during summer. This breeze reaches us 

 here in Orange Co. from 7 to 9 o'clock a. m. 



Now a word about the precious little busy bees. 

 1 have 28 colonies, all Italianized, one Bellinzona 

 and one Carniolan. They are all g<ithering honey, 

 and rearing brood nicely. Some of them liave drones 

 out this 8th of March. 



Pardon me, friend R., for one question just here. 

 Will yellow-jessamine honey kill young bees? Some 

 of them seem to sicken and die trom the first 

 sip they take after they come out. This disease 

 does not affect the Carniolans. I hope to give a 

 more favorable report of my bees later In the 

 season. John S. Womble. 



Oviedo, Fla., March 8, 1886. 



Friend W., may be the report from the 

 Chronide was a littk^ severe ; but there are 

 certainly extremes both ways, and no one 



would want people to sell out and go to 

 Florida, to be disappointed after getting 

 there. No doubt the cold snap in Florida 

 will prove to be a blessiiig if taken right ; 

 but the same rule will apply north as well as 

 south. The writer of the article alluded to 

 meant to say that thermometers didn't seem 

 to him to be worth as much as a guide, as 

 here in the North. I am glad you like your 

 Southern home.— I do not think that the 

 honey from the yellow jessamine ever kills 

 bees at all ; and Prof. Cook takes the liber- 

 ty of doubting whether it ever kills anybody, 

 if eaten in moderation. 



^EPei^Tg ENC0aR^6i]^6. 



GOOD REl'OItT FROM AN A B C SCHOLAR IN NEW 

 ZEALAND. 



T N the month of January, 1883, a vagrant swarm 

 M of bees thought proper to cluster on a small 

 ^l tree near our house. 1 got an empty candle- 



'*' box, and so hived my first swarm of bees. A 

 few days after, neighbor K. called and tried to 

 impress upon me the advantages of the modern 

 system of bee-keeping, and, by way of proving his 

 arguments to be correct, he gave me a Simplicity 

 hive and ten frames, with fdn. starters, and trans- 

 ferred my bees for me. He also lent me your A B 

 C and a great pile of Gleanings. This interested 

 me so much that I resolved to try to raise honey 

 suflicient for our own use. At the end of the next 

 season I had 8 colonies of bees and 150 lbs. of honej'. 

 Another j'ear passed away, when I had 16 colonies 

 and 1500 lbs. of honey; and now, Mar. 1, 1886, I have 

 37 colonies of bees and :53O0 lbs. of extracted honey. 

 During this time I have not bought iiny bees, and 

 have tried to keep them from increasing too much. 

 It seems to me that the mt)St important question 

 for the apiarists of this country will be, how to pre- 

 vent swarming, and how to sell honey. Thei-e is no 

 trouble in wintering bees. They can be left in 

 their Simplicity hives on the summer stands, with a 

 cushion over the mat; and if they have plenty of 

 honey there is no fear of loss. We have no snow 

 here, except on very high mountains, and very little 

 frost — what we call hoar frost, in the night, 

 making the ground white, and forming thin ice in 

 small puddles; but, when freezing at night, the days 

 are always very fine and warm. The summer time is 

 not so extremely hot as with you. We think 80° 

 warm weather; 93° in the shade is the highest I 

 have known, and that does not often occur; and 

 even then, mount Ruapheu, which is about 60 miles 

 distant, can be plainly seen, towering up in the skj% 

 its summit covered with perpetual snow. 



I think I may say that your Simplicity hive and 

 frame is the standard national hive of this country. 

 Of course, we have some men who regard an alter- 

 ation as an improvement; but these are very few 

 Gleanings just suits me; its mixed character adds 

 g-reatly to its value, in ray opinion. I have gained 

 moi-e information as to the climate, natural produc- 

 tion, manners, and customs, of America and its 

 people, from Gleanings, than, from all the histo- 

 ries and books of travel I have read. We have been 

 in the habit of saying, "Our American cousins!" 

 but the kind and friendly tone of Gleanings makes 

 me feel like saying, " My American brothers." We 

 are of the same origin, with the same literature and 



