1SS6 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



G(i7 



self. Why do you suppose tlie bee should 

 make such a, fuss? The big bee-men tell us 

 tliat the bee has just returned with his lirst 

 load of honey, and that he wants every bee 

 to know it. If I am not mistaken, old bees 

 are guilty of such nonsense. Now, isn't it 

 possible "that the old bees, by this " wiggy- 

 waggy " motion tell their mates that there is 

 lots of honey over in Jones's kitchen? Per- 

 haps I am mistaken; but suppose, if you 

 have an observatory hive (if you do not have 

 one you had better get one), you take one or 

 two bees from said hive and put them into a 

 glass - covered box where tliere is a little 

 chunk of honey. Mary and Johnnie are 

 to watch the bees, one on each side of the 

 hive. In the mean time you are to carry the 

 bees you have caught, some little distance 

 away. When the bees have become pretty 

 welliilled with honey you are to dust a little 

 Hour over them and let them loose. They 

 will, of course, go right back to their hive, 

 where Johnnie and Mary are watching, and 

 who are to watch these two dusted bees as 

 they come in, and to note how they behave. 

 In some way or other, probably by their pe- 

 culiar actions, the two bees will induce oth- 

 ers to go back with them. Then Johnnie 

 and Mary are to watch them closely and see 

 how tUey behave. 



How many Johnnies ai)d Marys are we to 

 have report for the next Juvenile Glean- 

 ings upon this iioint? It may be that it is 

 too hard a task to perform ; but if you suc- 

 ceed well I will send you a nice present of 

 some kind. Ernest. 



A MOIJSH DESTROYS TUUEE SWAWMS. 



My uncle put some of his bcDS in :i liousc, and a 

 mouse got in and killed three swarms and carried 

 four quarts o I' seed coi-n into the hive. 1 intend, if 

 I live, to help Uncle Henry with the bees, and hope 

 to learn something- more about them. 



Hornby, N. Y. Ghace Haven. 



AVHO WANTS SOME CACTUS-BLOSSOMS ? 



I walk Hi miles to school, barefoot. Sometimes I 

 get cactus-briers in my feet. The cactus has pret- 

 ty blossoms— some red and some yellow. If any- 

 body wants any. I will send some for cloth enough 

 to make me or lUioda (my baby sister) a dress. 



Zem,a H.-Whight, age T. 



New Helena, Custer Co., Neb., July 10, 1886. 



now TO MAKE IIONEV OINGER-SN AP.S. 



I live with my aunt and uncle, who keep bees. 

 Thej' have 71 colonies and Ki nuclei. We have tak- 

 en off ;5000 lbs. of honey, 300 lbs. to take off yet. We 

 bake ginger-snaps with honey. Wo like it better 

 than molasses. We use honey in making jams and 

 in canning fruits. I will give the ginger-snap rec- 

 ipe: 2 cups of honey; 1 cup of sugar; 1 cup of 

 butter or lard; 1 teaspoonful of soda; 1 teaspoon- 

 ful of cloves; 1 tcaspoonful of cinnamon; 1 tea- 

 spoonful of pepper; 1 tcaspoonful of ginger. 

 Boil all together five minutes; stir up thick with 

 flour; roll thin, and bake. « 



I read about a solar extractor. We have one. 



Nkttie nnECKUiLt>. 



Kirkwood, Warren Co., III., July 20, 1886. 



about three inches deep in the bo.\, or by digging 

 up a turf. Turn it over and scrape out a hole in 

 the center, and turn it over in the box, and you 

 have the place for the eg.'is. Now dampen this, 

 and it stays several days, and holds the heat that is 

 necessarv to hatch the eggs. Our lettuce and 

 cabbage grow so fast in the garden that mamma 

 said she thought that even Mr. Koot would be satis- 

 fled. Jessie S. Smylie, age 10. 

 Caseyvillc, Lincoln Co., Miss. 



HOW TO HATCn CHICKENS. 



T saw that you were having trouble in hatching 

 your Brahma eggs. Did you keep the eggs moist 

 enough? Mamma makes her nests by putting dirt 



HIVING A SWAHM OF BEES. 



We have 20 stands of bees. The first one came 

 out May 12. We hived it, and on the next day it 

 came out and flew ofl. We followed it, and it went 

 about a mile. It went into a beech-tree. We cut 

 the tree down, and got the bees in a bo.\ and 

 brought Ihem home. Wc put them in a hive, and 

 gave them a frame of brood. They did well, and 

 made about 25 lbs. of honey above, and on July 1st 

 it cast a large swarm. 



Harry S. Greenfield, age 13. 



Somerville, Butler Co., O., July 17, 1886. 



Did yon give the bees a frame of brood 

 when they were hrst hived? Remember, it 

 is the imfCided brood, not that which is 

 capped over, which you are to give to swarms 

 just hived. Ernest. 



CUTTING OUT CELLS TO PREVENT SECOND 

 SWAKMS. 



rapa's swarms of bees have increased to 20. 

 He took off' over 10) pounds of honey yesterday. 

 He did not intend to let them swarm more than 

 once apiece. One colony sent out a second swarm 

 on the eighth day after the flrst came out. The oth- 

 er colony papa cut out the queens-cells on the 

 seventh day after the swarm came out, and he 

 found some of the (jueens out then; and in another 

 he found three hatched on the seventh day; and he 

 expected they would swarm again; but the next 

 morning he found two of the queens dead in front 

 of the hive. Besides these, three colonics have 

 been left queenless by cutting out all the queen- 

 colls but one, and that would die in the cells when 

 full grown. Clara Lindsey. 



Harford, Susq. Co., Pa., Juno ;}0, 1886. 



The plan of cutting out all the queen- 

 cells but one to prevent second swarms is 

 quite generally practiced, and, iis a rule, I 

 believe the remaining cell hatches, though 

 as in your case it sometimes fails to do so. 



Ernest. 



Wn.VT SHALL BE DONE IN A CASE OF SEVEUE 

 STINGING? 



In the fall of 1884, when my uncle Avas feeding 

 his bees for winter, a heavy-laden bee Avhich had 

 " stolen the march " on my aunt by getting into the 

 kitchen and taking a gorge of syrup W3,s picked up 

 off' the floor by one of my baby-cou, ins, a boy one 

 year old. The bee stung him on the fore-flnger of 

 his left hand. His ttngcr, hand, and arm swelled 

 alarmingly, nor did the swelling end there; for in 

 about twenty minutes his whole body swelled and 

 was covered with white spots. The raucous lining 

 of his pose Avas so muc|) swollen that he Avas com- 

 pelled to breathe through his mouth. My auut 

 was not a little alarmed. Uncle picker] him up in 

 his arms, and carried him as fast as he could to a 

 neighbor's house Avhere they gaA'c him plenty of 

 whisky, and in half fin hour the Avorst symptoms 

 ha(] clisjxppcai'QcJ. IJncle js a strong temperance 



