G94 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Seft. 



breathe," fix it imraediatelj' so that she may have 

 as pure air as he doos to work in, and g'et his re- 

 ward in her better health and longer lite. Cer- 

 tainly the poorest can afford so eheap a luxury. 



Of course, every man will have a i)ump in the 

 kitchen, and drj' wood or coal in the woodshed, 

 where it can be g-ot at handily. T do not need to 

 speak of such matters. Also he will see that there 

 are screens in all the doors and windows, so the 

 g-ood wife may not be annoyed liy flies while she is 

 busy with her v/ork. These ai-e almost as cheap as 

 pure air now. 



Then if he is like the writer he will have a slop- 

 barrel on wheels standing' by the west poi-ch (in the 

 shade) in the morning, and by the east one in the 

 afternoon, so the ladies can dispose of the waste 

 water with the least possible trouble, and with no 

 danger to the purity of their surroundings. 



One more point, not to be overlooked: The 

 kitchen is a hot place when the thermometer is in 

 the nineties, and a larg'e cook - stove is adding to 

 the heat. Even if the air is pure it is a terrible 

 place to work, day after day, through the heat of 

 summer. Now, we have it in our power to make 

 kitchen life much more pleasant during the heated 

 term. With a good oil-stove all the work can he 

 done just as well, and one would hardly notice 

 that there is any fire in the room. Our folks are 

 right in the midst of washing this morning. I have 

 just been dov.-n to see how the thermometer stood. 

 On the east porch it was 93°; on the west one, 84°; 

 in the kitchen, 84^; and in the main part of the 

 house, 79^. Two oil-stoves were burning under a 

 boiler of clothes. I can easily imagine how hot 

 it would have been in the kitchen if the fire had 

 been in the cook-stov'e. As it was, the tempera- 

 ture was th« same that it was on a cool porch on 

 the shady side of the house, and but .5° warmer 

 than the coolest place in the body of the house. 

 Thanks to the oil-stove. We have a range of three 

 oil-stoves, and you may walk through the kitchen 

 in the hottest day of summer, when the oven is 

 full of baking bread, and my wife is ironing-, and 

 cooking dinner— all the stoves burning— and you 

 will liardly notice any difference in temperature 

 between the kitchen and parlor. There are oil- 

 stoves made that are safer than any cook-stove; 

 and the oil bought liy the Imrrel will cost no more 

 than wood at the price it is usually sold at in the 

 wllage market. That is, here, at least, f can take 

 wood to town and sell it for enough to pay for oil 

 that would do the same amount of cooking. 



A niece of the writer has no cook-stove in the 

 house. The kitchen is warmed in winter liy a fur- 

 nace, the same as the rest of the house. But I 

 would not advise this. Use the cook-stove during- 

 cold weather, and even cool mornings and days in 

 summer, lighting: the oil-stove whenever the coolv- 

 stove malics it uncomfortably warm. This will be 

 the best economy, and the most healthy practice. 

 Often on a cool morning, when you wouldn't have 

 any fire in the furnace or heating stove, a little 

 fire in the cook-stove would be pleasant, particu- 

 larly to the older people, and conducive to health 

 by driving out dampness. P^or ironing, the oil- 

 stove is simply perfect. At first my wife thought 

 that she couldn't make a success of baking bread; 

 but I got her some now tins of just the right sij;e, 

 and experimented a little for her, and now she will 

 bake an oven full of bread in 40 minutes as nicely 

 as it can be dune in any stove oven, at a cost for 



fuel of about halt a cent. Women, like us men, 

 are sometimes a little old-l'ogyish. The first time 

 my wife undertook to get dinner on the oil-stove 

 the potatoes would not get done on time. Ditiner 

 was an hour late. That upset her, for she can not 

 bear to be behindhand. She made some pretty 

 strong remarks about oil-stoves in general, and 

 hers in particular, and was more than ever in love 

 with the good old Stewart cook-stove that she had 

 worked over for twenty years. 1 got dinner next 

 day, or, at least, stewed the potatoes. First the 

 firight new tin steamer was smoked on the bottom, 

 as it always should be, and then just water enough 

 to make steam— about a quart— was put in. Being 

 a little nervous, we started the thing Z) minutes 

 sooner than the directions said was necessary, and 

 had dinner ready ~0 minutes liefore the time! The 

 wife gave up with good grace, and has since gone 

 back on the old Stewart, even for steaming pota- 

 toes. A good oil-range will cost about $2.5, with all 

 the fixings. I was once looking at a friend's nice 

 stone walks, and remarked, "They must have cost 

 you a good deal." 



"Yes," he says, "there is less money in the 

 bank, but a mighty sight more comfort around 

 home." 



The same may be said of the oil stove. 



Hudson, O., Aug., 1838. T. B. Terry. 



Friend Terry, I most emphatically agree 

 with ahnost every point yon make ; bnt I 

 notice yon speak of coal -oil stoves, and say 

 notliing abont gasoline. 1 presntne yonr ob- 

 jection to gasoline, judging from what you 

 say on page ^or), is the danger ; but are not 

 stoves for gasoline now made so tliat the 

 chances of danger are reduced to a mini- 

 mum ? We have tried coal-oil stoves, and 

 gasoline too ; but we lind the gasoline rath- 

 er tlie more convenient ; but we should like 

 to have yoiu' ideas on the subject while we 

 are discussing convenient kitchens. — In re- 

 gard to pme air, I am getting of late so that 

 it is very hard for me to remain in any room 

 very long unless the air is pretty nearly as 

 pure as 1 lind it outdoors. 



SEVERAL MATTERS FROM FRIEND 

 HEDDON. 



QUEEN-EXCLUDING HONE V-H()AI^DS. 



fES, they are a grand success. I think that 

 Dr. Tinker's article in last issue, supple- 

 mented by your copy of my own from the 

 C. B. J., must shed some liglit upon the 

 whole honey-board question. I think the 

 doctor was first to publish the device of the unity 

 of the metal strips with the wooden slats, by let- 

 ting the metal into side grooves; and he is entirely 

 correct in saying that to him who first published it 

 to the worlJ, belongs the credit. We gladly accord 

 it to the doctor, though we three, who were origi- 

 nal in the same thought, had none of us ever 

 seen it in any honey-board before. 



MKS. CHADDOCK'S HONEY. 



1 am sorry to read the low price.? Mrs. C. tells us 

 she is selling her honey for. I think such low 

 prices tor comb lioney are entirely unnecessary, 

 and would, if long compelled, drive' us all out of 

 the business. On page 631 you quote Mr. Doo- 

 little as "ans^\ering the wail of a few;" but take 



