1886 



GLEANl^'GS IN 13EE CULTLUE. 



861 



on the 11th here in North Carolina, the day after it 

 Started, t also sent (jucens the same sprinjr to Ne- 

 braska, April 4; arrived all rigrht; to K. L. Taj- lor, 

 Lapeer, Mich., March 28, 5 queens; they also arrived 

 safely. This spring- 1 mailed queens to Ohio, April 

 17; Canada, April 3.5; New York, April 17th; all ar- 

 rived safely. I see no reason why queens can't be 

 mailed safely to almost any point in the V. S. after 

 April 15th any year. I for one have, and will do it 

 again, if it be the Lord's will. 



Out of tJ(5 hives, spring count, I put sections on 

 only 3, the others being- run for bees and queens, 

 for sale. One of these yielded nie 20 lbs. of nice 

 capped honey. May 20; sections, tilled and capped, 

 were taken off the other two. May 2-t. The honey- 

 flow for this section began April 2tith, and closed 

 Maj' 25th last spring. 



.JONES ENTR.^NfE-OU.VHDS. 



These will not always confine queens. 1 had a 

 swarm issue this spring that had a guard over the 

 entrance. It confines drones all right. 



DO DEES HEAH ? 



If not, why do they set up the call that tliej' gi\e 

 when hiving, just as soon as they decide to accept 

 the proffered home, and begin to enter it V Is it 

 natural that anj- thing which has no hearing should 

 be endowed with a voice— n.x a rule, such as bees, 

 for instance V Of what effect to them would it be 

 without the benefit of hearing one another V How 

 do they locate the hum of bees when robbing one 

 another, and come in numbers so quick, if they 

 can't hear? Abbott L. Swinson, 71—72. 



Goldsboro, Wayne Co., N. C. 



Friend S., it seems to me tlie evidence is 

 pretty strong that bees do liear.— Very like- 

 ly you are right about getting early queens 

 from the South ; but there is this one thing 

 very certain : the man who has a supiily on 

 hand, ready to fill orders in March and 

 April, will have a wonderful business when 

 people get to find it out. See page oOo, 1886. 



NOT ABOUT BEES. 



UK. Mil, LEU TELLS OF HIS VISIT TO THE HOME 

 OF THE HONEY-BEES. 



TTp FTER making a visit to my old mother in 

 qflk Pennsylvania, I started to the N. A. Con- 

 ^^H vention at Indianapolis, and stopped on my 

 ■^^^ way at Medina. 1 suspect many of the i-eaders 

 of Gleanings would like to know some- 

 thing about Mr. Root at his own home, for I find 

 my own family have been very much interested in 

 hearing about it. Since I was at Medina before, 

 he has got into his new house, and I was delighted 

 to find such an elegant home. My own home is of 

 a more common sort, and the surroundings by no 

 means such as I would have if I were in a more 

 money-making business; but I do enjoy seeing my 

 friends have nice things. I remember but two 

 things that I wanted to see ditferent about Mr. 

 Root's house. I wanted to see the fine brick walls 

 covered with AmpdofisiK Vritchii. and perhaps he 

 may yet start .some ])lants of this grand climber, 

 for it takes some time for it to grow. There is, in 

 the minds of some, a jirejudice against this class 

 of plants, which is, I think, not well founded. They 

 think that the vines keep the brick walls damp, and 

 thus hasten their decay. If they did do so, their 

 great beauty would be a ooiisjderable compensa- 



tion. But I think it (juite possible that the re- 

 \'erse is the truth. The close foliage makes a dense 

 covering, which protects the wall against the in- 

 jurious heat of the sun and the beating rains, and 

 it is quite possible that the little feet by which the 

 plant attaches itself to the bricks serve to some ex- 

 tent as roots, and draw moisture from the wall. 

 The other thing was this: As I went up to ray 

 bedroom I passed through a hall having a floor of 

 wood of natural color, and up a flight of stairs, if I 

 remember rightly, of ash, finished in natural color, 

 and the good taste was shown to have no carpet 

 to hide this beautifullj' finished wood; then on 

 coming to my bedroom the first thing that met my 

 eyes was a door, one side of which, instead of 

 showing the natural grain of the wood, was cover- 

 ed over with paint, and then the attempt was 

 made to imitate the natural grain by graining 

 with paint. That riled me. To the educated eye, 

 the plainest grain of even pine wood is preferable 

 to the best graining; and in this case it could hard- 

 ly ha\e been because the door was made of pine, 

 for in the very same room the l)eautiful inside 

 shutters were nothing in the world but plain pine 

 finished natural color. I hardly see why people 

 will persist in getting up these shams in the way of 

 graining, when the genuine grain of the plainest 

 kind of wood, finished In the cheapest manner, 

 looks so much better. Besides, when the graining 

 is marred or knocked ott', thei-e is nothing left but 

 to cover it all over again; whereas, the natural 

 grain can not be knocked off; and when marred it 

 can easily be brightened up again. So far as I 

 could judge, the grounds about the house are laid 

 out very nicely, although, of course, the trees and 

 shrubbery have not had time yet to attain any 

 great size. 



I was a little disappointed, when I asked about 

 some of the things planted on the lawn, to be told 

 that the gardener could tell me all about them. I 

 thought it was Mr. Root's business to know all 

 about them himself, so as to enjoy them. But 

 when I passed beyond these grounds to the mar- 

 ket-garden he could answer all my <)uestions, and 

 many that I didn't ask. And, oh what growth! 

 But when I pushed my foot through the finely 

 pulvci-ized loam I didn't wonder. Things couldn't 

 help but grow in such soil. On this ground, stand 

 still a few majestic maples, gorgeous in their rich 

 autumn dress, which Mr. Root thinks must give 

 way for more garden stuft'. I hope the women- 

 folks, with their natural love for the beautiful, 

 will enter so earnest a protest against such ruth- 

 less vandalism that Mr. Root will be compelled to 

 stay his hand. 



I will not attempt to describe the great factory 

 and the many happy faces I saw there. The 

 lunch-room is quite an institution; and with its 

 clean and well-cooked food it is no great wonder it 

 should have an extensive patronage from others 

 besides those in the immediate vicinity. Mr. Root 

 has adopted the sensible and humane plan of 

 having his family take dinner and supper some- 

 times, if not always, at the lunch-room. While he 

 was eating dinner, some one came and told him 

 that a customer wanted some celery, and there 

 was none at the store. In a little while Mr. Root 

 finished his dinner and started for the celery-patch, 

 ])erhaps an eighth of a mile distant. I followed, 

 puffing, after, for Mr. Root is great on a tramp, 

 and I am getting pretty fat. Soon he came to the 



