862 



GLEANI^'GS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 



long rows of celery, beautiful to look at, but not 

 so nice to straddle over; but I straddled after him, 

 although there seemed some little danger of being' 

 split in two thereby. To my relief, after strad- 

 dling two or three rows he stepped on the summit of 

 the others with something like an apology in an 

 undertone for so doing. Then with a spading-fork 

 he dug up the celery, trimmed off the roots, went 

 and washed it at the pump, took it to the store, 

 and, after weighing, got ten cents for it— hardli^ 

 half the price I have seen the same amount sold 

 for. I said, "Why didn't you let somebody else do 

 this? " 



He replied, "The boys were not through dinner 

 yet, and I didn't like to ask them." 



"Then let the customer wait," said I. 



I don't remember exactly what answer he made. 

 As one of the proprietors of the publisher of 

 Gleanings, (for have we not all a kind of propri- 

 etorship in Gleanings and its founder?) I pre- 

 test against his frittering awaj' his time in things 

 of this kind that could be done just as well without 

 him, and wherein his time will not net him more 

 than perhaps .50 cents a day. It would be better for 

 Mr. Root and the world at large If he would get it 

 into his restless head that it is his religious duty 

 to cultivate a little wholesome laz;ness, and save 

 himself for a longer life instead of being cut otf in 

 the midst of his usefulness. I am very glad to 

 believe that in. his son and son-in-law he has very 

 worthy assistants. If I am not mistaken, Ernest 

 bids fair, with his candid Avay of viewing things, 

 and his keen habits of observation, to make a 

 better bee-keeper than even his father was. If it 

 were not for trenching on private ground, I should 

 like to speak of Mr. Root's matronly wife and in- 

 teresting family, but I forbear. I said to little 

 Huber (he's a regular perpetual motion), "We have 

 two cows at our house." He promptly replied, 

 " Fudge! Uncle Hen has more than that." 



One of the last things I saw as I took my way to 

 the station was one of the §^4.00 wheelbarrows. I 

 stopped to examine it carefully and admire its 

 beautiful appearance as well as nice construction, 

 and between you and me it's better than my cheap 

 one; but I wouldn't gratify Mr. Root by saying so. 



Marengo, 111., Oct. 19, ]8?6. C. C. Miller. 



Friend M., I want to protest a little. You. 

 do not understand me, and nobody seems to 

 understand me, unless it is my good friend 

 Mrs. Chaddock. It won't wear me out at 

 all to get out in the lots afteitcelery ; on the 

 contrary, I am, almost all day long, wanting 

 some excuse for tramping out over tlie lots, 

 and especially during this beautiful fall 

 weather. If somebody should come for fifty 

 dollars' worth of chaff hives, you would not 

 see me budge an inch ; but if he were in a 

 great hurry, and anxious to get away at the 

 very earliest possible moment, John and 

 Bert and Mr. Horn, and may be some more 

 of them, would go without their dinners en- 

 tirely to help him off— I am sure they would. 

 Now, celery-growing is one of my latest hob- 

 bies; and they all know that, if somebody 

 should come "and want five cents' worth of 

 celery I should just be delighted at the 

 chance of getting it for him. Why, I would 

 take off my hat, make my best bow, and in- 

 vite him to go down into the field, if he 

 looked as if he could tramp ; and instead 

 of being worn cut by exercise, I should get 



a new lease of life. When the weather is 

 fine, and things are growing nicely, I am 

 generally in such a hurry to get out into the 

 fields I finish my dinner before any of the 

 rest. During this dry fall weather we are 

 engaged in introducing the "New Agricul- 

 ture " down in the creek bottoms. We have 

 routed the frogs, and tlie rich dark muck, 

 in the bottom of the holes formed by the old 

 creek-bed, shovels out just as nice as can be. 

 Tlien we take a hoise and stone-boat, and 

 gather all the stones and rubbish tluit can 

 be found anywhere in the neigliborliood, to 

 fill these reservoirs. Anotlier thing I enjoy 

 down in the fields is getting acquainted 

 with my brood of Light Brahnuis. They 

 now roam over the greater part of our 18 

 acres; and when they see me down there 

 they know there is going to be some fun and 

 something good to eat. — In regard to the 

 real wootl itself, instead of the most artistic 

 graining, I am with you exactly. When I 

 build another house it shall all be natural 

 wood. Our painter said he could make 

 graining that would never crack and peel 

 off; but there is one of the doors that is so 

 cracked up that it looks '■ awful " already.— 

 The reason wliy I could not give you the 

 names of the plants in the dooryard was be- 

 cause I can not encumber my mind with so 

 much. For instance, the names of the 

 greater part of them are like the plant you 

 mention — Ampelopsis Veitchii. Now, if 

 plants with such names as these opened up 

 an opportunity of teaching people who are 

 out of work how to make a livelihood right 

 at home in their own gardens, as does celery 

 culture, then I might love to go into it. 

 Just now I am heart and soul engaged in 

 the work of telling people ivhat to do, and 

 hmo to be happy ■while doing it. 



STEALING PROPOLIS, ETC. 



HOW TO GET SIX GALLONS OF HONEY FROM A 

 FOUR-GALLON KEG. 



PLACED a number of old rotten hives under 

 the shade of a cherry-tree in the apiary, in 

 l|. order that the bees engaged in that particular 

 line of business might, instead of a trip a mile 

 or more to the gum swamp, help themselves to 

 the large supply of propolis Avhich lined the cracks 

 and crevices of the hive; and seeing a number at 

 work a few days since, I closely watched the 

 modus operandi of obtaining and placing it on 

 their so-called baskets. The particles bitten off 

 are passed alternately to one and the other, and 

 the amount apparently deposited on each is kept 

 as equal as if weighed and measured with math- 

 ematical precision. On the wing, I suppose their 

 line of flight would be uneven if a greater weight 

 were placed on either side, or only one basket 

 were loaded. Like Cowper's unwilling race-rider, 

 the same weight was placed on either side to make 

 the balance true. 



BEES STEALING FROM EACH OTHER. 



Hundreds of times I have noticed bees robbing, 

 or stealing honey; but they are not confined to 

 this particular article, for I saw an unusual theft 

 perpetrated. A bee alighted v/here there were 

 several others at woi-k, and at once commenced to 

 nibble away at the bard paags, but wjtbovit guccess, 



