1886 



glea:ni:n'gs in bee culture. 



907 



1 •>--«'>?^^^/,l""' Every boy or girl, under 15 



if'iyj^i*^' years of ape. who writes a 



fc^~', letter for this department, containing 



'■' Tf^ SOME VALUABLE FACT, NOT GENERALLY 

 -^l\" KNOWNON BEES OR OTHER MATTE US, 

 ' ' will reoive one of Uvvid Cook's excel- 



lent five -cent Sunday-school books. 

 Many of these hoolrs contain the same mat- 

 ter that you find in Sunday-school )^ooks 

 costing from SI. 00 to 81, '50. If you have had 

 one or more hooks, jjive us the n.imes that we 

 may not send the same twice. We have now 

 in stock six ditterent books, as follows; viz.: 

 Sheer Off, The Giant - Killer, The Roby 

 Family, Rescued from Egypt, and Ten Nights in 

 a Bar-Room. We have .also Our Homes, Part I. .and 

 Our Homes, Part II. Besides the above books, you may have a 

 photograph of our old house apiary, taken a great many years 

 ago. In it is a picture of myself. Bine Eyes, and Caddy, and a 

 glimpse of Ernest. We have also some pretty little colored 

 pictures of birds, fruits, flowers, etc., suitable for framing. 

 You can have your choice of any one of the .above pictures 

 or books for every letter that gives us some valuable piece of 

 information. 



"A chiel's amangye takin' notes: 

 An' faith, he'll prent it." 



•TIMMY'S TKOri'.LE IN KEEDING HIS 15EES. 



u 



he bees is swarmin'!" said Jini- 



" my's little brother Ted. 



"W "■' Guess you're mistaken — 



■*- wouldn't be no swarms in the 



middle "f October,"" said Jimmy, 



as he started with a bound toward his four 



hives, leaving his little brother trudging 



after. 



•' Veil, I gue.ss they be,"" persisted Ted, 

 almost out of breath. 



•'OuchI erackyi Ted, you run for the 

 house, or you "11— my! how savage thev be!" 

 shouted Jimmy, as he made a great effort to 

 stand his ground. Ted did not ol^ey imme- 

 diately ; but a moment later he set up a roar 

 —such a roar as only a seven-year-old young- 

 ster can give when stung. Jimmy, in the 

 meantime, paid no attention to the cries of 

 his brother. 



" Oh-um! how that does hurti"" said Jim- 

 my, gritting his teeth, as he pulled a sting 

 from under his finger nail, liizz-zipl and a 

 bee sent his little dart in his eyelid, and a 

 third on his upper lip. The tears streamed 

 down his cheeks, as the pain coursed 

 through his f ye ; and to say that he felt like 

 sneezing, and couldn"t, does not half express 

 it. Ted continued to roar loud enough to 

 rouse the neighborhood. Perhaps half a 

 dozen bees were now buzzing about Jimmy's 

 head. 



"CrackyI 1 can't stand no more o" this,"" 

 lie thought ; and with two or three l)ounds 

 he dashed into a thick clump of bushes near 

 the fence. When he thought himself secure 

 from his little enemies, he muttered to him- 

 self, " It served thie little brat right for not 

 minding me a-s he ought ter, when I told 

 hira to run to the ho-u.,se. I'll bet he'll go an' 

 tell ma a lot (yf stuff, syid tlien I'll ketch it. 

 I wondej ""— 



•• Hello there! what is the trouble?"" said 

 neiglibor Green, who, hearing the cries of 

 the child, and seeing a peculiar rustle in the 

 bushes, had come to render assistance. Mr. 

 (ireen is Sanfs father, wliom our little read- 

 ers will rememl)er as the one who showeil 

 Jimmy how to feed bees. 



'• W-h-o-tl"" said Jimmy, who now ven- 

 tured forth from his retreat. "'• Oh! nuthin"; 

 I've been feedin' my bees— that"s all."" 



•' Did 1 not see you running, a moment 

 agoV" said Mr. (Jreen. 



'• Y-e-s ; but I hain't fraid of no bees, 

 only '"— 



"I understand.'' said Mr. Green. '' l?y 

 the looks of things I should say that the 

 bees are I'obbing. See there ! the cover of 

 one of your hives is off. Tliere is exactly 

 where the trouble is. Evidently, by the way 

 the bees act, that cover has been off' all the 

 morning. Cover the hive up immediately, 

 and close the entrance.'" 



Jimmy paid no attention, liut commenced 

 fighting the bees, as if that were the most 

 important thing .just then. "Sir. Green, see- 

 ing that it was useless to tell him to do it, 

 now clambered over the ricketty fence and 

 fixed the colony. This done, he motioned 

 Jimmy to stand "back a little. 



'• Xow,'' said he, '' you or somebody else 

 left off that cover."' 



"' Why." replied Jimmy, when he had be- 

 come more calm, *•' me an' Ted made some 

 syrup last night. Well, one of my hives 

 was weak, an' was black bees ; so I thought 

 I'd give 'em lots of feed. I poured the 

 bread-pan clear up full, and before I could 

 stop it the syrup run all over the enameled 

 cloth and tlie outside of the hive. Well, 1 

 says to Ted, ' We'll leave the cover off that 

 'un, and put 'ton in the morning;' and ''— 



'' You forgot it!" added Mr. Green, with 

 a pleased smile. 



•• Well, "twasn't '(// my fault. Ted he 

 forgot it too,'' said Jimmy, not willing to 

 bear all the blame. 



"What did you leave the cover off' forV 

 asked Mr. Green. 



" Why. so the bees could crawl over the 

 edge of'the hive and lick it up."" 



•• Tiie syrup. I suppose you mean, and not 

 the hive,"' said Mr. Green", with an amused 

 look. 



"• Of course,'" said Jimmy, as if any one 

 ought to know that. 



" Now," said Mr. (ireen, as he was about 

 to go. '' I have closed the entrance and shall 

 trust you to open it after a little. Don't 

 forget'it, for the bees will be likely to smoth- 

 er if left long." 



When Mr. (ireen had gone, melancholy 

 Jimmy be.gan to brood over his feeding 

 operation. 



"Confound the bees!" lie thouglit. •I 



wish they didn"t have to be fed : an" why 



couldn't "they act decent and not l)e a lot of 



crazy hogs? ' I "most know Sam's pa will tell 



' Sam" that I run fi'om the bees. My! I 



': wouldn"t have him know it for '"— 



•'Jimmy! Jimmy! you come 'ere right 

 I away!'' shouted a shrill, angry voice. 



Jimmy obeyed very slowly ; and when he 



iiad enteied the house his step-mother liegan: 



i •' And w"at did ve jet this child get stung 



