996 



GLEANINGS IK JiEE CULTURE. 



Dec. 



spring: cart for eleven miles, and not one of them 

 got out. Jessie Hyde, ag-e n. 



Otau, N. Z., Sept.; 1880. 



A bee which has lost his sting, it' coufiued 

 in a q'loon-cage, will not live much over 24 

 hours; if allowed his liberty he will live 

 from a week to two weeks. I would refer 

 you to this department in back numbers of 

 the past year for a full account of experi- 

 ments upon this point. 



" EGC.i^TION." 



The following is from a little friend who 

 evidently wrote' hurriedly. As it is quite 

 original," we insert it just as she has sent it 

 to us. If you are careful I think you can 

 make it out. 



I seat myself to write you a few lines I went To 

 Sunday school nearly all Sumer I like to go to Meet- 

 ing the meeting house is about 3 miles and a half 

 off, Our school is a going to comenst a munday 1 

 expect To go to all winter I never went to school 

 very much Buch luit I am glad I hav As much 

 egcation as I have Papa has nobees bu he wants 

 To get some so T can no think of no more at pres- 

 ant Zylpha A. 



"Egcation" surely is a nice thing, don't 

 you think? 



so SICK FKOM THE STINGING TII.4T HE COULDN'T 

 SEE. 



My papa has 2 stands of bees. Ho had 3 last win- 

 ter, but one of them froze. Last summer, when 

 they swarmed, they went across the railroad and 

 settled on a willow-tree. Papa told a neighbor to 

 jar the limb, and he hit it with the hatchet and 

 made them mad. They stung papa, and made him 

 so sick that he couldn't sec. This summer, when 

 they swarmed, papa put mosquito-bar over his hat. 

 They settled in the peavines and on the gronnd. I 

 like to see bees swarm, especially when they are 

 Hying in the air. Ouion Hunt. 



Dodson, Ohio, Nov. 16, 188f5. 



You do not say how your papa recovered 

 from the stings ; but I gather from your let- 

 ter that he did nothing, and just let old 

 Dame Nature take care of it itself. Am I 

 right? It is not wise to bump a swarm off 

 from a limb when somebody is right below 

 them, as I infer your father was. 



year old, Fred thought he would try to see if he 

 could not train him a little; so he commenced by 

 leading him up to a log, and telling him to come up 

 on it. Fred put one foot upon it for him, and then 

 told him to put the other one up, helping him a 

 little. Ever since that, when he wants him to come 

 up, all he has to do is to say, "Prince, come up," 

 and he will come right up. He is very pretty, dap- 

 pled light and dark gray. His mother is white as 

 snow. She is very active when hitched to a wagon. 

 Her mane is about 3 ft. 8 inches long. Her tail 

 comes to tlie ground. Her foretop comes below the 

 end of her nose. Peakl J. Cranston. 



Woodstock, Champaign Co., O., Nov. 12, 1880. 



I almost envy friend Fred, because I have 

 not such a nice colt. The colt's mother, too, 

 must indeed be a beauty, with such a long 

 silvery tail and mane. 



THIEVES. AND AN OLD KETTLE. 



For the last year or two the thieves have been 

 taking grandpa's chickens; and this summer, while 

 they were trying to raise some little chickens, as 

 soon as they were large enough for a good fry or 

 roast, somebody would come and take them, and 

 have a picnic, I suppose. There is a cornfield just 

 below his cornfield; and when the corn-cutters 

 came to cut the corn in the field adjoining his, they 

 (we suppose it was they) commenced on his chick- 

 ens, and one night they took an old kettle that 

 grandmother's mother gave to grandmother when 

 she went to Iowa. Orandfather thinks it must be 

 over one hundred years old. This is pretty old, is it 

 not? It was a kettle that was used to cook around 

 the fireplace. He still keeps up with the old-fash- 

 ioned cooking by the fireplace. The kettle was sit- 

 ting by the side of the door where they keep all of 

 the ironware. Grandfather was 88 years old in 

 September, and 1 suppose the thieves think they 

 can do any thing they want to around here. 



Pekl J. Cranston. 



Woodstock, Ohio, Nov. 21, 1886. 



If I were your grandfather, I think I 

 would try to find out who those thieves 

 were. That old iron kettle, by this time, 

 surely has an unwritten history. 



HUNTING BEE-TREES. 



Mr. Mase makes his home with my pa. He takes 

 Gleanings. I read it some, and love to hear my 

 pa and Mr. Mase read it. One year ago last month 

 they found seven trees in the woods, with bees in 

 them. They made hives and put them in. When it 

 was cold they put themj.in bo.xes and put chatf 

 around them. They all lived, and this summer the 

 bees made 386 lbs. of comb honey in little boxes. I 

 help all I can. I like to use the smoker. They took 

 three moi'c trees np this fall, and now have 16 hives 

 of bees. I am V years old. I am too young to walk 

 2'i [miles to school, so my ma and pa teach me and 

 my little brother at home. Cora A. Blanchard. 



Mt. Hope, Morris Co., N. J., Nov. 2, 1886. 



FRED'S COLT, AND HOW HE TRAINED HIM. 



I Will tell you about a horse we had, and what 

 Fred did with him. When the colt was about one 



A GOOD SCHEME. 



When my pa lived out west he kept a great many 

 bees. He would buy common black bees and trans- 

 fer them into frame hives, and Italianize them, and 

 sell them for *10.00 a colony. We are going to Ten- 

 nessee in the spring, and I am going to try pa's plan. 

 I think every little boy can make money this way. 

 lam going to study bee culture this wintei-, sol 

 shall know how to commence my business in the 

 spi'ing. Charley F. Henry, age 12. 



Lowell, O., Nov. 25, 1880. 



Good, friend Charley I When you have 

 transferred your first one or two colonies 

 from " old gums " into the movable-frame 

 hive, write and tell us about it, and we will 

 send vou any 2o-cent present you may choose 

 from "our premium list or price list. You 

 must repiind us of our promise, at the time 

 of writing. We will extend this offer to any 

 other Charley who will do the same. Go 

 among your box-hive men, explain the new 

 methods of securing honey, and then offer 

 to do the job of transferring at a price you 

 and your box-hive friend may agree upon. 



