im 



GLEA:f^mGS liT BEfi CULTURE. 



203 



100 HIVES OF BEES, AND ALL, IN THE CELLAR. 



I am a little boy 7 years old. My uncle, John Mey- 

 er, has nearly 100 hives. They are all in the cellar 

 now. But it will be fun to see them in the spring 

 when he takes them out. Johnnie Woodworth. 



Wyandotte, Kansas, Jan., 188i. 



EDWIN, THE BEKS, AND THE DUCKS. 



Pa has 41 Stands of bees; all wintered very well. 

 The queen that he g-ot from you last summer died. 

 He was afraid that the other bees would rob them, 

 and told me to move the blocks back to contract the 

 entrance; but just as I went to put it tack, one of 

 the bees stung me. My big white Pekin ducks are 

 nearly as large as a goose, and have yellow bills and 

 short yellow legs. Did you ever see any Pekin 

 ducks? Edwin F. Grubb, age 10. 



Key, Belmont Co., Ohio, Feb. 21, 1884. 



now to cook tomatoes; by one of the juve- 

 niles. 



My mamma keeps bees. We have 6 stands. We 

 got 40 lbs. of honey. 1 will tell you how to cook to- 

 matoes. Put some hot water on them, and scald 

 them, and then peel them. Put them in a kettle, 

 and let them boil awhile, and then salt and pepper 

 them; butter them, and then put bread in'it. ^ 



Feb. 20, 1884. Carrie Darissour, age 9. 

 Now. Carrie, I know that recipe is a good 

 one, because 1 Iiave seen my wife do the 

 same thing— at least, as well as I can remem- 

 ber, and 1 should call you a pretty good 9- 

 year-old cook. 



IIOAV SHALL WE CURE A KICKING COAV? 



We have 7 horses and 4 cows to feed, and I have to 

 go about a quarter of a mile to feed the sheep. Can 

 you tell me how to break a kicking cow? We had 

 one, and she kicked so that we had to sell her for 

 twenty dollars. She was one-half Jersey, and she 

 was a good butter-cow. I should like to come out 

 there and see your bees, and see all your things. 

 Frank Mitchell, age 10. 



Poplar Grove, Ind., Feb. 16, 1834. 



I'riend Frank, I am sorry to say I am not 

 posted in regard to the most intelligent, hu- 

 mane, and Christian way of curing a kicking 

 cow. ^Vhile I think of it, I should be very 

 glad to have Prof. Cook tell the boys ju^t 

 what to do in such cases. Now, friend 

 Cook, won't you come out of the '• harness" 

 just a minute, and do some good by answer- 

 ing Frank's question V 



CUTTING A BEE-TREE. 



Papa has 9 swarms of bees, and 1 have one, and 

 mamma has one. Last summer we went to cut a 

 bee-tree, and we did not get the bees all that night, 

 and we went back next day to get them, and they 

 were not there. P«pa looked around and found them 

 on a tree, 50 feet frotn the ground, and I climbed up 

 and cut the limb off with a knife, and carried it 

 down, and got stung but once. Papa can't climb 

 better than a cow. Lenny L. Lucas, age 11. 



Jewett, Ohio, Feb. 23, 18S4. 



Seems to me, my little friend Lenny, your 

 illustration about your papa's abilities in the 

 direction of climbing trees is not very com- 

 plimentary. However, we suppose he is a 

 grand good papa in other things, even if 

 climbing trees is not his especial forte. J am 

 glad of one thing, and that is, you got down 

 safe without getting hurt. 



FROM 2 TO 14, AND OnllJ 30 LBS. OF HONEY. 



My pa had two hives of bees in the spring, and in- 

 creased to 14. He got only 30 lbs. of honey. But he 

 is working for increase more than for honey. He 

 has hauled sawdust to set the bees on. 



Perrysburg, O. Sheridan E. Hower, age 13. 

 Why, Sheridan, if two colonies were in- 

 creased to 14, and they lived through the 

 winter, I should think 30 lbs. of honey was 

 a pretty big lot, especially if the younger 

 swarms (poor little dearsi) did not any of 

 them starve outright. 



F,DDIE'S COMPOSITION ON BEES. 



Bees are a very useful insect. They make nice 

 honey and wax. On cloudy days they make their 

 wax, and on nice days they gather their honey. They 

 are busy all the time. In the summer they swarm; 

 and if the folks do not watch them they will take a 

 shoot; and if they have no place to go to they will 

 alight on the fence-rails and other places till they 

 die. That is all I can say about bees. If you send a 

 book, I will take "Harris on the Pig." 



Eddie Shereu. 



Inwood, Marshall Co., Ind., Feb. 21, 1884. 



That is a pretty good composition, Eddie, 

 providing it were all true ; "but I am afraid 

 some of it is not. We should be glad to 

 send you the book you ask for ; but ''Harris 

 on the Fig"' is worth $l.oO, and we give only 

 5-cent books for little letters. 



CHARLIES REPORT. 



One summer I found a swarm of bees on a black- 

 berry bush, and my papa said I might have it; and 

 from that one I got another swarm, and in the fall 

 I sold them to papa for |5.00, and in the winter his 

 bees all died but one swarm. My sister had four 

 swarms of bees, and she sold her bees and honey, 

 enough to amount to about $37.00, and papa put 

 money enough with it to buy her an organ. 



Charles Gilmore, age 12. 



Georgetown, Wis., Feb. 20, 1884. 

 Well, Charlie, I should think you sold out 

 to your papa in just the right time, did you 

 not ? Your sister's case illustrates how any 

 young miss who wants an organ may get 

 one ; and if I am right about it, Charlie, 1 

 believe your sister appreciated it a great 

 deal more for having worked for it, than if 

 her papa had paid for the whole. 



MYRTLE and SADIE. 



Pa has 2.3 hives ot bees. He winters them in the 

 cellar. We got about 1000 lbs. of honey. The bees 

 did not do very well last year. I wish you would put 

 your baby's picture in G leanings, so we could look 

 at it. I wish you would send me the Giant- Killer. 

 Myrtle Scarlett, age 9. 



Papa says he is going to have me for his bee-girl. 

 I used to catch bees, and play with them. Once I 

 caught a black bee, and it stung me. 



Sadie Sca]!lett, age 7. 



Anita, Cass Co., la., Feb. 22, 1881. 

 Why, Myrtle, I should be very glad indeed 

 to have Iluber's picture in the journal, but 

 the engravers say they can not make good 

 pictures of babies. Idabies are so biight and 

 sparkling and vivacious, that it would be 

 like picturing a bird on the wing, almost, to 

 get a good picture that would do them just- 

 ice. May be I will try, however, when he 

 gets a little older. 



