204 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



MAK. 



HOW TO RAISE TOMATO-PLANTS. 



It Is a better plan to raise early tomato-plants in 

 small r^ircr boxes than cgi?-shell9, for the roots will 

 have more room to grow. Cut a piece of stiflf paper 

 (a paper flour-sack is good) 5 in. square, then double 

 up one inch all around. Double the coroers in and 

 tack with a needle and a thread, then fill with good 

 rich mold, and one seed of any kind in a box; set 

 them on a board, and keep in the sun, and water 

 well. LtJLU E. Gordon. 



Melvin, Ford Co., Ills., Feb. 21, 1881. 



LRA S EXPLANATION FOR THE CAUSE OF ABSCOND- 

 ING. 



Grandpa and i had 10 colonies of bees; but one of 

 them came out yesterday, and united with one of 

 Uncle Billie Sistrunk's, as ours and his are in the 

 same inclosure. I think their mamma must have 

 died and left them, and they couldn't keep house 

 without her. Our bees are busy working on the al- 

 der-blooms. Ira Mitcham. 



White Sulphur Springs, Ga., Feb. 11, 1884. 



Your explanation is quite ingenious, friend 

 Ira ; but if I am correct, bees as a rule never 

 desert their hives unless the queen is with 

 them. Don't you think it was because they 

 got out of stores and could not keep house V 



5-YEAR-OLD CORA'S LITTLE LETTER. 



I HAVE A LITTLE SISTER, AND I HAVE TO 

 ROCK HER TO SLEEP. I WILL PUT THIS IN 

 WITH MY BROTHER'S. IF THIS IS WORTH A 

 BOOK, PLEASE SEND ROBY FAMILY. SEND 

 MY BOOK WITH MY BROTHER'S. CORA. 



To be sure, your letter is worth a book, 

 Cora, but you did not tell us where you live, 

 and I am afraid our clerks were so careless 

 that they let your letter get away from your 

 brother's, and now we do not know where to 

 send the book. Will you please tell us 

 where you live V 



My pa has three stands of bees. I will tell you 

 how we got the first one. Ma and I stopped it as it 

 was flying past our house one year ago last summer. 

 It swarmed four times last summer; three we hived, 

 and one got away, and one of them has since died. 

 It was a small one, and the moth? got in it; but my 

 pa says if he had had his ABC book sooner, he 

 thinks he could have saved it. Since he has it he 

 reads in it nearly every night. He says he did not 

 know the first thing about bees, and would not part 

 with his book for any thing, if he could not get an- 

 other. I should like to see little Blue Eyes. I have a 

 little sister with big blue eyes too. 



Anna M. Garber, age 10. 



Cazenovia, 111., Feb. 13, 1884. 



I am glad your papa likes his A 13 C book, 

 Anna. I suppose this next little letter is 

 from the little blue-eyed girl you tell about. 



LETTER FROM ANNA'S BLUE-EYED SISTER. 



I am going to school, and have been going ever 

 since I was three and a half years old. I have a spell- 

 ing-book and slate, and my teacher says I must get a 

 Second Reader. I wish I could draw Eluber around 

 In his little wagon. Nora M. Garber. age 6. 



Why, Nora, do little girls go to school at 

 three and a half years of age in your State V 

 I wondered at such a nicely written letter for 

 a girl six years old. Here in Medina they 

 will not let them go till they are fully six 

 years old, and Caddie is just commencing to 



go to school this spring. Does it not make 

 you tired, my little friend, to go to school 

 and study, as young as you are ? Your little 

 letter is written better than half of the let- 

 ters we get, and we receive hundreds every 

 day. Now let 1 'ucle Amos advise you and 

 your parents. Do not study too much, nor 

 very long at a time. Go out and run around 

 and play with the bees and the flowers, and 

 take care of that little body of yours, and 

 those precious blue eyes that God gave you. 



now TO make ginger-snaps; by one of the 



JUVENILES. 



We have no bees. Mr. Ames has about 8 stands. 

 He gets about CO lbs. of honey. I will tell you how 

 to make ginger-snaps. Two cups of molasses, one 

 teaspoonful of ginger, one of soda, and a little milk. 

 Put the molasses and ginger in a pan, and set it on 

 the stove until it boils, and then put in the soda, and 

 put enough flour in to make it stiff. Roll the dough 

 thin, and bake in a quick oven, 



Feb. 20, 1884. Mary Rhoades, age 11. 



Well, Mary, very likely that recipe is a 

 good one ; but if you had managed some way 

 to have some honey in it, it might have been 

 a little more appropriate for a bee-journal. 

 It is all right, however, and it is very well 

 well done for a little girl only 11 years old. 



a JUVENILE PEN-PICTURE OF A HOME CIRCLE 

 AWAY DOWN IN TENNESSEE. 



Brother received his wire and expansive bit on the 

 9th. Neighbor R, brought our mail. It was dark 

 when he called at the gate for brother to come and 

 get a hoop and a rattle-box he had for him. Last 

 summer he told brother he had a coffee-pot some- 

 body had sent him by mail. It was a smoker. Well, 

 papers, letters, and all were laid by to see the bit. 

 Brother opened the box carefully, putting the extra 

 bit in his vest pocket. Now, to try it we had queen- 

 cages at hand, so down on the carpet we went, 

 mother to hold the lamp; brother, papa, and I each 

 must bore a hole. Then we must try the other bit; 

 brother felt in his vest pocket; no bit, but a hole. 

 Brother's eyes are black, and way in his head; but. 

 Uncle Amoi, they looked mighty white and close by 

 just then. Such a hunt as we did have on the car- 

 pet, in his pockets, in his boots. Papa went for the 

 sand-sieve to sift the ashes in the fireplace, when 

 brother happened to see he had a watch pocket, and 

 in it a bit. If you could have seen us, and not heard 

 us, it would have been a funny sight. Brother has 

 lost 3 stands; 2 were queenless. Bees stay outdoors 

 all winter about here. Brother's bees are raising 

 brood ; will soon have young bees flying. It has been 

 very cold this winter. The thermometer stayed 12° 

 below zero almost two days. Lots of people had 

 ears, toes, and fingers frost-bitten. One man had 

 one side of his nose bitten. Louis E. Trice. 



New Providence, Tenn., Feb. 11, 1884. 



AN ESSAY ON BEES, BY A JUVENILE TEN YEARS 

 OLD. 



Bees are divided into swarms, or families. Every 

 swarm must contain one queen, several thousand 

 workers, and a few drones. The queen-bee is the 

 mother of the family. She is longer than any of the 

 other bees, but in other respects her size is between 

 that of the drone and worker. In shape she resem- 

 bles the worker more than the drone. She has a 

 sting like the worker, but she uses it only to kill 

 other queens. She has a very little hair about her 



