27f 



gl:eanings in bee cultuke. 



AtU. 



HOW TO MAKE SARD AND SOFT HONEY-CAKE. 



Pa lost 8 colonies this winter. I will tell you how 

 to maV'^ h-.rfl honoy-cakc. Three cups of honey, 3 

 cups of butter, 2 teaspoonsful of baking soda, 1 of 

 cream tartar, 2 eggs. Mix, and roll out thin. 



Mombaccus, N.Y. Rennih Morehouse. 



I will tell yon how to make soft honey-cake. Cup 

 and a half of honey; 1 cup of butter, 2 eggs, 1 tea- 

 spoonful of baking soda, 1 of cream tartar, 4 cups of 

 flour. EsTELLA Quick, age 10. 



Mombaccus, N. V., Mar. 34, 1884. 



"Home of the Honey Bees" very much, and the 

 man who kept it. Pa has the A B C book and takes 

 Gleanings. I have a yoke of calves that l can 

 work some. Clarence Lathrop. 



Armstrong, Ohio, March 27, 1884. 



A GOOD REPORT IN WINTERING. 



My pa keeps bees; he has 44 swarms; he has not 

 lost any this winter. I had 3 swarms and sold them 

 to pa. I hive the bees when he goes to town. 



T. "W. Heath, age 14. 



Sherman, Texas, Feb. 5, 1884, 



GETTING BEES OUT OF THE WOODS. 



I We keep bees. We have 3 hives now. We did 

 ! have more, but one starved, two froze, we sold two, 

 I and one was eaten up by the millers. We found our 

 ' bees in a large tree in the woods. I like to see the 

 j bees getting honey, and I like to eat it. We have 

 some nice chickens; they are the Houdans and Leg- 

 horns. They are nice chickens. lam going to raise 

 some. I go to the reading - club every Friday 

 night. Eddie Orrell. 



Vernon, Ind., March 0, 1884. 



a IIO.ME-MADE EXTRACTOil. 



My father has 9 colonies of bees in the Langslroth 

 hive. He reads GleanInos. He made an extractor 

 in a big barrel. He used the wheels of an apple- 

 peeler for the gearing, and it did well. 



11. A. Garber, age 7. 



Leesburg, Tenti., March 17, 1884. 



FROM 47 TO 100, AND .5000 LBS. OF HONEY. 



My pa last spring had 47 swarms of bees, and in- 

 creased to 130, and we got 5000 lbs. of honey, and we 

 wintered 30 swarms in chaff hives, and the rest in 

 the bee-house. Charles D. Chap.man, age 11. 



Hicksville, Ohio, March 23, 1884. 



SADIE'S GOOD LETTEl!. 



1 took an old lady her supper last night. She is 

 sick, and very poor. Pa keeps bees, and I like hon- 

 ey. I know all my letters, and can spell some. 



Sadie Smith. 



Greenwood, W. Va., March, 1884. 



I am very glad indeed, Sadie, to see you 

 engaged in such work ; but I presume your 

 good mother sent you, did she not V 



A 4-YEAR-OLD BEEOWNER. 



My pa has 5 swarms of bees, and my little sister 4 

 years old has a swarm of hybrids, and she is not a 

 bit afraid of them. When they come out of the hive 

 and can't get back in, she will pick them up and put 

 them back. I have to go two miles to school, and I 

 go to Sunday-school. It is a mile and a quarter. 



Lyons, O., March 34, 1884. Louisa E. Green. 



SHOOTING into SWARMS. 



We have nine colonies of bees. We wintered them 

 on their summer stands. They are in very good 

 condition. One swarm started to run off last sum- 

 mer, \< hi le pa was fixing a hive to put them in. I 

 saw them going, and told pa and the hired man, and 

 the hired man got a gun quickly, and shot up 

 among them. Then they settled immediately on a 

 tree. We hived them, then pa gave them to me. 

 Otto L. Nale, age 10. 



Salem, Ind., April 2, 1884. 



The liring into the swarm may have caused 

 them to alight, Otto, but I do not really feel 

 sure of it. I linow that many people think 

 that the firing of a gun causes them to 

 alight. 



POISON HONEY FROM THE WATER-LILY. 



Papa had 40 swarms of bees last fall ; but he has 

 lost them all but six. They got honey from lily- 

 pads, and that poisoned them. 



Riplej', Me., March 25. Josie F. Hovt, age 8. 



I suppose, friend Josie, you mean by the 

 expression " lily-pads," flowers of the water- 

 lily. But it seems strange that it should be 

 poison. Is not your father mistaken in re- 

 gard to v/hat killed his bees V I have often 

 heard that the water-lily yields honey, but 

 not that it was poisonous. 



1700 LBS. OF. HONEY FROM 35 COLONIES. 



My pa keeps Italian bees — 35 swarms; wintered 

 part in cellar, and some outdoors, packed in chaff. 

 All have wintered well; took 1700 lbs. of honey last 

 year. I gather the eggs and feed the hens. My pa's 

 name is Daniel Wright. 



A. Ernest Wright, age 7. 



Violet, Ont., Canada, March 29, 1884. 



HOW bennie got his bees. 



I found a bee-tree last year. My father made a 

 hive, and put them in it. They are still alive, work- 

 ing nicely. I have two brothers older than myself. 

 We do not use tobacco nor intoxicating drink, so you 

 see we don't have to quit. I want to be a bee-man 

 some time. Bennie Chatfield, age 15. 



Sheridan Coal Works, Ohio, March 23, 1884. 



A VISIT to the home OP THE HONEY-BEES. 



My pa has one stand of bees. He and my brother 

 Harry went to see you last summer, and liked the 



HOW A BEE PACKS HIS POLLEN, ETC. 



My sister Stella and I have one hive of bees. Ma 

 has one, and papa has 20. Papa has made a show- 

 case to sell section honey, like the one he saw in 

 Gleanings. I watched a bee loading himself with 

 pollen. He gathered it with his mouth, and put it 

 on his fore leg, then pressed it on his hind leg. He 

 worked in this way until he was loaded. 



Friendly, W. Va. Nora Williams. 



Pretty well told, Nora. If you watch 

 bees when they are working in meal in the 

 spring, and you cau see the whole operation 

 of moistening it with their tongue, rolling it 

 up with their feet, and then patting it down 

 in the pollen-basket when it is finished. 



.iesse and the drone. 



My brother has 3 colonies of bees, and is going to 

 get some more. He likes to work with bees. Once 

 I went to catch a drone, and a bee stung me, and 

 my eye swelled shut, and I could not see for one 

 day. Jesse M. Daily, age 11. 



Mt. Hope, Kan., March 30, 1884. 



Well, my little friend, the laugh seems to 

 have been rather on you than on the drone, 



