U{) 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



troubles have come about just by careless- 

 ness in this one thing. 



caspek's repout. 

 My brother had ten hives of bees, six of them 

 black and four of them Italians. I don't think he 

 got much honej' from them. This winter he lost 

 three hives of them, so he has but seven. My father 

 had a misfortune. On March 10 he had a.saw-mill 

 and a tub-shop burn down for him. I have a twin 

 sister named Cari-ie. Casper J. Peters, age 11. 



^^ery good, Casper. I suppose you are 

 the boy your sister tells about lielow. (lO- 

 ing to have a liundred, are you? Well, I 

 hope you will ; and I hope "they will be, 

 every one of them, tall ones too. 



I now sit down to tell jou that I am one of your 

 little bee-girls. I like honey on my bread, also on 

 my pancakes. My brother has ten swarms of bees; 

 intends to increase to a hundred. 



Carrie A. Peters, age 11. 



Bleecker, N. Y., March IT, 1884. 



THE ANTS, THE FLOWERS, AND THE BEES. 



The ants got in our bees, and we had a bad 

 time getting them out. We have some peas, onions, 

 potatoes, lettuce, peppers, and corn. I have a 

 plum-tree, and this morning the bees were all over 

 it. When we looked in the hives this morning they 

 had a lot of honey. 1 have a tiower out here that is 

 just like a pitcher, and is yellow. Every morning- 

 it is full of water. Eddie Orreij.. 



Vernon, Jennings Co., Ind., April :i6, 1884. 



Eddie, it' that yellow flower is full of water 

 mornings, wlien there has been no rain, I am 

 inclined to tliink you will liud the water is 

 sweet water; and inay be if you have enougli 

 of them you will And the "bees carrying in 

 this sweet water to make it into iioney. 

 Just take anotlier look, and see if I am not 

 I'ight. 



SAVINf! A QITEENI.ESS COLONY BY TAKTNC. A QIEEN 

 FROM A VERY WEAK ONE. 



I help my brother-in-law. Last summer he had 

 only two swarms. He bought .5 more last fall. 1 

 helped him last fall to pack them. He wintered 

 them oTit on their summer stands. None were 

 (|ueenless last fall. Five came through strong, and 

 two came through weak. That one had about a 

 handful left. He took the queen and put it into the 

 queenless swarm the ITth of March; he looked the 

 other day, and she had a nice lot of brood, so I guess 

 they won't kill her. He is a lieginner, and likes the 

 bee business. Mary E. Sparks. 



Grattan, Kent Co., Mich., April 16, 1884. 

 Friend Mary, we can often save a colony in 

 the manner you state; but I shotdd say. Mhere 

 you have such a weak one as tliat, with a 

 (iueen,'take the bees, queen and all. and give 

 them to the stronger one tliat lias no (lueen. 



Peter. Please tell us more of his funny doings. We 

 had a good laugh over liis way of giving you back 

 your door-key. 



Papa has forty colonies of bees, all in good condi- 

 tion. I will report to you this fall, if you wish me 

 to. Lydia R. Smith. 



Ferndale, W. T., April 9, 1884. 



A GOOD place to KEEP COMB HONEY. 



P'ather puts the honey over the kitchen stove, and 

 in June it is just as nice as evei\ It is recommend- 

 ed by the neighbors as the best ever tasted. He 

 never tried extracted honey, but comb will keep 

 there. Mother had a swarm of bees die, and can not 

 find out what ailed them, as they had capped brood 

 and honey, and were packed snugly in a chaff hive. 

 We looked the A B C book ovei-, and did not And 

 any thing that explained their case. 



Geneieve Hill, age 9. 



Randolph, N. Y., April i:?, 1884. 



Friend Geneieve, Dr. C. C. jMiller recom- 

 mended keeping C(mib lioney just the way 

 your pa does. T think if you will turn to tlie 

 back i)art.()f the A BCl)0ok,near the incture 

 of "Blasted IIoi>es."" you will liud some sug- 

 gestions as to why your bees died. 



RECIPE FOR GINGERBRE.\D; FROM A 10-YEAR-OLD. 



After reading Mary Rhodes' recipe for ginger- 

 snaps, I thought I would tell her how I make gingei-- 

 bread. One cup honey, two eggs, half cup butter, 

 one large spoonful ginger, one cup sour milk, one 

 teaspoonful soda, flour to make either soft or hard. 

 I have made it both ways, and papa said it was very 

 good. I have also made several Itatches of bread 

 which papa pronounced excellent. I was ten years 

 old last month; have never been to school, but I 

 study at home. We all love to hear abt)ut Huber 



EDITH GIVES US ANOTHER REMEDY FOR BEESTINGS. 



Pa said he would gi\e me a swarm as soon as I got 

 old enough to take care of them. He keeps his bees 

 in the cellar in the winter. I read little Ah Sid's ex- 

 perience with "Melican buttel-tly" this morning, 

 and r thought it was pretty eiite. My pa uses hot 

 water when he gets stung; he thinks it is better 

 than any thing else. Edith Bascom. 



Albion, Calhoun Co., Mich., March 2:5, 1884. 



Vour I'emedy may be a very good one. 

 p:dith ; for althougli' T thought I had tried 

 almost every tiling, I think I never tried 

 hot water. If you are stung on the hand, 

 jtutting it in water as hot as you can bear it 

 might stop tlie pain, for it will often give al- 

 most instant relief for a bruise or a sprain, 

 or something of that sort. If you should 

 get stung on your nose, or near your eyes, I 

 do not know how you could work your hot- 

 water cure. By the way, children, I have 

 known a hot-water luitli to make one feel 

 good-natured when cross. Did you ever hear 

 of such a thing y 



ABOUT THE BEES AND CHICKENS. 



Bees are flying when days are warm. We have 

 two stands. One swarm came off July 5, 1883; got 

 no surplus from it, but we got 361ft. sections filled 

 from our old one. Some are black, and some have 

 one and two yellow stripes. I have your A B C 

 book. Bees are in Nellis hives. We should like to 

 buy an Italian colony, if we could get one cheap. 

 Last spring we got a sitting of the American See- 

 brights, from Columbus, O., at 13.00 per sitting. 

 They are good layers. We have five hens and one 

 rooster, and get as many as five eggs a day. We sell 

 them for $1.00. J. H. Montag. age 11. 



Saxenburgh, Pa., April 22, 1884. 



Friend J., you do not make it very plain 

 about the amount of honey from the old 

 stand. Was it 30 one-pound sections, or 3()1 

 pound sections V Learn to be careful in mak- 

 ing your tjgures, as they may mislead one. 

 We "have had some big tr()ul)les, I tell you, 

 about figures, or because words and figures 

 were crowded too close together. 



