41i 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 



in handling a frame, as I would about mash- 

 ing workers, although I must confess the 

 great awkward fellows never awakened my 

 sympatliies quite so much as the worker-bees 

 with their vim and energy do. Now, then, 

 shall we not, all of us, children and grown-up 

 people, try to be kind and humane to both 

 workers and drones, and ^' pussy cats " too'f 



THE BIRDS OF CALIFOHNIA. 



SOME CALIFORNIA 



NOTKS FROM 

 HILTON. 



)(IR FRIEND MRS. 



a ID you ever hear the expression, " Make your 

 head save your heels"? When I was a little 

 girl I used to fly around, when I had any 

 thing to do, in such a manner that I would 

 be quite tired out, without accomplishing- 

 much; so mother used to say, "Are you making 

 your head save your heels?" And even now I have 

 to stop sometimes and ask myself that question, for 

 I hav'e no dear mamma to say it for me. I tell you 

 this about myself because I do not want you to think 

 I am like the man who was always saying that wo- 

 men either have no brains or else they do not use 

 them, or else they would be able to do more work 

 than they do, and save themselves much trouble. 

 Now, that same man had to get breakfast one morn- 

 ing. He made the coffee; but as he had forgotten 

 to see that there was plenty of water in the kettle 

 when he made the fire, his coffee was too strong, so 

 he took the hot kettle in his hand, took the lid off, 

 and started to the faucet to All it. Of course, the 

 steam came from the kettle right on to his hand, 

 and burned it badly. You see, he had not usedJiis 

 brains while he was doing housework. The main 

 trouble is, that one sometimes has to attend to a 

 number of things at once; and unless we are very 

 careful, and keep ourselves cool and quiet, we are 

 apt to do something we did not intend to. 



Bees and flowers and birds seem so connected, that, 

 if I write of birds in a bee-book, may be you will not 

 think it out of place. When we have plenty of rains 

 during the winter, robins are plentiful. They hard- 

 ly ever sing here, as this is not their breeding-place. 

 They give only the three sweet notes they usually 

 use while hopping about, hiinting for worms. No 

 matter how hard it rains, you can see their red 

 breasts shining through the rain. 



The meadow-larks are a difl'erent-looking bird, 

 somewhat, from the eastern bird. They are here all 

 the time, but they are at their happiest just after a 

 rain storm, when the glorious sunshine warms up all 

 •life. Then the air is filled with the sweet ju-bi-lee, 

 ju-bi-lee — bi-lee — bi-lee. It fairly raises one off his 

 feet, the song is so joyous. 



This morning the killdeers were calling. Did you 

 ever disturb one of their nests? Oh how the poor 

 birds will cry ! Passing near one while walking over 

 a hill near a small lake, I was attracted to the nest 

 by the queer actions of one of the birds. It was 

 making a cry that sounded like " My baby, my baby," 

 and it was stepping about with its wings stretched 

 out, one up and the other on the ground, as though 

 it would use them as a screen to hide the nest. T 

 stopped only long enough to look at the four eggs 

 so cosily hidden beneath some grass; but as long as I 

 was in sight, the bird was crying, "My baby." 



Then the linnets. They come as soon as the spring 

 fairly opens. They lovo to build around the house. 



and wake us up with their delicious melodj'. If a 

 stack is near the house, they will build their cute 

 little nests all around it; but they are naughty birds. 

 They take the lion's share of all fruits if you will let 

 them. A swarm will alight in a cherry or peach 

 tree, and how they will scold if you come near it, 

 claiming it as their own especial property, even if 

 you did plant it. 



The quail are prettier and smaller birds than the 



eastern quails. They have a funny curved topknot 



that they drop over their bill while strutting, and 



their note sounds like " Be careful," said very quick 



and short. But I think of all the birds, I like the 



! big owls that come and visit one another in the big 



live-oaks near our house, with their " hoo-hoo, hoo — 



who are you?" Mrs. Hilton. 



Los Alamos, Cal., April :ifl, 1884. 



Mrs. H., I can readily sul)scribe to your 



quaint maxim aboitt making the head save 



the heels. It is one of my biggest tasks here 



in the factory to suggest to the boys and 



girls means by which they can save steps 



and hard labor. 



HONEY FOK FOOD, AND SOME OTHER 

 MATTERS. 



A TESTIMONIAL FROM MRS. HARRISON, IN FAVOR 

 OF THE JUVENILE HONEY-CAKES. 



HAVE just been eating someof Lydia R. Smith's 

 cakes ; that is, made after her recipe, and her 

 papa is a judge of what is " good." These cakes 

 have set me thinking, and it would be well if it 

 j has the same effect on other bee-keepers, 



I " How silly I've been to spend time selling honey to 

 ] buy sugar, when honey is better, and the purest 

 sweet known!" 

 I lately read in a paper an account of how many 

 ! bushels of corn are daily manufactured into g-rape 

 sugar, to be used, it said, "for the adulteration of 

 sugar, honey, etc." That is one reason why sugar 

 is sold so cheaply; for every pound of sugar has 

 more or less glucose. If I buy glucose, I would pre- 

 fer to purchase it pure, not mixed with sugar. 



I'm glad children write, for they are wide awake, 

 and will set us to thinking, and I hope they will tell 

 us every way that they know, how honey is used. If 

 that little girl away off in Washington Territory had 

 not written her recipe, I should have had the cakes 

 made of sugar. If I'm not mistaken, it was a little 

 gii-1 who asked her papa when she saw him boring 

 a hole with a gimlet, to put in a screw, why the 

 screws were not made with points like gimlets, and 

 so the idea was born, of making screws with points, 

 so that they did not need gimlets to bore holes first. 

 I've eaten gooseberries preserved in honey, and 

 peaches canned with a teacup of extracted honey to 

 k two-quart can of fruit, and they were excellent. 

 Who will help to introduce honey? Take it to 

 grange suppers, church festivals, old settlers' gath- 

 erings, picnics, etc. Use it in making layer cakes, 

 and tell the people the cakes are made of honey, 

 and many cakes of other kinds, of honey. 



AVill not some little girl work this motto and hang 

 it in the hall of a neighboring grange—" My son, eat 

 thou honey, because it is good "? 

 Peoria, 111. Mrs. L. Harrison. 



Mrs. II., have you not made a little mis- 

 take in saying that all sugar is adulterated? 



If I make no mistake, the granulated sugar 



