1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



413 



yoxi purcliase is absolutely free from grape 

 sugar, and the present low price at wliicli 

 sugar is sold conies from other causes than 

 that of adulteration.— I am very glad indeed 

 to see the tendency to use honey in place of 

 sugar, for cooking. Friend Newman pub- 

 lishes a very nice little book, entitled '' Honey 

 as Food and Medicine," which every bee- 

 keeper ought to have, if he has not got it 

 already. 



FLOKIDA. 



SKETCH BY ONE OF THE JUVENILES. 



'E have sold most of our bees; g-ot $8.00 a col- 

 ony. We are going- to move to Florida. 

 Papa spent the winter there. At Tam])a a 

 traveler asked him what he had done in 

 Te.\as that he had to leave there. It used 

 to be, "What did you do that you had to come to 

 Texas? " Papa says, though Florida is called the 

 land of floAvers, there are a great many more in 

 Texas. The land there is too poor to grow them, 

 but the climate is sometimes valued at a thousand 

 dollars an acre. You see, we are selling our bees, 

 cattle, sheep, and lands, to live on climate a while; 

 but I guess we children will mix it in pretty well 

 with oranges, bananas, and pine-apples. 



I started out to tell you of two new discoveries. 

 One is, my sister Bessie found that heavy knit wool- 

 en gloves are as good as rubber to keep bee-stings 

 out of the hands, and are much pleasanter and 

 cheaper. The other was, that the scissors-tail, or 

 Texas bird of paradise, is a rascally and greedy bee- 

 eater— worse than any bee-mai-tin you ever saw. 

 They are worse in the afternoon, this time of the 

 year. 



I have read through the " Story of the Bil)le," and 

 like what I understood about it, very much. Mam- 

 ma thinks you ought to sell a great many of them. 

 Papa keeps his " Muller's Life of Trust " on the go 

 all the time. The calendar clock we got of you 

 keeps good time, and has a sweet bell. 



Mamie Cat.dweli.. 

 Mart, McLennan Co., Texas, May 26, 1884. 



THE BEE AND THE TOMTIT. 



A LESSON TO BE GATHERED FROM THE BEES. 



Here and there about a garden. 



Planted out with flowei-s gay. 

 Buzzed a bee, extracting honey 



Out of all upon her way. 



• " Bee," exclaimed a twittering tomtit. 

 Perched upon a garden-wall, 

 " Poison lurks in many blossoms. 

 Yet thou gatherest from all." 



" True," she answered, " I discover 

 Sweets in flowers of every kind; 



Poison may be present with them. 

 But I leave all that behind." 



It were well if Iniiiiaii lieings 



Always acted lik.-the bee, 

 By retaining in tlicir memory 

 But the H'dod they hear and see. 



—Chatterbox. 

 Irwin L. Fisher. 

 Napoleon, Henry Co., O., May 32, 1884. 

 Very good, friend Irwin. A great many 

 times the poison will be unnoticed, and do 

 no harm to anybody, if we ]»ass along (piietly 

 and pay no attention to it. On the other 



hand, if \\e get into a habit of picking flaws 

 with everybody and every thing, we can stir 

 up bad feelings, and lind poison at almost 

 every turn we make. 



A HOUSE THAT COULD LAUGH. 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE SAGACITY OF HORSES IN 

 GENERAL. 



EAR CHILDREN:— I see so many interesting 

 letters in your part of Gleanings that I 

 want to tell you something to \my for the 

 l)leasure your letters have given me. It is 

 about a horse, and I shall call it "Tiie horse 

 that laughed." 



When I was in Evansvillc, Ind., I visited a family 

 named Parsons. One day I wanted to go up town 

 to do some shopping, and Mr. P. said I could ride up 

 with him, and drive back alone. 



" But," said I, "I won't know the way." 



"You don't need to know it," said Mr. Parsons; 

 " Daisy knows it, and she will bring you home." 



When I was ready to go back I got into the phseton 

 and held the lines real loose, and Daisy trotted on, 

 turning a corner here and another there, making 

 three tui-ns in all. She guided herself around milk- 

 carts, carriages, lumber-wagons, and ice-carts, and 

 never grazed a wheel. Where they had boon re- 

 pairing the streets, and the ground was rough, she 

 slacked up; and where the road wa;< snieoth she 

 trotted on again. She stoiiped at her master's barn, 

 and, turning herself a little, liaeked the jiliu'ton sf) 

 that I could get out without touching the wheel. 

 Then she went a little further and held her head to 

 a hitching-post, to be tied. I tied her; but I begged 

 her pardon for doing it, for it seemed to me an in- 

 sult to tie up such a knowing beast. Then I went to 

 the house and asked Mrs. Parsons if they would sell 

 that horse. 



"Oh no!" said she; "no money would buy Daisy. 

 Why, Daisy laughed once," said she. " We had been 

 attending a lecture, and when we started home it 

 was dark, and a big- storm was coming up. It thun- 

 dered and lightened almost continuously, and the 

 wind blew great gusts of sand into our faces, so that 

 we were obliged to shut our eyes, and Mr. Parsons 

 just gave Daisy the lines, and told her to go home. 

 And she came; in all the rush and roar and fright- 

 fulness of it, she guided herself around other car- 

 riages, and the teams that we met; and just as we 

 reached the barn, and drove in, and the great doors 

 swung shut, Daisy turned her head, and, looking 

 back at us, laughed. It was not a neigh uor a 

 whinney, but as clear and hearty a laugh as any 

 human being could give. And I promised her then 

 that a horse that could bring us home in such a 

 storm as that, and then would laugh to think she had 

 got us home in time, should never be sold. Good, 

 trusty Daisy ! " Mahala B. Chaddock. 



Vermont, Fulton Co., 111. 



Thank you. my friend, for calling atten- 

 tion to these faitliftil dumb liiules of ours. I 

 have seen iiorses tliat showed a good deal of 

 the faithfulness which you bring out so viv- 

 idly, though perhaps not in (jiiite so marked 

 a degree. No wonder your friend wouldn't 

 sell Daisy for money. 1 wonder if all of us 

 apjireciate the good' faithful old horses we 

 have about tis. I know there is one down in 

 our stable tliat money couldn't l)iiy. 



