1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



487 



me that no boy could be found who would 

 do such a thing for tlie small sum of fifty 

 cents. The offer is intended for lliose who 

 took up tobacco bef( >re tliey evei- saw ( {lean- 

 ings, and who have been " li(mestl\ thinking 

 they would like to l>reak off. Tlie suiolver is 

 a little pledge, as it were, or an olijcct lesson, 

 to remind ttiem of the indmise they have 

 made liere publicly before not only good men 

 and boys, but good and resi)e('tai)le women. 

 1 certainly woidd not take a boy into my em- 

 ploy whom I had reason to think purposely 

 got drunk and into jail, to erdist my sympa- 

 thies. I can nsually tell by talking with any 

 young man whether he is really penitent, 

 and honestly desires to ref oi-m ; and, dear 

 friends, I think I can tell i)retty well fixmi 

 the way a letter is written, whether it comes 

 from ail honest heai't or not. 1 did not know 

 at first how the Tobacco (Jolumn was going 

 to Avork; but I knew that I hungered and 

 thirsted for a reform in tobacco-using, and I 

 remembered God's ])romise ; and I am sine 

 we have all been forced to admit that his 

 blessing has followed tlie little offer, and 

 that, too, quite abundantly. Do you not re- 

 joice to see the work going on, Walter V and 

 have you not saved money enough to buy a 

 great many smokers by being brought up in 

 such a way that you would probably never 

 think of using tobacco anyhow ? .Jesiis said, 

 after speaking of the lost'shec]), '• L say unto 

 you, that likewise there shall be joy in' heav- 

 en over one sinner that repenteth," and we 

 are laboring for true penitence, are we not? 



OUR FIRST SWTARM OF BEES. 



-WOMAN" 16 YEAKS 



)F AGE. 



THINK I must tell you and the friends of 

 Gleanings of our first experience in bee cul- 

 ture, if you tliinlt it worth printing. In the 

 first place, last fall we g-ot the "bee-fever," 

 and father went straight away and bought one 

 skep with a strong full-bred Italian queen and a 

 strong colony of half-breeds. Mr. Bennett let us 

 put them in his cellar with his bees (I thinl? he was 

 real kind), and in the spring they came out strong 

 and healthy, and ready for hard work. 



The first swarm, ^j-hich issued the tenth day of 

 June (that isn't at all late for us up here in Minne- 

 sota) was unusually large; and besides that, they 

 swarmed in such an inconvenient place that we 

 "greenhorns " hardly knew how to go about it, for 

 neither father nor I had ever seen bees swarm in 

 our life, so I think you won't laugh. They first 

 came out of the hive, scattered and flying around in 

 every direction; then father threw some water 

 among them, and they clustered around the trunk 

 of a little oak. We weic (|uito :;s excited as the 

 bees liy this time. 



We brought the hive, a couple of slieets, a chair, 

 and liox to stand on (we luive no step-hidder yet), 

 and a basket to lirnsh the bees in, some sweetened 

 water to put in the hi\-e, and a roll of (himi) cotton 

 eloih to smoke tliem with (my father doesn't smoke), 

 and some other necessary articles, 'i'lien came the 

 " tug of war;" viz., to get th(; bees down and put 

 them into tlie hive. Fatlier l)rushed them into the 

 basket, but they were rather unruly little crea- 

 tures, and it'oiiW tiy right back to tlie tree again. 



There was a little twig full, and papa cut it oft' and 

 put It near the hive. Some went in and came out 

 again; then more went in, and more, till nearly all 

 of those were in. I5ut not one quarter wore in yet, 

 and such a time we had ! I believe papa was a little 

 bit discouraged, but by and by we did get them all 

 in with one sting for father, two for mother, and 

 one for me, right under my right eye, that swelled 

 up and pained very much. 



They seemed to like their nice clean new home (a 

 Langstroth hive that papa made, and of course it 

 was better than the old one that they were in be- 

 fore, for mj' father is a first-class carpenter), and 

 they went right to work. 



The next day father went to town, and, sure 

 enough, those bees had to go to work and swarm 

 again. We didn't have so much trouble this time, 

 for we had had some experience in the matter, and, 

 better than that, they swarmed on a Jimh of tliat very 

 same little oak. 



My sister Blanch, liJ years old, climbed up in the 

 branches, and sawed the limb off while I held it, and 

 then handed it to mother, and she put them in front 

 of the hive, and they all marched in. like little sol- 

 diers. 



Now 1 will state what I tliink caused them to 

 swarm the second time. It couldn't have been be- 

 cause the hive wasn't clean, for it was, and they 

 liked it at first, because there was a piece of the 

 whitest and most beautiful comb I ever saw, about 

 three or four Inches long, and one and one-half 

 wide, hanging from the top of one of the comb- 

 frames. The reason I think they swarmed again, 

 and I think you'll agree with me, was that there 

 were so many little red ants in the hive. When I 

 first opened the hive that we had them in when 

 they first swarmed (when they swarmed the second 

 time we took another hive), there were over a hun- 

 dred little red ants in the hive. I suppose the 

 sweetened water had something to do with bringing 

 the ants; don't you'/ Do you think that our rem- 

 edy will keep the ants away? We put fresh ashes 

 under the hive, and chalked the sides. 



Does any one know of any other way of getting 

 rid of ants? I want to say right here that I am de- 

 cidedly on the right-hand side of Mrs. Harrison, and 

 all the other ladies who think bee culture a suitable 

 occupation for women, llemember, I'm not a ju- 

 venile, for I'm sixteen. No "blasted hopes" as 

 yet. Wo haven't got around to take the ABC nor 

 Gleanings yet, but are going to soon, for we are 

 going into bee culture in good earnest. 



Alice Keuoute. 



Alexandria, Minn., June 1~, 1884. 



, Well done, friend Alice. W^e take the 

 liberty of sending you Gleanings one year 

 for your little story so well told. No doubt 

 the sweetened water was the cause of the 

 whole trouble. Tiie red ants are getting to 

 be quite a nuisance. They have recently 

 got into our lamp nursery, and liave destroy- 

 ed quite a lot of (lueen-cells. The boys tried 

 putting oil around the inu-sery,iind such like 

 work; bid I told them there was no way 

 but to set the lamp mu'scry on legs, and 

 stand the legs in dishes of "water. Tiu'si^ 

 small red ants seem to have a faculty of not 

 only making themselves very obnoxious to 

 bees, but they will kill live qiieens in a very 

 short time, if left caged where the ants have 

 access. 



