494 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



BERTHA AND HER BEES. 



My papa has 6 stands of bees; he had 8 last 

 fall, and he gave one away, and one died." Pa gave 

 me and my little brother a nice stand of bees. We 

 extracted 6' 4 lbs. last week. I like honey, and I like 

 to work with bees. Our bees have swarmed once 

 this summer, but wc saved them, and then pa and 

 I went through the stands and cut the queens' wings 

 off, and one stand killed their queen. When our 

 bees swarmed there was only part of the bees came 

 out. Pa was not at home, and we had to send for 

 my uncle. The bees got lost from the queen, and 

 all came back to the hive. We found the queen, and 

 put it back in the stand. It is doing well. 



Bertha Summers, age 13. 



Shielville, Ind., June 37. 1884. 



how pearl's sister learned to like bees. 



Pa doesn't keep bees. I wish he did, I like honey 

 so well. My brother-in-law does; he got his bees 

 from you. He takes the Gleanings. I read it and 

 his ABC book too. His name is Robert Colescott. 

 He took my sister from me in March, and it is lone- 

 some now without her. She lives half a mile from 

 our house. I get almost sick to see her. At first 

 she was awful afraid of the bees, but now she likes 

 them, and works with them. 



Pearl Gilpin, age 9. 



Fowler, Ind., June 30, 1884. 



AVell, now, Pearl, that was really too bad 

 that Robert should come and take your sis- 

 ter away from you. However, if he didn't 

 take her more than half a mile, I think per- 

 haps we had better overlook it ; and then, 

 you know, he tauijlit her to work with bees, 

 and that amounts to sometliing,does it not? 



putting on section boxes too late. 



Father wintered 30 stands of bees, and all came 

 out well but one, and that stand lost its queen, and 

 died. He has now 53 stands of bees, and I help work 

 with them. My brother Albert does not like to 

 work with them, and mj^ sister Bertha will run in 

 the house as soon as she sees one. Father and I 

 took two Simplicity hives full of this year's white- 

 clover honey, and then we filled the upper stories 

 with pound sections, and in the afternoon the bees 

 swarmed. 



A plantain leaf is good for a beesting. Just 

 pound it up till you can see the juice, then rub it on 

 the sting, and hold it on there for about five 

 minutes. Herbert A. Hallet. 



Galena, 111., June 20. 18-4. 



I am afraid, friend Herbert, you and your 

 pa did not get your section boxes on quite 

 quick enough. 



Ma keeps bees, and I always help her to hive the 

 swarms, extract, and every thing else that is done 

 about the bees. Ma says 1 am sure to be a bco-man. 

 I am not afraid of them, even if they sting. We 

 have the Langstroth hive. I like them best of all I 

 see in your books. Ma lost six colonies on account 

 of the dry weather last summer; one left with plen- 

 ty of honey in the hive, but not a bit of pollen, and 

 1 believe that is why they left. Don't you think so 

 too? I had a long talk with a gentleman at the de- 

 pot about l)ecs. He took my name, but I forgot to 

 ask his. He told me he gets Gleanings from you. 

 He was on his way to South Carolina. Some people 

 are so green when I am selling sections of honey 

 they tell me it is manufactured. I tell them the 



Yankees have not got smart enough to counterfeit 

 that; and if I live to bo a man I am going to have a 

 look at you and your establishment. We have lots 

 of orange-trees, and all kinds of fruits. My young- 

 est brother, not two years old, Avill sit in front of a 

 hive, trying to catch the bees by handfuls; he is not 

 afraid of them. Ma says I must stop that. 



Victor Blaize, age 11. 

 Bay St. Louis, Miss., Feb. 26, 1884. 



where shall we put the queen in dividing 

 colonies? 



My pa bought 7 colonies last year; 2 of them are 

 Italians, and 5 are blacks; the blacks are cross. Pa 

 gave me one black stand when he brought them 

 home. My stand swarmed June 19. It was a very 

 large swarm. 



In dividing colonies, should pa leave the old queen 

 in the old hive, or put her in the new hive, and leave 

 a queen-cell in the old hive? Will bees swarm be- 

 fore they fill their caps? Pa took 30 lbs. of honey 

 from one Italian stand this morning. 



Pa sent to you last winter for Cook's Manual. He 

 thinks he could not do without it. 



IN.IURIOUS effects OF TOBACCO. 



Pa used tobacco about 16 years, and he has been 

 troubled with dyspepsia for a longtime. The doctor 

 told him he would have to quit chewing tobacco. 

 He has not chewed any since last fall. I am awful 

 glad pa has quit chewing, for it is not nice to chew 

 or smoke. We keep toll-gate. 



Mattie E. Vancleave, age 12. 



Crawfordsville, Ind., June 24, 1884. 



Well, Mattie, our boys prefer putting tlie 

 old queen with the new part, because the 

 bees stay so much better, and the old hive 

 gets plenty of bees anyhow. I suppose it 

 is not good economy, however, for the 

 queen's laying powers are considerably 

 cramped, compared with what they would 

 be if she were left on the old stand. — I am 

 glad to receive your testimony on the tobac- 

 co question, Mattie. 



are bees strong enough to move a brick? 



We began to keep bees last year, and we got one 

 swarm, but the old swarm died in the winter, and 

 left some honej'. Mamma put a brick before the 

 entrance of the hive to keep the other bees out, and 

 when she was watching them a lot of bees came out 

 of the other hive and pushed the brick away. I 

 didn't think bees could be so strong. I haven't been 

 stung by a bee yet. We have two maltese cats; 

 their names are Romeo and Juliet. 



Mary Richardson. 



Cazenovia, 111., June 26, 1881. 



My little friejid ^lary, one of our office girls 

 was inclined to thiiik you exaggerated a 

 little; but I told her 1 guessed you did not. 

 I have known bees to rob a hive a great 

 many times because somebody had been 

 foolish enough to think if he" stopped the 

 entrance with a block or i»iece of wood tliat 

 was enough ; but in a little while he would 

 discover the bees had crowded the heavy 

 block right out of the way. Now, a band of 

 robbers, wiien they are really in earnest, 

 would, without doubt, move a pretty good- 

 sized brick. The secret of it is, a great 

 many of them squeeze in behind it, and then 

 pusli all togethei'. Was it a whole brick, or 

 was it only a piece of a brick, JSlary V 



