1884 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



565 



the bees. We have also plenty of catnip and buck- 

 wheat, which they seem to be very busy working 

 on. My name is Weed, and your name is Root. I 

 don't know whether you are the same kind of a root 

 that I am weed, or not; but roots and weeds grow 

 together. Myrtt.e E. Wekd, ago 10. 



Kennard, Neb., July 29. 1884. 



SAMUEL'S STORY. 



Some of our bees swarmed, and they went to the 

 limb of a tree, and settled; but the limb was not 

 strong enough, and it broke. They then went off. 

 A man caught them and hived them, and now has 

 4 stands, with which he well supplies his family, 

 and sells honey every once in a while. 



Sam a. SwifUiETT, .In. 



Allerlon, Wayne Co., Towa. 



AUDIT THE cow THAT T,ASHEU HRU TAIL IN FRONT 

 OK A BRK-HIVE. 



My papa has 10 colonies of bees. One of them 

 swarmed, and my papa thought they would alight, 

 but they went back into the hive, and he separated 

 them in another hive. Our cow got in front of one 

 of the sfrarms, and lashed her tail, and she had to 

 riHi. There is a little peewee making its living 

 on the bees. I was throwing stones at it, but T 

 couldn't hit it. Frank Hoffman. 



Geigertown, Pa., .Tuly 28, 1884. 



HOW THEV LOST THEIR UEES. 



This is my first letter to you. We had bad luck 

 with our bees last winter. We started in with 130 

 colonies. They died off to 415 colonies. We now 

 have C>,^. One reason was, we put 30 in a cellar, and 

 it got damp, and in the winter froze, and they died. 

 The others were packed in chatf. The entrances 

 got stopped up, and they died. Some had the dys- 

 entery. If people want to keep bees they must take 

 goo<l care and not handle them roughly. 



MvuoN ('. HiRT), agell. 



Smilliland, Towa, July 3, 18S4. 



A T-ETTER FROM A CRIPPLEO liOV. 



T am a little crippled boy, 13 years old. My pa took 

 me to the doctor's some years ago, but they did me 

 no good. 1 walk with one crutch now. My pa does 

 not keep bees, but my grandpa does. He got 102.') 

 lbs. o1' honey this spring, out of 40 swarms. 



(HAS. COBLENTZ. 



El Dorado, Preble Co., O., July 25, 1884. 



I am sure, Charley, we all feel sorry to 

 know that you can not walk without crutches. 

 We hope when you get older you will out- 

 grow your infirmity entirely. 



RABBITS, BIRDS, AND BEES. 



1 have four young English rabbits. T did have two 

 old ones, but they ran off. I think the old doe is 

 dead. I saw the buck last night. I had a young 

 jack rabbit, but he got away. We found a nest of 

 Mollie cotton-tails, with 7 young ones in. I caught 

 a young meadow lark last night, but 1 let it go again. 

 When pa wants to save some foundation, he cuts 

 the cells off on both sides and uses the center. I 

 find lots of b i-ds' nests. I found one hawk's nest 

 this year. liiwiN Craig. 



Empire, Dak., June 30, 1884. 



ought to have a smoker. 1 have a little sister. She 

 has a crooked back. It is her spine. She can not 

 walk. She is three yeai-s old. I have a baby-bi-oth- 

 er and six little kittens. 



Minnie Anderson, age (>. 

 Greenfield, la., June 39, 18?4. 



Friend Mary, your pa is entitled to a smo- 

 ker when he gives us the customary promise 

 that he will pay for it if he uses tobacco any 

 more in any shape. You see, my little friend, 

 we want the promise, to make the bargain a 

 binding one. 



THE bottom lands OF THE MISSOURI RIVER, ETC. 



We live a mile from the Missouri River, in the 

 bluffs, with hills all around us, covered with trees. 

 Indeed, for miles around us, in all directions it is 

 nearly all woods, a great deal of which is basswood. 

 The Missouri bottom land, a great deal of it is wild, 

 and lots of wild plum grows there, and hoarhound, 

 blaekheart, and goldenrod grow everywhere. My 

 papa thinks hoarhound honey the best of all. We 

 have lots of redbud, and sumac too; and last season 

 papa discovered that lots of flgwort grows here too, 

 so he thinks this a good place for bees; and I think 

 he ought to know, for he takes Gleanings, and 

 thinks more of it than any thing else he reads, ex- 

 cept the Bible. 



I should like to see your little Huber. I have a 

 nice little black-eyed sister, Eva May. 



Corning, Holt Co., Mo. Zenas Collins. 



A six-year-old correspondent. 



I thought I would write a letter to you. Pa has 



hives of bees, but he has no smoker. He has quit 



chewing tobacco; he doesn't smoke, so 1 think he 



SMALL PEOPLE, BUT GOOD CONTRIVERS. 



My pa has fiO hives of bees. He has had 10 swarms 

 this summer. He wants me to get interested in 

 them, so I can help him take care of them. He has 

 some very nice honey. He sold a good deal last 

 year. He put some honey in the shop, and how do 

 you think the liees tried to get it? They came down 

 the stovepipe, then tlirough the stove door. They 

 are small but good conti-ivers. Papa went out to 

 see to them the other day; he took one by the 

 wrong end. I am having vacation now. I expect 

 to go to school again this fall. T have one sister 

 fi years old; her name is Emma. We have nice times 

 together, swinging, playing croquet, berrying, etc. 

 Alice Woolsey, age 9. 



Bedford, N. Y., July 3. 1884. 



Well done, Alice. It is true, that bees 

 many times show an amount of ingenuity 

 that would put many children to shame, if 

 thev did not make grown-up people ashamed 

 of themselves. If you want to see how hard 

 bees will work to find a plan to get into 

 houses, just let them have a snuft' of the 

 honey, and I will guarantee they will go 

 down chimneys, or up stairs, or down cellar, 

 or almost anywhere for it. 



SWEET POTATOES FOR BEES, ETC. 



I am a boy of 14 summers, and I have been in bad 

 health for four years— not able to work or go to 

 school. But I practice writing at home, and you 

 will see that I am pretty good with my pen, but not 

 very good in spelling. 



My pa has 75 bee-hives, and all ai-e doing well. I 

 tend to them a good part of my time. They are all 

 little black bees here in Southern Texas. The win- 

 ters are generally very mild and warm, and bees 

 hardly ever die for want of something to eat, as we 

 have flowers of some kind or other nearly all of the 

 winter. When we feed them we bake sweet pottt' 

 toes good and done, and put them under the gum, 



