1884 



GLEANINr4S IN BEE CULTURE. 



8ol 



pets. Two wore in a cage tog-other, and they fought 

 so much that they killed each other. I have a dog- 

 and a cat. I go to Sundaj--school and day school. 

 My papa has three Newfoundland puppies. 



Lizzie Guhnf.y, age 9. 

 Newark, N. J., Nov. 2:$, 1884. 



Evev.v boy or girl, under l.") 



years of age, who writes a 



■tter forthis department, containing 



SOME VALUABLE FACT, NOT GENERALLY 

 KNOWN ON BEES OR OTHER MATTE'S, 



will receive one of David Cook's excel- 

 lent live- cent Sunday-school books. 

 IV of these booLs contain the i-ame mat- 

 ter that vou find in Sunday-school ••oolfs 

 costing: from 81.00 to SI EO If you have had 

 /I' one or moie bonks, give u? the names that we 

 my not send the same t» ice. We have now 

 In stock six- ditferent books, as follows; viz.: 

 Sheer OIT, The Giant - Killer The Roby 

 Fandlv, Rescued from Egypt, and Ten Nights in 

 a Bar-Room. 



chiel's amang ye takln' notes; 

 i' faith, he'll prent it." 



fRIEXD FRxVDEXRURG sent lis a pair 

 of his English rabbits, and then tlie 

 question was, wliere to put them. We 

 kept them in a box a couple of 

 days, and they behaved themselves all 

 right ; but for all "that, I felt bad to see the 

 little demure chaps in such close quarters, 

 and so I built a yard for them down by the 

 carp-pond, in order to give them as much 

 liberty as I could. We made it 16 feet 

 square. As friend Fradenburg says tiiey 

 dig under the fence unless something is done 

 to prevent it, we put 16-foot barn boards one 

 foot wide in the ground edgewise, clear 

 around the inclosure. You see, they would 

 then have to dig down a foot before they 

 could get under. Then we put a post at 

 each corner, and then a post at the middle 

 of each side. On these posts we put a board 

 to nail the pickets to. the lower ends of the 

 pickets being nailed to the barn boards set 

 in the grounti. All went lovely for about a 

 week, wlien one of the rabbits was found 

 dead. We couldn't think what wild animal 

 it was that was killing our rabbits, un- 

 til a little snow fell, and then we saw — 

 what do you think ? Why, it was the track 

 of a cat. The rabbits are as big as two or 

 three cats, and yet the cat killed it. She 

 could not eat it all up in one night, and so 

 she came the next night to finish her dinner. 

 Well, we (that is, Iluber and I) concluded we 

 couldn't have our rabbits all eaten up by 

 cats, so we covered the whole top with lath, 

 and now the one rabbit sits there solitary 

 and alone. We wrote to friend Fradenburg, 

 and he promised to send another right away; 

 don't you think the poor lonesome rabbit 

 will be glad to see a comrade V and don't you 

 believe, too, he was glad when he saw the 

 lath over the top of his pen, so tiiere can't 

 any more great savage yellow-eyed cats 

 pounce down upon their poor little innocent 

 selves V 



OVEIl 300 I,nS. OF HONEY FROM ONE COI.ONV OF 

 BEES. 



My pa keeps bees; he has 2.5 colonies. He made 

 over 300 lbs. from one colony. Ho makes fdn. T 

 like to help to hlvo bees, 



Ly-MAn SnANfii-E, age 13. 



Chesning, Mich., Nov. 6, 1884. 



A pretty big report, friend Lyman; but I 

 suppose it was extracted honey, of course. 

 It seems to be a i)retty good place for bees 

 where you live. 



FROM 2 TO 10, AND 20 I.BS. OF HONEY. 



My father wintered 2 stands of bees. He has 10 

 now. He has taken 20 lbs. of honey. 



Everett Gordon, age 9. 

 Middle Fort, Ind., Nov. 24, 1884. 



Well, Everett, that is pretty well, provid- 

 ing your father increased from 2 to 10 with- 

 out buying any. Rut you didn't tell us any 

 thing about tliat. 



FROM 7.5 TO 135, AND 5500 LBS. OF HONEY. 



As the honey season is about o\er I will tell you 

 what we did with bees this year. We started this 

 spring with 75 colonies; increased to 135; got .5.500 

 lbs. of honey, mostly extracted. Our bees have 

 been at work for the last six weeks on the broom- 

 weed. It is done blooming now; it makes bitter 

 honey. Ma says that it is healthful. I helped pa 

 with the bees. I helped pa hive the swarms, and 

 extract the honey. I like to work with them, and 

 they don't sting me much, only when I press them. 

 Mary J. Seever, age 13. 



Mt. Calm, Texas, Nov. 14, 1884. 



Why, Mary, that is a tiptop report. I am 

 glad to hear of such a good-sized, prosperous 

 apiary away down in Texas. 



HOW .-v. LITTLE 2-YEAR-OLD FRIEND GOT ACyU.VINT- 

 ED WITH THE BEES. 



I like the book you sent me, very much. I think it 

 is splendid. Gle.\nings comes twice each month, 

 and I like to read it. Our bees are all in good con- 

 dition. When my little brother was two years old, 

 and we had just set out our bees in the spring, and 

 I they were flying nicely, the little fellow went out to 

 j see them. He took a stick, and began to punch 

 them. The bees came out, and stung him badly. 

 Mamma came out and took him into the house. 

 He is now three years old. Please tell me about 

 what time you put your bees into winter quarters. 

 Mary Stanton. 

 Hutchinson, Minn., Nov. 6, 1884. 



We do not put our bees into winter quar- 

 ters, Mary, but leave them on their summer 

 stands. \Ve put on the chaff cushions, and 

 finish them uj), in the fore part of Novem- 

 ber ; but the feeding is all done in September 

 and October. 



LIZZIE and her pa AND THE BEES. 



My papa has a very small g-arden, but he has six 

 hives of bees. He started with three this spring. 

 Two or three weeks ago I had three birds for my 



EXTRACTING IN OCTOBER. 



My father had 15 swarms of bees in the spring. 

 In October ho extracted 1000 lbs. of honey; he had 

 two late swarms that he got no honey from. This 

 has been a very hard year for bees here, for it never 



