14 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Jan. 



cause the wire cloth to project over in front further, 

 so the wire cloth would not come in contact with 

 his Roman nose. 



I shall have to disagree with Mrs. Chaddock about 

 bee-keeping being too hard for women, ministers, 

 and invalids. I am a woman and an invalid, and 1 

 find the pursuit as it were an angel of mercy to me. 

 I delight in it, and it has become, as it were, life to 

 me. as my health always improves while working 

 with bees, and declines when bees are put away. 

 Possibl J- the bee-poison causes a languor or weakness 

 with Mrs. Chaddock. If I thought so, I would dress 

 bee-proof, as I always do, except I prefer to work 

 with hands bare. But my help I always try to have 

 perfectly protected from bee-stings; but often they 

 see me working with no protection on my hands, 

 and they learn to do without. 



As our pets, the bees, have been put forest, and 

 fall work pretty well brought up, T will again visit 

 " The Home of the Honey-Bee" by pen and ink. 

 The above is a sweet name. We like to read your 

 descriptions in Gleanings of the "Home" and its 

 surroundings. We have these many years followed 

 you in your growth, both in Christian life and in 

 business pursuits. You have become like a branch- 

 ing tree, whose branches reach to the ends of the 

 earth. While the old stock is waning, new Rootlets 

 are springing up to walk in the paths of the parents, 

 and to carry on the good influences thus commenced, 

 away over into eternity, after long cycles of time 

 have passed. 



Oh the good we all may do. 



While the days are going by! 

 Oh! the world is full of sighs, 

 Full of sad and weeping eyes; 

 Help our fallen brother rise. 



While the days are passing by. 

 But the seed of good we sow, 

 Both in shade and shine will grow, 

 And will keep'our hearts aglow. 



While the days are going by. 



It is not altogether the good we can do personally, 

 but the good that others accomplish brought about 

 by our influence over them. This was what a good 

 minister said to me this fall, as I was lamenting we 

 had BO little cash to give for Christian work this 

 year. "It is not so much what we do, as what we 

 are," he said. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



Roseville, 111., Dec. 1, 1887. 



We will gladly see what can be done about 

 getting the rubber bottles cheaper, my good 

 friend; but why not use soapstone bricks, 

 with a bail to them, that can be bought so 

 cheaply almost everywhere? 1 am aware 

 that the latter does not fit so closely to the 

 body ; but when the soapstone is enveloped 

 in ilaiinel it answers almost every purpose, at 

 our house. I am very strongly in favor of 

 applying heat in the way you suggest. With 

 myself, it often performs wonderful cures ; 

 and I think many cases of severe sickness 

 might be obviated entirely by the timely 

 and prompt use of hot water or the soap- 

 stone, or even a hot Hat-iron, when nothing 

 else is handy. — No doubt an old Shaker bon- 

 net would be just the thing, except in looks; 

 and I hope you will excuse me for saying 

 that I should not want to ask one of our 

 young men, or old men either, for that mat- 

 ter, to be seen about the hives with a Shak- 

 er bonnet on. Can not some kind of hat, 

 that will afford an equal protection, and yet 

 not make one look as if he belonged to the 

 lunatic asylum, be found? In the height of 

 the honey season we often look untidy 



enough as it is. If we men-folks should add 

 a Shaker bonnet to this untidy appearance, 

 I am afraid we should cast a slur on the in- 

 dustry. I hope you will excuse my criti- 

 cisms on your suggestion.— I am very glad 

 indeed to know that you still find the "bees a 

 benefit to your health. Many thanks for 

 your kind concluding words. 



BEES, FRUITS, AND VEGETABLES, IN 

 FLOHIDA. 



REPORT FROM ONE OF OUR ABC SCHOLARS. 



■JIP N article which I and others need very much 

 gfM is a sprayer for trees and plants; not a large 

 ^1^ pump, but something that may be carried 

 ■^^- around in the hand, and not waste too much 

 costly liquid. If you have such a tool, 

 please let me know. If not, I think there would be 

 a large demand if you would keep them in stock. 



1 am much interested in "What to Do," and am 

 trying to do even better than you. lean get more 

 than $1000 worth from an acre. Last season I sold, 

 from 1%, acre o!; strawberries, .5.560 qts. for a little 

 over *700; with net, $400. The price ranged from 

 50 to 8 cts. per quart, and the picking season lasted 

 5 months. The strawberry-plants are now just be- 

 ginning to blossom. Those cabbages of yours are 

 probably safely stowed in a cellar. I have 5000 in 

 all stages, from just set out to almost full grown; 

 and the older plants, I think, cover the ground as 

 those did you saw at Arlington, Mass. I should 

 like to make arrangements to ship you some of my 

 early fruit. Tomato, marrow squash, potatoes, 

 melons, egg-plants, etc., are harvested here from 

 the last of May until July 1st. Last season my 

 strawberry crop, until April, was shipped in open 

 (ventilated) crates to Kansas City. 



This has been my best honey crop. From 33 

 swarms, spring count, and very little care, I have 

 taken 1300 sections and 1800 lbs. of extracted. I am 

 shipping the comb to New York and Boston. It 

 sells for about 12'/2 cts. per lb. The extracted I sell 

 here. After considerable experience I find it sells 

 best in 5-cent pails holding about 2 lbs. I leave it 

 on sale at the stores at $2.50 per dozen. They re- 

 tail at 25 cts. each. 



When you come to Florida, please meet me. 

 This is one of the celebrated sea-islands, and a 

 great shipping-port. About 13,560,000 feet of lum- 

 ber alone were shipped from here in November. 

 The city has been sinking some artesian wells in 

 the last few months, that may interest j'ou. The 

 first, a six-inch one, was drilled down 556 feet, when 

 the tubing telescoped and it had to be abandoned. 

 Then, right along beside it, an eight-inch hole was 

 drilled 570 feet. A coral rock was struck, and the 

 water began to flow; but the drill went 30 feet deep- 

 er, right through the rock. After water was struck, 

 the last 30 feet was drilled in two hours, the water 

 throwing out the rock. The flow is 2000 gallons a 

 minute. It flows over a tube 40 feet above the 

 surface, the surface being 25 feet above sea-level. 

 The temperature of the water is 73 degrees, and the 

 well cost, complete, $3000. H. C. Daniels. 



Fernandina, Fla., Nov. 5, 1887. 



Friend D., the article you call for is one of 

 the needs of the present day. There is a 

 great variety of machines in the market, and 

 it depends a great deal on just what you 



