60 



(CLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



hear almost every one complaining about the sea- 

 son; but I believe if my bees had been as strong 

 as in the spring of 1886 I should have had the usual 

 yield of honey. I had three or four colonies that 

 were in good trim, and they made me fi-om 70 to 80 

 lbs. of nice comb honey, and this is about as much 

 as we ever get from the best colonies. 

 New Milford, Pa. F. \V. Dean. 



Every boy or girl, under 15 years of age, who writes a let- 

 ter for this department, containing somk valuable fact, not 



GENERALLY KNOWN, ON BEES OR OTHER MATTEHS, will receive 

 one of David Cook's excellent live-cent Sunday-school books. 

 Many of these books contain the same matter that you find in 

 Sunday-school books costing from 81.00 to 81.50. If you have 

 had one or more books, give us the n.ames that we may not 

 send the same twice. We have now in stock six different 

 books, as follows; viz.: Sheer Off, Silver Keys, The Glant-Kill- 

 er; or. The Roby Family, Rescued from Egypt, Pilgrim's 

 Progress, and Ten Nights in a Bar-Room. We have also Our 

 Homes, Part I.,. and our Homes, Part II. Besides the above 

 hooks, you may have a photograph of our old house api,iry, 

 .and a photograph of our own apiary, both taken a great many 

 years ago. In the former is a picture of Novice, Bine Eyes, 

 and Caddy, and a glimpse of Ernest. We have also some pret- 

 ty little colored pictures of birds, fruits, flowers, etc., suitable 

 for framing. You can have your choice of any one of the 

 above pictures or books for every letter that gives us some 

 valuable piece of information. 



CONDUCTED BY ERNEST R. ROOT. 



THE BOYS' BEE-HIVE FACTORY. 



NOT MR. SHIFTLESSNESS THIS TIME, BUT 

 AN ENEMY STEALING HONEY FROM 

 HIVES OF BEES, AND THE PEN- 

 ALTY THEREFOR. 



Y ! how it rains !" said Jimmie to 



liis idaymate Sam, as they were 



both trudging home at night 



from school. " I never saw such 



a season before in all my days.'' 



"• Yes," replied his companion, "■ and such 



roads ! Why, it is just awful deep. Look at 



that wagon-wheel ! the mud reaches almost 



to the hubs." 



" I wish these folks along here' would 

 build a sidewalk of some sort," said Jimmie, 

 as he started toward home, leaving his com- 

 panion. "• I have to wade through the mud 

 day after day, and you know ma always 

 makes me clean my feet. It's a job to do it 

 to her notion. Ted gets a lickin' nearly 

 every day for bringing mud in the house." 



AVhen S;im reached home he noticed there 

 was something wrong with that side of the 

 barn wliich faced the road. It was pretty 

 well covered with spots of mud, as if some 

 one had thrown handfuls on the barn-side. 

 It was evident that the window of the loft 

 was the target, for it was not only covered 

 with mud, but several panes of glass were 

 broken also. Seeing this, Sam, somewhat 

 excited, hastily made his way into the shop 

 which he and his playmate had recently 



cleaned so thoroughly. What a sight greet- 

 ed his eyes! The pail of white lead which 

 the boys used to paint the hives with was 

 upturned upon a pile of partly finished hive 

 and frame stuff. The young doves which 

 he had been raising with so much pride were 

 missing from the dove-cot, and the tools 

 were scattered over the bench and Hoor ; 

 likewise chunks of mud were on the floor, 

 which had been thrown through the broken 

 lights of glass. 



Sam was angry beyond endurance, and 

 proposed forthwith to get vengeance upon— 

 whom, he didn't just exactly know. He pro- 

 ceeded to the house. 



"■ Ma, some one has muddied the barn all 

 up. There are great chunks of mud on the 

 Hoor, and— 



"That's nothing strange," interrupted 

 his sister. '-Mother and L during these 

 wet days, have to clean the porches quite 

 often, and it was only this morning that 1 

 picked up several chunks of mud off the 

 carpet, just after you left. Mr. Shiftless- 

 ness comes around quite often these muddy 

 days." 



" Oh, well I Shiftlessness doesn't steal 

 young doves ; he doesn't throw mud all over 

 the sides of the barn, tip over paint-pots on 

 hive-stuff, and break windows.'' 



"He does things pretty nearly as bad," 

 persisted his sister. 



His mother, observing that something was 

 really wrong, was about to make further in- 

 quiries when Jimmie came running over. 



" Say ! what do you think I some one has 

 been knocking my" hives over. The covers 

 were off some of 'em, and things look as 

 if some fellow had been there this after- 

 noon, stealing honey. Some of the combs 

 are broken into. You know my hives are 

 behind the bushes in the back yard.'' 



"You don't say!" said Sam; "but just 

 you come out to the barn with me : some 

 one has tried to spite us both." 



Thither the two started. They both came 

 to the conclusion that an enemy, jealous of 

 their enterprise, had done this, and that the 

 perpetrator of the mischief to both was one 

 and the same person. Something ought to 

 be done. 



"Let's present the matter to pa. He is 

 just entering the gate now."' 



When the latter had joined the boys, each 

 told the story of his grievance. Mr. Green 

 listened in silence, and said : 



" The damage done to the barn and its 

 contents is comparatively small. The most 

 that was done, as nearly as I can discover, 

 was the amount of mud thrown. It it hard- 

 ly worth while to think of obtaining a re- 

 dress by law ; and, besides, I am not sure 

 that it would be wise or Christian. The evi- 

 dent purpose of the perpetrator was not so 

 much to damage as to provoke and anger 

 us Retaliation would do no good, and pos- 

 sibly would result in harm. It would tend 

 to make an enemy a worse enemy than be- 

 fore. If we can find out the name or names 

 of the guilty persons, perhaps a remon- 

 strance delivered in a Christian-like way 

 should be made to them, and at the same 

 time they should lie told that there must 

 not be a repetition of the offense, or we 



