62 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jan. 



winter i pick up bees in the snow and put them in 

 a can and under the stove i have got a little swarm 

 all redy i have got them in a box upstairs near the 

 stove pipe i look at them and i see that they have 

 got young brood and hatching bees all ready and 

 good Italian at that. yours truly Michal,i>. 



Now, little folks, see how many correc- 

 tions you can make. Copy the letter, put- 

 ting in capital letters where they belong, 

 and making such other corrections as may 

 be necessary. Then show the letter to your 

 mamma or to your teacher. 



FROZEN DEES REVIVINfJ ON THE FOURTH DAY. 



I saw your problem for juveniles in the Nov. 1.5th 

 No., and I will now make the following report. On 

 the morning of Dec. 1, pa assisting me, 1 placed 

 some bees in a cage and others in the snow, as re- 

 quested. 

 Dec. 1, 7 p. M., the lour revived. 



•' 2, 7 A. M., " " " 



" 2, 7 P. M.. " 



" 3, 7 A. M., " •' " 



" 3, 7 p. M., 2 from cage only. 



" 4, 7 A. M., not one out of a dozen. 



On the second day there came a thaw, but the 

 beos were kept on snow and ice. 



I will tell you that pa has 23 swarms of bees, all 

 nicely put away for winter in your portico hives, 

 with chaff at sides and on top. He wintered eight- 

 een last winter and lost none, and no dwindling in 

 spring. We had it so dry here all summer that pa 

 did not remove the crates until fall, so the bees 

 could carry down what they mll'ht need for winter, 

 and then we got 400 lbs. surplus. 



Pa has your ABC, and takes Gleanings. He 

 says he would not be without these for three times 

 their cost. He gets all his supplies from you. 



Worthington, Ind. D. S. Stough, age 14. 



Your experiments were well conducted, 

 and we send you the knife. You did not do 

 (luite as well as grandpa Whiton, as record- 

 ed on page !)50, Dec. loth issue. lie made 

 them revive on the .5th day ; still you did 

 (juite well. Thanks for your kind words. 

 We always appreciate them, especially from 

 the little folks. 



FROZEN BEES REVIVED AFTER TWO DAYS. 



I began trying to see how long bees would revive 

 after being in a chilled condition, Dec. 26, 1887, at 

 11 A. M.; and 6 hours after, I took up 1.5. They all 

 revived— the ones from the snow first. The next 

 morning I tried 20 more, but none revived. The 

 only thing I could think of is, that I must have put 

 I hem In too hot a place ; then I toqk 25 more, of which 

 20 revived. In 12 hours I tried 10 more, and all 

 came to life. About 48 hours from the time I com- 

 menced, I took 15, of which 9 came to life; 24 hours 

 after, I tried 25 more, of which none came to life 

 again within half an hour, and I thought they must 

 be all dead. Charlie Seabright. 



Blaine, Ohio. 



So none of yom- bees revived after two 

 days. There seems to be quite a difference 

 in results. In one report we find that the 

 bees were brought to in .5 dnys ; in others, 

 one, two, and three days. It is possible that 

 the difference in locality makes a difference. 

 A real dry severe cold, say where the mer^ 

 cury showed 20- below zero, might maintain 

 )jfe in frozen bees much longer. Will soqae 



of the little folks in these real cold places 

 try the experiment as outlined in the Nov. 

 loth and Dec. 15th issues? 



AN interesting LETTER FROM A LITTLE GIRL IN 

 MASSACHUSETTS. 



We have not had any snow yet— only about two 

 inches, which all went away the next day with 

 rain. Yesterday at 7 A. m. the thermometer was 22° ; 

 at 2 p. M., 25°. The wind is blowing very strong to- 

 day, and it is so cold I can not play outdoors. Fa- 

 ther has taken in his Simplicity hives, but his chaff 

 hives are all on their summer stands. I hope we 

 shall get some honey next year. We did not get 

 enough to put on a ))iece of bread this year. Fa- 

 ther sets his hives out when it is warm, and the 

 bees have a nice fly. He had a frame of comb with 

 honey that was dabbled up some, which he clean- 

 ed up and put on the landing board for the bees to 

 carry in. He has a way of calling the bees out 

 (when they are not flying) by lapping light Ij- on the 

 landing-board, to call their attention to what be 

 wants. 1 think the bees must like him, for he hard- 

 ly ever gets a sting. 



I have seen father do so, and of course you know 

 I must do as father did. So I walked up to the 

 hive and I guess 1 rapped too hard; for before I 

 could get away from in front of the hive one came 

 straight out into my face and stung me almost in 

 my eye. It did not swell up very bad, because I 

 held a wet cloth over it and it was soon gone. I 

 suppose I shall have to get used to it if I want to 

 be a bee-keeper. Father says experience is a good 

 lesson, and I believe it is true. You may be sure 1 

 won't do that again, for I know the bees don't like 

 it. I like bees, and 1 want the bees to like me. 

 Father says, after I learn the different dispositions 

 of bees I shall know how to handle them better. 

 Don't you think I have a pretty good father'/ I 

 think so, for he lets me read Gleanings, and I like 

 that continued story about the " Boys' Bee-hive 

 Factory." When it is time for Santa Claus to 

 come around he never forgets to stop at our house, 

 even if there aren't any children here but myself. 

 I have one brother but he is living in California. 

 He says there are lots of bec-raTiches there. He is 

 26 years old. When father goes to the fair again 

 with the bees, he is going to buy me a hive of al- 

 binos. What do you think of those';' They say 

 they are very pretty bees, and I should like to see 

 them very much. Flossie .1. Eldridge. 



New Bedford, Mass., Dec. 31, 18S7. 



Thanks for your kind letter, friend Flo.s- 

 sie. So you didn't get even enough honey 

 to put on a piece of bread. I suppose you 

 mean surplus. The old folks tell us. tluit 

 what man has done man ciin do ; but I 

 guess it does not always follow that what 

 man has done, little girls can do. At least, 

 you did not find it so in your case, did youV 

 Do you know of Josh Billings V Well, he 

 was a kind of funny-wise innn who didn't 

 spell very well. lie said, " Egsperience 

 teaches u good skule, but the tuishion is 

 rather hi." The young bee-keeper general- 

 ly findg out, sooner or later, that Josh is 

 right, and, like yourself, they find that, if 

 thetuishun is not ''hi,'' the bee is "hi ''tem- 

 pered, when not used right. Yes, I think 

 vou have got a real nice papa, especially if 

 he takps fTLEANT:^Gs. • 



