2o4 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 



way no one can tell, and It makes little difference, 

 as I see, to us. If we get the benefit. 



My bees are in winter quarters, where they will 

 remain a month yet at least. Their condition I 

 know nothing of. We have had the most terribly 

 severe winter I ever experienced. Spirit thermom- 

 eters dropped to .V; below zero here; and across the 

 river in Wisconsin to 68 below on one occasion, and 

 40 below began to be called moderate weather. 

 The snow is three feet deep on a level here now, 

 and the weather shows no sign of spring. 



Winona, Minn., Mar. 12, 1888. k. A. Morgan. 



Friend M.. I for ohe do not want to be 

 made a millionaire in three minutes; in fact, 

 I do not want to be a millionaire at all. 

 Even the thought of such a thing, with its 

 attendant cares and responsibilities, makes 

 toe tired now. The above expression, and 

 that one about 68 degrees below zero, sounds 

 exactly like you. May be we are not very 

 well posted here ; but we were under the 

 impression that 57 degrees was about as low 

 as Dr. Kane found it when np near the 

 north pole. 



^ I — 



MALARIA AND THE HOME. 



SOME SENSIBLE KEMAKKS IN REGARD TO THE 

 PRESERVATION OF HEALTH. 



R. ROOT:— I like the remark you made last 

 fall, that windmills enhance the purity of 

 water: and this, in turn, must favoralily 

 affect both man and beast. While this is 

 essentially true, yet I have noticed in most 

 ca&es where the water supply is dependent upon a 

 single well, whether a windmill is used or not, the 

 arrangements are faulty. The well is in the back 

 yard, usually not far from a barnyard fence. As a 

 matter of economj', the stock-trough is pl<ced as 

 near the well as possible. Often a milk-house is 

 near by, and the water passes through this into the 

 trough. During the hot months the stock will 

 stand for hours at the trough, fighting the flies and 

 leaving quantities of filth. The well, not being far 

 away, this filth ere long must contaminate it. Then, 

 too, the surplus water often runs off into a basin at 

 the end of the trough, for the benefit of the ducks 

 and pigs. When the weather gets hot, the water 

 here stagnates and the whole thing becomes a 

 dangerous source of disease. The difficulty seems 

 to be this: The trough is placed close, so that wood- 

 en conduits may be used. In so doing, the evils of 

 contamination, dust, and flies are blindly over- 

 looked. If a single well is used, the water should 

 be piped to a trough at a safe distance from the 

 house. Let no stock be allowed to approach near 

 the kitchen door or well, to contaminate them in 

 anyway. There maybe difficulties in the way of 

 conducting the water to a sufHclent distance from 

 the house, by reason of the frost, but these can 

 doubtless be overcome. If not, dig another well. 



It would be well, also, to see that the cistern is 

 kept clean, because the amount of dust and foreign 

 matter that is washed down from the roof during 

 a year Avould doubtless surprise one. Whether the 

 cistern has a filter or not, the presence of leaves 

 and washings therein is to be guarded against. 

 Water, which enters so largely into the composition 

 of our bodies, at best is kept pure only by the 

 greatest vigilance. 

 But this is not all. At the present time there is 



danger of some vegetable matter being forgotten 

 in cellars and root-houses. If this remains during 

 the hot months, it will decay and fill the house with 

 disease-germs, and that, too, without giving rise to 

 any noticeable odors, doubtless. Cellars, as a rule, 

 are damp and dark ; and, when closed tight, are dan- 

 gerous lurking-places for disease. During the sum- 

 mer months, the cellar windows should be thrown 

 open; and some slacked lime sprinkled around 

 lightly will have a purifying effect. 



The air that surrounds the premises should be 

 wholesome. When the ground is so wet that grass 

 does not grow well in the yard, and the garden near 

 by is lifeless, and the soil is not tillable till late in 

 the season, it may be safely taken for granted that 

 the location is too damp for the healthfulness of 

 the family. Tlidiouoh drainage, then, is essential. 

 Especially is it desirable, in locating, that the 

 position can be drained to adviintage. The lawn 

 surrounding the house should be graded so that 

 surface dashes will flow from the dwelling promptly. 



It is a mistalte to have the mi.nure-pile or com- 

 post-heap near the house. I have noticed upon hot 

 mornings, in early summer, after a rain, the vapors 

 and odors arising from a decaying pile of corn- 

 stocks, and that, too. within an easy thi-ow of the 

 house. What a volume of poisonous exhalation 

 must ascend from that put rifying mass, to be sucked 

 into the lungs of man and beast ere it is carted to 

 the field ! Doubtless such things cease to be noticed, 

 because they happen again and again each succeed- 

 ing year. 



With pure water and pure air are needed plenty 

 of sunshine and a cheerful disposition— not that 

 these will ward of dread malaria in every case; 

 but having taken such precautions we can the more 

 confidently ask God to protect us and our loved 

 ones from its ravages. The day is ajjpi'oaching 

 when disease and its cause will be'stiipped of its 

 mysteries, and people will know that these matters, 

 like others, are governed by definite laws. 



Doubtless there are othei' matters equally impor- 

 tant as those touched upon; but the intent of this 

 is to i-emind rather than to instruct. J. R. D. 



Jamestown, O., March, 1888. 



Thanks, friend D. There is no trouble 

 at all in liaving the windmill and well lo- 

 cated several hundred feet from the water- 

 ing-trough for stock. Our own is about 200 

 feet away. The pipe is only about 2i feet 

 under ground, but there is a sod over it, and 

 there hiis not been a bit of trouble from 

 frost this winter. The pipe comes down 

 through a little valley, and the watering- 

 trough is on a little rise of ground, so there 

 is always a dry place for the stock to stand 

 around it. The surplus water goes directly 

 into the carp-pond, so there is no sloppy 

 mud-hole anywhere about. I did not think 

 of it at the time ; but as you present it, I do 

 think it very important that the watering- 

 place where stock often congregate should 

 be at a good safe distance from the well. 

 Our poultry get water from a low tub sawed 

 off from an oil-barrel. This tub is just the 

 right height for them to drink conveniently, 

 and it is light enough to be thoroughly 

 rinsed out without very much exertion. Not 

 only should the ground around the home be 

 thorougly underdrained, but the sun should 

 be permitted to shine on all sides. An 

 excellent little book, entitled "Healthy 



