812 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUEE. 



Apr. 



POLLEN FKOM ELM. 



As my brother keeps bees, I noticed very care- 

 fully the first pollen. It came in on the 31st of 

 March They got it from the elm and maple. The 

 first was yellow, the second was of a yellowish red, 

 or a kind of purple. Ce.inton Neff. 



New Carlisle, O., March 31, 1888. 



THE FIKST POLLEN AS REPOKTED BY A .lUVENILE. 



In response to your request of March 1.5, T noticed 

 our bees g'athering- pollen on the 27th of January, 

 from a wild plant we call thistle. It very much re- 

 sembles the poppy. Mamma says she has seen it 

 ciiltiviited in Pennsylvania, as one of the poppy 

 family. They grow in profusion here. The bees 

 work on the leaves as well as the flowers. The 

 blossoms are white and lilac; also a shrul), growing- 

 wild, called alvacoco. It bears a fruit, somewhat 

 like the wild plum, but smaller. It is a great 

 bloomer. The pollen was white, or light-colored. 

 Bees have not done very well this winter. Many of 

 them are having their hives well filled with stores. 

 Okie Walker, age 8. 



Benton, Te.xas, March 2.5, 1888. 



Friend Oirie, will yon please mail us the 

 posy from tliat "poppy" thistle? I think it is 

 something' I never heard of before. I am 

 interested in those little plum-trees. Are 

 the plums good to eatV You have given us 

 quite an interesting little letter. 



POLLEN FROM PEELED LINN LOGS. 



The bees commenced bringing in pollen on Mon- 

 day, March 23, 1888. It was of a light cream color. 

 They did not gather it from blossoms, but from 

 peeled linn logs. Pa has a sawmill of his own to 

 saw logs for sections. The logs were peeled for 

 the purpose of drying sooner, and for keeping the 

 aciit that is in the bark from staining the timber, as 

 there appeared to be, by the action of the air and 

 sun on the surface of the logs, a mucilage that be- 

 came dried, and the bees gathered quite freely of 

 it, as there are about 500 logs to gather from. 



Ray Murray, age 12. 



Ada, Ohio, March 23, 1888. 



Look here, little friend. I shouldn't won- 

 der if you had got hold of something of 

 more importance than pollen. One of our 

 great troubles in buying basswood, or in 

 handling basswood plank, is to prevent the 

 Ifunber from getting stained ; and if peeling 

 the bark off from logs will do it. it is some- 

 thing very valuable indeed. I wish you 

 would have your father tell us what he 

 knows about the matter. 



" BEES ALL OVER DUSTY WITH POLLEN." 



I have watched every day the bees flew since I 

 saw that notice. To-day, March 30, I saw the fli-st 

 pollen. It was of a light color, and the bees were 

 all over dusty with it; and when they would go into 

 the hive and out they would come out all covered 

 with the dust. Then I knew they were the ones to 

 watch. 1 had a little trouble to find out, but at last 

 I found them about half a mile away, and right 

 down over the hill; but I followed them till I came 

 down on the tiat, and there I found them (m what 

 we call tag-alder. The color of it was light but not 

 white. I could take the bushes and shake them 

 and see the dust flying ofl'. 



Papa started in winter with ten colonies of bees, 

 and we have wintered all up to date. The hives we 



wintered in are the Langstroth chaff, and they win- 

 tered outdoors on their summer stands. 

 Polk, Pa. J. T. Hagekty. 



A GOOD FLY. 



Mother has 12 hives of bees, and got 2.50 lbs. of 

 honey last fall. Thej^ took a good fly March 27. 



May Houser, age 11. 

 Franklin, Pa., March 29, 1888. 



A TEXAN PONY. 



I have two pet rabbits. They are black and white 

 spotted. They are English rabbits. We have a 

 Texan pony. He is wild yet. He had never seen 

 snow till Saturday. He got scared when he saw it. 

 He has been out of the herd only about three 

 months. I can lead him to water. He would not 

 eat hay when we got him. 



La Fontaine, Ind. Oren A. Hummel, age 11. 



ARTHUR'S LETTER, JUST AS HE WROTE IT. 



MR ROOT 1 AM 7 yEARSOLD My GRAND PA 

 KEEPS BEES 1 WILL TELL yOU HOW HE KEEPS 

 MICE OUT IN WINTER HE TAKES A WRIE AND 

 PUTS IT IN THE HOLE WHERE THE BEES GO 

 IN SO THAT TH BEES CAN GO UNDER IT OR 

 OVER IT BUT THE PLACE IS SO SMALL THAT 

 THE MICE CANT GET IN. I GO TO SCHOOL 

 MORENCLMICH. ARTHUR G. MASON. 



CANNING SWEET POTATOES IN HONEY. 



Parboil the potatoes ; take them up and peel them ; 

 slice them the round way, then drop them in a ket- 

 tle of hot honey. As soon as boiled, fill the cans 

 with the potato. Seal them tight; then in winter, 

 when you use them, put them in a pan, put some 

 butter in, put the pan in the stove, and bake until 

 they are done. Sadie Brown. 



Bloomfleld, Ky , March 29, 1888. 



BEES WINTERING WELL. 



My pa has kept bees for over 25 years. He is now 

 wintering 150 colonies— 50 in the cellar, .50 in a cave 

 here at home, and .50 in two different places away 

 from home. Last year was a very poor one for 

 honey. Pa got only 200 lbs., and over 10,000 lbs. in 

 1886. He has to feed part of his bees to save them. 

 They are wintering quite well. 



Clark Gast, age 9. 



Le Clair, Iowa, March 26, 1888. 



HOW TO MAKE BOYS GROW. 



I am a little boy ten years old. I go to school, and 

 study reading, spelling, arithmetic, and writing. 

 Pa has 50 stands of bees. I get a sting sometimes. 

 It makes me scratch a little. I have a dog. I call 

 him Jack. I have a little baby sister, Ola; she is 

 just as sweet as she can be. 1 have to feed the pigs. 

 It is pretty cold here sometimes, but ma says it will 

 make me grow, so I don't mind it much. Pa takes 

 Gleanings. He would not do without it. 



Danville, Hendricks Co., Ind. Otha Nichols. 



ANOTHER RUNAWAY. 



I have never written to you before; but as Hattie 

 is writing, I will write too. We have no bees, but 

 uncle John Wright has. I love honey. We have 

 been having so much rain that we have been nearly 

 drowned. The lanes are impassable. Last year a 

 team ran away. The horses got away and ran over 

 the bees, and they got out of their hives and scat- 

 tered all over the yard. Uncle John moved to town 

 this year, and left the bees at his old home. 



Mary Rutherford. 



Mllford, EUjs Co., Tex., March 7, 1888. 



