1888 



gleaKings In bee culture. 



42^ 



blank books for writing in were to be'made of 

 (iLEANiNGs paper, ruled and printed in our 

 establishment; all the tablets and memo- 

 randum-books were to be made of Glean- 

 iNos paper ; all the women were to use it to 

 put on their buttery shelves, liut so many 

 of them were against me I was obliged, sad- 

 ly and lelnctantly, to give it up. We do use 

 it for a great many purposes, however. 

 Thanks for youi- hints in regard to the mat- 

 ter. 



CAN A BEE - KEEPER ACCOMPLISH 



MORE BY RESTING OCCASION 



ALLY? 



AT, so SOMETHING IN FAVOR OF HAMMOCKS. 



fHE answers to Question 4!^ in Gi.eanings 

 have g-lven me courage to confess what oth- 

 erwise 1 should never have dared reveal; 

 namely, that from spring till fall a hammock 

 is looped upon one side of our shop, ready 

 at any moment to be swung into position for use. 

 One of our oldest and best writers on domestic 

 economj' has recommended a lounge in every kitch- 

 en, affirming that ten minutes of level rest is worth 

 thirty in an upright position. Minutes are so 

 precious in the apiary during the busy season, that 

 in resting as in working one should make the most 

 of them. And we have proved,. to our own satisfac- 

 tion at least, that the hammock, instead of being a 

 foolish luxury that no hard-working bee-keeper 

 should indulge in, is a positive necessity. Through 

 the days of spring and fall, our hammock hangs 

 idly on the wall; but when the bees are swarming, 

 and comb-building must be seen to, and sections 

 taken off and put on, and the muscles begin to ache 

 with the constant strain, and the head is dizzy with 

 the noonday heat, in the cool shadows of the shop 

 swings the hammock to give a few minutes of rest- 

 ful support from tired head to tired feet. I should 

 tike to recommend it to all; but let the sisters, at 

 least, give it a trial and report. 



Our bees have all, alas! passed safely through an 



unusually severe winter; but when I think of the 



long weary days to come, I remembei- also that we 



have a hammock, and take courage. 



May 9, 1888. Nelly Linswik. 



My good friend, your argument has caus- 

 ed me to change my opinion ; in fact, I have 

 had some experience since I gave an opin- 

 ion on this matter of Question 43. Very 

 likely, however, the effect depends greatly 

 on the general health of the proprietor of 

 the apiary. Where one is feeling perfectly 

 well, he can, without much fatigue, or, per- 

 haps, without much injury, work hard ten 

 hours a day or even more. " Terry, however, 

 seriously questions whether anybody will 

 gain in the long run by working more than 

 ten hours a day. For almost a year past, I 

 have been unable to get through with my 

 work in the office without going over to the 

 house once or twice a day, and stretching 

 myself on the lounge. A great many times 

 when i start for my resting-place I feel al- 

 most satisfied that my usual short nap can 

 not possibly set me up in good working trim 

 again this time. 1 am surprised to find, 

 however, that almost, if not quite every 



time, after 1 have had a sleep of tifteen or 

 twenty minutes, the faint and exhausted 

 feeling has all gone, and I am ready to con- 

 sider almost any thing, and be i)leasant and 

 good natured about it besides. Well, I 

 have not thought to try a hammock. T 

 have found out, however, that, to have the 

 sleep come quickly, I need a certain amount 

 of fresh air; and when real warm weather 

 comes 1 think quite likely a hammock, in the 

 open air, will fill the bill. Then Iluber and 

 all the rest will not have to walk on tiptoe, 

 and whisper to one another, " Sh-h-h-h-h ! 

 papa is asleep." You see, our people are 

 very kind to me when I am used up ; and 

 by having that hammock, say off under a 

 tree out of the way, I shall be doing a kind- 

 ness to them; and I should never have 

 thought of it if you had not made the sug- 

 gestion. I say, most emphatically, it does 

 pay to rest thoroughly when you are used up. 



HAIR-SNAKES. 



HAIRS NEVER TURN TO SNAKES. 



fkROF. A. J. COOK:— The inclosed specimen of 

 ' worm (I guess) was found in moist clay on 

 the bank of a small tributary of the Alle- 

 gheny River here in McKean Co., Pa. Even 

 when fli'St found, if laid where it was dry for 

 a few minutes it became stiff and apparently dead; 

 Imt if put in water or mud it soon began wriggling 

 again. As it is, to us, both rare and curious, we 

 send it to you, hoping to learn something more 

 about it. The worm was found j-esterday. By 

 measuring as accurately as we conveniently could, 

 we found it to be about six inches long. 

 Larabee, Pa., May 11, 1S88. A. F. Beach. 



Prof. Cook replies : 



The worm sent by A. F. Beach is one of the 

 Goidii, or hair-worms, or hair-snakes. These are 

 true worms, and so belong with the tape-worms, 

 trichina, and, more distantly, with leeches and 

 angleworms. Who of us has not heard how these 

 come from horse-hairs which have fallen into some 

 rain-water barrel or pool? Of course, we in these 

 days of wider scientific training know better. We 

 know that wheat does not turn to chess; that flre- 

 weeds never grow unless there are seeds in the 

 earth, and that no animal comes from a horse-hair, 

 unless an egg had been previously glued to it. 



These Oordii have a marvelous life-history. They 

 lay their tiny eggs in water. These hatch, and en- 

 ter some gnat larva, or maggot, and grow upon the 

 substance of the wriggler. Then they pass into a 

 flsh, and lastly into some luckless grasshopper or 

 cricket. I have seen our common cricket just full 

 of the mature hair-worms. These unfortunate in- 

 sects hop into some pool or vessel of water. Why, 

 we know not, unless forsooth to quell the fever 

 caused by the gnawing; or, mayhaps, tired of such 

 a life, they are bent on suicide. However it may 

 be, it is just what the worms need, for now they 

 wriggle ajid tie themselves into all sorts of queer 

 knots; hence the name, tto»(f(i, from the Gordion 

 knot which the great general untied. Here, too, 

 they lay their eggs. 



We often think of worms as very degraded crea- 

 tures; but, as we see, they are very wonderful. T 

 find my students often wild with enthusiasm in 



