1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



2()5 



pretty closely associated at the table, with a lit- 

 tle butter thrown in. Besides milk, this well is 

 good to keep p|ork or other fresh meat in, in 

 summer, away from flies; also to keep any thing 

 fi-om fi'eezing in winter. 



For ordinary use the well should be dug (i ft. 

 by 4 Square, with a gutter, or groov(\ down one 

 side, 18 inches square. It should contain two 

 or three feet of lasting water. It should be in 

 easy reach of the kitchen, and attached to the 

 house if possible. The curbing should he no 

 lai'ger than the well. A platform, which tits 

 inside of the well, slides up and dowu between 

 two timbers, which rest on the bottom of the 

 well, and are long enough to reacli up 3 ft. 

 above the curb. TIk^sc two timhei's should be 

 planed. The framework of the platform has a 

 board nailed on each side of it, forming a groove 

 which fits on the upright timbers at each end 

 of the well. This makes it I'igid, and keeps it 

 levpl. The circular black spots on the platform 

 represent openings for vessels. The i)iece that 

 holds the wheel, over which tiie rop(- passes to 

 the windlass, is prolonged so that, when the 

 platfoim is ju.st even with the top of the curb, 

 an iron pin is inserted through it and the top- 

 bar of the platform frame, and holds it there. 

 There is another rope, and two wheels. This 

 rope has a heavy weight attached, to assist in 

 raising the platform from the bottom of the 

 well, with heavy loads. These weights go 

 down into a box formed of four wide planks, 

 which occupy the gutter, or groove. One lid 

 opens up against the weight-box. and fastens 

 with a thumb-button. The other is hinged so 

 as to hang down by the side of the curb when 

 open. 



I think what I have said, and the sketch, will 

 make it plain. R. W. J. Stewart. 



Sonoraville, Ga., Feb. 2. 



[Friend S.. you liave given us something of 

 very great value. I am sure. The custom of 

 letting down a jiail of l)utter and other kinds of 

 food into the well, to keep tlnun cool, is almost 

 as old as the hills, and I have se\-eral times 

 wondered why somebody did not invent a dum- 

 my or elevator to run i)rovisions into the cellar, 

 or, still deeper, into a well, where ice is not to 

 be had. or is inconvenient; and most farm 

 homes find it a good dcnil of trouble to have an 

 ice-house simply for their own use. It is my 

 opinion, however, that, to have the water real 

 cool and nice, it should be used for watering 

 stock or something of that sort. I saw a state- 

 ment recently in one of our agricultural i)apers 

 like this: A certain well gave such cool nice 

 water that it had a reputation for some dis- 

 tance around. As this well was close to the 

 house, liowevej-, and some distance from the 

 barn, the owner dug another on(> by the barn, 

 for greater convenience in watering his farm 

 stock. As soon as they stopped drawing heavi- 

 ly on the water near the house, however, it be- 

 gan to get warm and insipid, and the water at 

 the stables improved in the same proportion as 

 they began to draw on it. This taking water 

 away, or removing it from the well, jiroduces a 

 running stream or running si)ring. Of course, 

 the clicapi'St way to get this superfluous water 

 out of the way is to do it with a windmill, pro- 

 viding you can afford tiie first expense. By the 

 way. friend S., why would not tiie arrangement 

 you have given us take the place of a cellar to 

 a considerable extent, and at the same time 

 save the good wife the labor of running up and 

 down stairs? Another thing: A good many 

 have discovered that rain water is more whole- 

 some for them than the hard water from many 

 of our wells; therefore you can catch your rain 

 water fi'om a roof in clean vessels, and tlien let 

 it down into a deep well to cool.] 



DEACON HOMESPUN AND HIS " KNOWIN' 

 BEES." 



AI.SO SOME OF THE DEACON'S PLAIN-SPOKEN 

 OPINIONS IN REGARD TO " BKO. RUTE." 



Having been a reader of Gleanings for the 

 last 13 yeai's, I have become very much pleased 

 with it and attached to it, and I often recom- 

 mend it to others, and have now and then in- 

 duced one to subscribe for it. But I found one 

 who did not want it at all. I went over to Dea- 

 con Homespun's to make a call, see his bees, 

 and I naturally asked him to take Gleanings. 

 He said that he did not want it. for the reason 

 that he liad decided •' not to read any more of 

 Rute"s writing till he wrote something kinter 

 interestin'." 



I remarked that I considered it all very inter- 

 esting. Well, he said that he "had got Rute's 

 A B C book, and did not think much of it." 



"Whv have you ari'ived at such a conclusion 

 about tiie A B C book ?" 



" Wal. ile tell you. Now, he says a great deal 

 about interducih' of queens; and I don't think 

 much of his way. for I have got a way that 

 beats it all holler." 



"Now, deacon, have you any objections to 

 telling your plan of iuti'oducing queens?" 



"No, sir. I hain't. It is this: When you have 

 a queenless colony, jest hang in a keard of 

 brude, and the bees will raze a queen right there 

 in the hive. Now, don't you see that this way 

 will save all this fussin' about interducin'?" 



•' Yes, deacon, that is very true. You can get 

 a queen in a hive by placing in the hive a card 

 of brood, and the queen will hatch there and be 

 there without much trouble, etc. But you see 

 the honey season is short: and while you are 

 waiting for your queen to hatch and get ready 

 to lay, much valuable time is lost so far as that 

 swarm is concerned; for, you see, it takes about 

 a month after the queen commences to lay be- 

 fore her bees are ready to work; therefore by 

 that time the swarm will be very small, and be 

 of little profit to you for that season, for the old 

 bees are all the time dying." 



'■ Well, that ain't the case with my bees— they 

 dou"t die off fast at all." 



" What kind are your bees?" 



•'Well, they are a mixture of bees from the 

 Southern States, with my kind. \"ou see, a 

 few years ago I lost most of my bees, and in the 

 spring I sent south and bought some to make 

 up my loss in the winter." 



"Did you get queens with your bees from the 

 South?" 



" No. I only jest got bees, and put with mine. 

 I had queens." 



" Well, don't you know that the bees you had 

 from the South soon died, and therefore you 

 had only your ]<iud as you had before you 

 bought? 



"Now, deacon, I see you have the two-story 

 Root chaff hive. How did this happen ?" 



"Well, you kno\\- I told you that I had Rute's 

 ABC book, so I took the book to a shop in 

 town and had all of my hives made accordin' to 

 the book." 



" Well, then, you do think something of Mr. 

 Root's writing, after all; so I will leave a copy 

 of (tleanings with you; and when I come 

 again I hope you will have decided to have it 

 mailed regularly to you." 



As I handed it to him he said, "I think that 

 Rute is a kinder of a big land a little n." at 

 the same time pointing to the foot-notes. 



"Now, deacon, as to the remarks of Mr. Root 

 that vou now refer to, I think I can say, with- 

 out fear of contradiction, that his readers would 

 not have that part of the matter left out on any 

 account. But. again, in regard to the chaflf 



