1891 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



511 



the handling of these frames. If, by and by, the 

 frames are not too much glued to the walls of 

 the hive, this style of frame will have many 

 advantages over' the hanging or swinging 

 frame. I confess I was prejudiced against 

 these frames. I am expei'imenting now with 

 some other frames and hives, and can't tell as 

 yet which kind 1 shall prefei-; but I am sure, 

 with out-apiaries, I iiuist have fixed frames. 

 L. Stachelhausen. 

 Selma, Texas, May, 1891. 



[Thanks for your valuable suggestions. Your 

 ideas will dovetail very nicely with those of 

 Mr. Heddon in regard to his shallow closed-end 

 frames. The Dad ants use half -story extracl- 

 ing-supers, and their frame is six inches deep.] 



E. R. R. 



LADIES' G0N¥ERSAZ10ME. 



SEATS FOR BEE-KEEPERS. 



SEATS FOB EVEKYBODY WHEN TIRED OUT, OR 

 IN A STATE OF FEEBLE HEALTH. 



Mr. Root: — When you spoke of seats in the 

 apiary and in our workrooms, you touched upon 

 a secret of success which, if followed out by all, 

 especially women, would make this nation a 

 happier and much more thi'ifty people. A half, 

 or. at least, a third of our women, complain they 

 can't do their housework without great weari- 

 ness ; and many are obliged to hire help who 

 otherwise would not, if they would just act 

 upon that little hint of yours of sitting down to 

 talk, or silting down to do such work as could 

 beaseasily done sitting down asln standingup, 

 and then we could keep rested. No one should 

 keep on his feet until trembling and tired, but 

 keep within his strength, and then his strength 

 would increase: but if worked to exhaustion, it 

 sooner or later brings on weakness and disease. 

 If sitting down does not give complete rest, then 

 lie down each day, more or less. We make bet- 

 ter wives and mothers if not overworked. The 

 mind is much clearer, and the nerves steadier: 

 the sharp answer is not half so apt to be spoken, 

 and we speak loudei'. so we do not so often have 

 to be asked over what we say; and if asked 

 over, we are not so apt to give an impatient 

 sound to our voices, but more gentle and sweet. 

 If mothers and wives can keep sweet-tempered, 

 it tells upon the whole household: for children 

 are very apt to act and speak as mother acts, 

 and husband to answer back as spoken to, and 

 the help to be cross and disobliging. Even the 

 little infant is sometimes thought to be cross 

 and fretful, when it is the mother who is much 

 to blame, for mother is too tired. Oh if we 

 could realize each day that it is not all of life to 

 live — that each day we are building for eternity, 

 and our building is the lives with whom we 

 come in contact, how much more careful would 

 we be to be right, as it is more what we ai'e 

 than what we do that tells for God I We must 

 have Jesus in our lives as tlie ruling principle. 



PLANT HONEY-BEARING TREES. 



Some 13 or 1.5 yc^ars ago Mr. Axtell and myself 

 thought strongly of planting out a basswood 

 grove for our bees: but on(! day, while reading 

 in a bee-jonrnal, one writer said it would not 

 pay the person who put out such a grove, as he 

 would nevei- live to see his bees gather honey 

 from the grove he would set out. The conse- 

 quence was. we dropped the idea and did not 

 set tliem out, as it was not so convenient to ob- 

 tain such trees. We now wish we had such a 

 grove, and I think it would pay us, though 



basswood-blossoms are seldom rich with honey 

 in this locality; but we might as well set out 

 lioney- bearing trees as those that produce no 

 honey, as some years th(>y might yield honey, if 

 other years they did not. Our advice would be, to 

 plant honey-producing trees. 



GLOVES. 



Bees sting my hands worse with cotton gloves 

 than if bare-handed. The soft springy nature 

 of a cotton glove always seemed to me to anger 

 them; and old kids that have been worn for 

 some time. I think have a smell the bees do not 

 like, and they sting worse with than without 

 them. Once, a good many years ago. I got tired 

 of the stings, and thought to try buckskin 

 gloves; but so many bees left their stings in 

 th(^ gloves, I pitied the bees as it killed so many. 

 I pulled the gloves oft', and have never worn 

 buckskin since. I never use any covering to 

 my hands unless it be a cotton cloth wrapped 

 low down over my wrist, down over the backs 

 of the hands, as far as possible, and of a thick- 

 ness that the stings can't reach thi-ough. The 

 stings which the bees thrust in as they try to 

 crawl under such a cloth are always the worst 

 to be borne, as we can't pull them out so quick- 

 ly. Mrs. L. C. Axtell. 



Roseville. 111., May 1.5. . 



[My good friend Mrs. A., it almost startles me 

 sometimes to see how exactly your expeilence 

 coincides with my own, and to find that you 

 have passed through the same sortof trials that 

 I have. It is not only b(;tter " wives and moth- 

 ers "when they ai-e not overworked, but I am 

 inclined to think that fathers might be improv- 

 ed quite a little, if they would take the trouble 

 to sit down when exhausted, so as to recuperate 

 theii' strength. There is a whole sermon, and a 

 practical one. in your remarks about taking 

 cai-eofour bodily health and strength, so that 

 we are better prepared to exercise thi^ virtue of 

 patience. But there is another side to this 

 matter of seats, and one that I rather dislike to 

 speak of, but perhaps it might be well to recog- 

 nize it here. We sometimes meet with lazy peo- 

 ple who insist on sitting down and shirking re- 

 sponsibility when they are not tired. Provid- 

 ing seats for such would be only ministering to 

 their laziness. A little careful observation, 

 however, with Christian love in our hearts, will 

 readily enable us to judge pretty accurately. I 

 become thoroughly tired out almost every day: 

 but somehow I have the faculty of resting 

 quickly. Sometimes sitting down for only five 

 minutes, and occupying myself with some work 

 that can be done in a sitting position, I'ests me 

 so that I am ready to climb stairs again, and 

 hurry from one room to another, and enjoy it 

 too. Now. then, let us all remember that we 

 can do Christ's work by furnishing or suggest- 

 ing, or providiiKj seats for those we love, and 

 we ouqht to love evervbody around us.] 



A. I. R. 

 * I ■■ 



THE BEES AT DR. MILLER'S. 



AN INTERESTING REPORT. 



Our bees are in splendid condition, and nearly 

 all our colonies are ready for the harvest, which 

 we expect to begin in about a week, there being 

 some clover in bloom now. May 26. Only one 

 colony in the Wilson apiary of 92 colonies has 

 less than five frames of brood, and most of them 

 have from to 8 frames. 



I want to tell you a little about how we have 

 strengthened them. Some of our colonies were 

 very strong early in the season; in fact, they 

 were all in good condition, no sign of spring 



