GLEANIISHJS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Al'KlI. 1" 



bf\ them nil nicely t^o I can tell them. We have 

 only the swamp-wilhiw here. Inclosed I send 

 three postal cards for postage, not having 

 stamps on hand. If not enough for the postage. 

 I will pay the remainder here. Your articles 

 are a great help tome. Long live Gi-kanings." 



I heartily indorse the last sentence: but in 

 order to indorse it long I must live myself. I 

 am also glad to know that my articles help 

 some along the rough and uneven way of api- 

 culture; hut will these things and the three 

 postal cards warrant me in tramping several 

 miles for willow - cuttings, carefully labeling 

 them, packing them securely, and taking them 

 one mile to the postoffice? If not, will you, Mr. 

 Editor, and the readers of (Cleanings, tell me 

 what I shall d(»? 



Another writes: "In a late number of the 

 American Riinil Home I see an article from 

 your pen. on bees, which interested me very 

 much. \Vill you please write me all about how 

 to manage bees, how to build a bee-house, what 

 kind (jf hives are liest. and how much prolit I 

 can expect out of the business ? Please give full 

 particulars in the matter." 



Clark says I write too much, yet here is a 

 man who apparently doesn't think so. but wants 

 me to write a book for his benefit, and present it 

 to him in manuscript, without even inclosing a 

 postal card to pay a small part of the postage. 

 He little dreamed that, when I came to his let- 

 ter, I had already been answering questions for 

 an hour or more, or that there were from five to 

 ten unanswered letters on my desk, with the 

 hour of bedtime at hand, or that I was tired and 

 nearly exhausted with the labors of the day. I 

 want'to accommodate all, but must l)e excused 

 from writing for any one the details of what he 

 can procure through the papers and books pub- 

 lished on bees. In this case I wrote him that 

 lie would find all of his questions answered in 

 such and such books, naming them: and if he 

 wished to keep up with Ihe times he should 

 take one or more of the different bee-papers, 

 naming them also. As this reiiuired too much 

 writing to go on a postal card, of course it re- 

 tiuired an envelope, sheet of paper, and a two- 

 cent stamp. It seems all should know about 

 this envelope, paper, and postage, without be- 

 ing told: yet not one in four who ask questions 

 similar to the at)ove incloses a stamp. A stamp 

 to them means very little: but to the one who 

 has followed answering all such questions for 

 fifteen years, it means a small fortune. 



Another says, " I wish to thank you for all of 

 the good articles yim have given us in the bee- 

 papers for many years. I always turn to your 

 articles the first thing when I get any of the 

 papers which you write for. being sure of a feast 

 every time. I^ow. if you will grant me a favor 

 you will lay me under renewed obligations to 

 you for your kindness. On a separate sheet you 

 will find some questions which I wish answered. 

 If you can find time to answer these you will 

 greatly oblige. Yours truly, ." 



By this time Mrs. D. has retired, but has not 

 gone to sleep, so I call to her, telling her of the 

 g«td words spoken above, and how glad I am 

 that we could be the means of doing some good 

 in the world. She replies by asking if I have 

 lix)ked at the questions. 



" No, but I will." 



The "separate sheet" proves to be a whole 

 sheet of foolscap paper written solid full of 

 questi(ms, which begin: " 1. I think I have foul 

 brood in my apiary. Will you receive a sample 

 from me and tell me if it is such ? 2. How do 

 you tell foul brood? Please describe It so mi- 

 nutely that I can tell whether I have it or not; 

 also tell me just how you would work to 

 cure it." The :5d, 4th. and 5th questions are 

 similar to the alK)ve. on foul brood. "0. How 



many colonies of bees do yo>i keep? 7. How do 

 you manage them during swarming?" and so 

 on down to the end of the sheet. What shall I 

 do? I dip 7ny pen in a ditfertMit-colored ink 

 from what the letter was written with, and 

 right above every question give the very best 

 answer I can in the space there is lietween the 

 lines, directing to different books and articles as 

 much as possible, in the mean time remember- 

 ing how good old Elisha (iallup used to liear 

 with me when I botiiered him in the same way. 

 and trying to be glad to repay him by doing for 

 some lirother or sister what he kindly did for 

 me. In this way I keep on. and probably shall 

 as long as questions are sent in. Being a littlt- 

 worn to-day I felt as if a little knowledge of 

 what a writer has to do might cause some to 

 ease up a little (m these private questicms, and 

 help others to know that the bee- writers do not 

 all lie on " beds of roses." as well as to relieve 

 ine a little by not keeping all of the good things 

 to myself. G. M. Dooi.itti.k. 



Borodino. N. Y., Mar. K). 



[We thoroughly appreciate your situation, 

 friend D. As editor of Gleanings it is one of 

 our duties to answer questions. Those that are 

 not of sufficient importance for publication are 

 answered by letter. But unless your querist is 

 kind enough to inclose you something, you will 

 probably get no pecuniary returns for your 

 pains and trouble. A concspondent certainly 

 ought to inclose a stamp, or. better, a stamped 

 ami addressed envelope, to bee-keejtersof whom 

 they desire information: and where he calls for 

 very full answers he ought, to ask his teacher, 

 as it were, to send in his bill. As editor of 

 Gleanings, however, we are prepared to an- 

 swer all the questions, or at least ought to be. 

 without even so much as a stamp or stamped 

 envelope: and while our replies have to be very 

 meager, often referring the querist to our A B C 

 of Bee Culture, it is the best we can do. It is a 

 little cui'ious why people will ask questions 

 that are very thoroughly and well covered in 

 nearly all the text-books. Every once in a 

 while we are asked to give very full particulars 

 as to when and how to transfer. There is not a 

 general text-book on bee culture, however poor, 

 but answers both of these questions fully. 

 There are many others of a similar nature that 

 we invariably refer to some page or paragraph 

 in oui' A B C book. 



RAMBLE NO. 57. 



"OUT ON THE OCEAN S.\ILING." 



Wlieii on my day of life the iiigrlit is falliiij^'. 

 And in tlie winds from unsuniu'd spaces hlowiiif:-. 



1 hear fair voices out of darkness calling' 

 My feet to patlis unknown. 



We can little imagine the size of acountiy 

 until we commence to travel over its surface. 

 Everybody knows that Texas is the largest 

 State in the Union; but few people stop to 

 think which is the next largest. It is Califor- 

 nia, and it is noted for its magnificent distances. 

 Its entire coast line is SKX) miles. From San 

 Francisco to Los Angeles it is about 44() miles, 

 and a journey by steamer gives the traveler 

 two nights, or nearly 48 hours, on the ocean. 

 My face was set toward Los Angeles, and a sea- 

 voyage had been an experience I had often 

 dreamed of, but never imagined I should have 

 the privilege to make one, and especially on the 

 Pacific. This was, then, an opportunity not to 

 be slighted. 



The good steamship (Jueen left her wharf at 

 San Francisco at 11 o'clock a. m. on Sunday, 

 the 21st of October; and if all was noisy bustle 



